It's a little bit of both. Mining was a particularly dangerous and unenviable job. In some cases, they were admired for their courage in the work they did.

Though, there were downsides. The presence of friendly miners could often attract the attention of counter-mining operations by the enemy. the danger of having the ground underfoot vaporised was not an enviable prospect, so miners were often disdained, much the same as the presence of trench mortar teams-because their work would mean a likewise reprisal from the other side. "The last thing any infantry soldier wanted to be in was a front line trench with our own tunnelling going on underneath us and this made us extremely apprehensive of the possibility of being blown to bits."(RH 463)

The real issue was more to do with conditions and reward. Richard Holmes writes "There were predictable difficulties over pay (miners) were entitled to six shillings a day, their mates a mere 2/2d." (RH 457) A private soldier received 1s a day. Miners inducted into the military had a touch time with military discipline. "On one occasion representatives of the men informed their company commander that they were concerned about the eroding of pay differentials and that they intended to down tools until the dispute was resolved. The compny commander explained that this procedure might be all very well in the mines of Lancashire. The army, however, in its quaint way, would regard it as mutiny, which carried the death penalty. Work was instantly resumed." (GC 178)

A good film to watch on the subject of miners is the Australian produced Beneath Hill 60.

Sources:Corrigan, Gordon “Mud, Blood and Poppycock” Cassel Military Paperbacks, 2004

Holmes, Richard “Tommy, The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914-1918” Harper Perennial, 2005