A Salute to All Those Hard Workers in the Mining Industry

According to the US Department of Labor, “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” The North American Industry Classification System classifies the Mining sector as comprised of “establishments that extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The term mining is used in the broad sense to include quarrying, well operations, beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and other preparation customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity.” The most recent statistics by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there are over 788,000 workers in the US mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector. These workers include first-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers, helpers-extraction workers, mining and geological engineers (including mining safety engineers), operating engineers and other construction equipment operators, and oil and gas roustabouts. So, to the 788,000 mining employees in the United States, enjoy your holiday in honor of workers, and thank you for your contributions to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country… because if you can’t grow it or recycle it, it has to be mined.