Two labor unions are suing the federal government to force them to issue a temporary, emergency standard to protect miners from infectious diseases, weeks after criticizing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Mine Workers of America International Union, or UMWA, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union jointly filed a petition June 16 for a writ of mandamus to force the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to take action. The groups also asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for an expedited hearing process, seeking a ruling within 30 days of the court granting the writ.

"We have been asking MSHA to step up and do its job to protect America's miners from the beginning of this pandemic," UMWA International President Cecil Roberts said in a news release. "But so far, the agency has refused. You would think that those who are charged with keeping miners safe would want to actually do so. It is very disappointing that they have turned their backs on these critical workers."

Mining has been designated an essential sector in many jurisdictions in the U.S. and globally, meaning many operations continue to produce. The UMWA said the close quarters of the typical mining operation make it easy for diseases such as COVID-19 to spread.

"A six-foot social distance is meaningless in an underground environment," Roberts said.

When asked about its response to the virus, the agency has previously pointed to its website. The site includes a list of best practices for guarding workplaces against the spread of the virus and additional information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Labor said in an email that MSHA has been working around the clock to protect workers during the pandemic, and added that the department was confident it would prevail against a lawsuit they described as counterproductive.

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