I don't know where the idea came from that mining jobs were bad, a claim repeated in a letter on March 20 (Reader’s View: “ Mining jobs are not good jobs ”).
I went online and discovered that the base wage for U.S. Steel's Minntac plant is $27.26 an hour, or $56,700 annually, not counting health and dental insurance, pension, shift differentials, overtime, bonuses, and holiday pay. Millwrights, shovel runners, and other skilled workers make more. A business story published in the Twin Cities reported that PolyMet jobs would push $100,000 annually with benefits.
PolyMet and Twin Metals are expected to bring in new workers. That would be a good thing: more jobs, more families moving in, more money being spent, and more taxes being paid.
Downturns in mining seem to happen every eight to 10 years or so. The last one, in 2010, was caused by China dumping steel into the U.S. market. (The pandemic downturn doesn't count because manufacturing shut down first. No manufacturing means no demand for iron or steel.)
Mine workers with pensions ride out these downturns. Renewable-energy jobs may very well be the fastest-growing job market with good-paying jobs. However, there can be no renewable energy without the minerals PolyMet and Twin Metals would be digging out of the ground.
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They won't just be mining copper and nickel, either. Nobody's stealing catalytic converters because they're made of copper.
Jim Branstrom
Virginia
Readers' View and Local Views
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