Richard E. Stickler served as acting Assistant

Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

for the

Mine Safety and Health Administration The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) () is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safet ...

(MSHA) between October 16, 2006 and October 21, 2009. He was born in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 1940 and graduated from

Fairmont State University Fairmont State University is a public university in Fairmont, West Virginia. History Fairmont State University’s roots reach back to the formation of public education in the state of West Virginia. The first private normal school in West Vir ...

with a bachelor's degree in general engineering. He worked for BethEnergy Mines Inc., a division of

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

, for over thirty years. From 1997 until 2003 he was the director of the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. He presided over the Quecreek Mine Rescue in

Somerset County, Pennsylvania Somerset County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania German: ''Somerset Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...

on 24 July 2003."Information About The Assistant Secretary
,

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploym ...

, retrieved August 17, 2007. Stickler was nominated to the role of Assistant Secretary of Labor in charge of MSHA by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in September 2005. The appointment was strongly opposed by the

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...

, a major worker union in the mining industry, and eight of the nine miners rescued following the Quecreek disaster. The nomination also faced significant resistance in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, with Democratic Sens.

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

and

Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Virg ...

(both of

) successfully corralling widespread opposition from both Democratic and Republican senators. In remarks at the time, Senator Rockefeller noted that Stickler had overseen "some of the most dangerous, most frequently cited for safety violations in the entire industry. In fact, his mines had a rate of preventable accidents that were 3 times the national average". Senator Rockefeller, who had recently marshalled the

MINER Act A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

through the Senate to strengthen mine safety regulation, noted that Stickler had testified to Congress that he did not believe more legislation was necessary but rather that enforcement was an issue. Despite resistance from the Senate, and with the nomination being returned twice to his desk unaffirmed, President Bush later appointed Stickler as a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the advi ...

in October 2006. The appointment, which was met by vocal criticism from members of the Senate - expired on December 31, 2007. On January 4, 2008, President Bush again appointed Stickler as acting head of MSHA, and again renominated him to take the position on a permanent basis. Stickler reached public notoriety as a result of his role in co-ordinating the rescue effort to find six miners trapped by a collapse at

Crandall Canyon Mine The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, was an underground bituminous coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah. The mine made headline news when six miners were trapped by a collapse in August 2007. Ten days later, three rescue worker ...

in August 2007. In a report released in March 2008, the Inspector General of the Labor Department said that MHSA was negligent in protecting workers at the mine. The investigation into the cause of the disaster, including the loss of three would-be rescuers, is still ongoing, with completion expected sometime in the summer of 2008.Thomas Burr
"Labor Department investigation says MSHA was negligent in protecting Crandall Canyon miners"
, ''Salt Lake City Tribune'', March 31, 2008

References

Justin Sim

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stickler, Dick 1940 births Living people People from Marion County, West Virginia Bethlehem Steel people United States Department of Labor officials