Keep Up the Good Work to Bring Back Jack!

At lunchtime on a brisk Tuesday in January, about 60 people rallied outside the downtown Charleston, WV, post office to help the Friends of the Mountains kick off our Bring Back Jack Campaign.

Local and national media were out in force for the Bring Back Jack! event in Charleston.

Over 100 letters to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao were mailed that day, asking her to please reinstate Jack Spadaro to his job as superintendent of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Beckley Mining Academy. People have continued mailing letters since that day. Thank you for the tremendous response!

Jack’s case has attracted a lot of media attention. Sixty Minutes filmed our kick-off event and will air a segment on Jack and BushCo., probably in March. Audubon Magazine will run an article soon. National Public Radio ran a story in which Jack said, "I’ve been in government 27 years, in federal government, and I was in state government five or six years. This is the most lawless administration I’ve ever seen. They run roughshod over anybody who might try to get them to obey the laws."

Now, in an outrageous move, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has decided to demote Jack, cut his pay, and make him move out of West Virginia, where he has lived for decades. The MSHA official who made the decision is John Correll.

The line to mail letters to Washington, DC, in support of Jack Spadaro stretched  around the block and was filmed by television news crews.

A July 20, 2003, article by the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward, "Academy chief seeks protection," reports: "A longtime federal mine inspector this week filed a complaint that alleges the Bush administration retaliated against him for reporting alleged wrongdoing by Assistant Secretary of Labor Dave Lauriski….Jack Spadaro and his Charleston lawyer, Jason Huber, filed the complaint ...(which)...alleges that top MSHA deputies John Caylor and John Correll were involved in a plot to punish him for revealing problems within the agency."

Please write Senators Byrd and Rockefeller, as well as California Congressman George Miller. Ask them to stop this outrageous demotion and transfer. Jack should be reinstated to his position: Superintendent of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s National Mining Academy. Ask the legislators why the Office of Special Counsel has taken so long to intervene on Jack’s behalf. Tell them you think it is wrong for John Corell to be involved in any decisions about Jack.

Your message could mention that Jack is a whistleblower whose job should be protected. After all, he has dedicated 30-some years to attempting to protect the people, communities and environment of the Appalachians. 

Nowadays, it’s best to either make calls or send letters via e-mail or fax:

Sen. Byrd: senator_byrd@byrd.senate.gov, (202) 224-3954, fax (202) 224-4168.

Sen. Rockefeller: senator@rockefeller.senate.gov, (202) 224-6472, fax (202) 228-1610.

Congressman Miller: George.Miller@mail.house.gov, (202) 225-2095, fax (202) 225-5609.