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Medical Bill Negotiating Service

Source: Union Plus Providing Union Members and Their Families with Assistance Negotiating Medical Bills Get Free Help With Your Medical Bills The Union Plus Medical Bill Negotiating Service by Health Advocate provides union members with large out-of-pocket medical bills FREE assistance negotiating bill reductions with physicians, hospitals and other medical providers.  The Service negotiates with […]

APNewsBreak: Federal black lung fund in danger of drying up

Source: AP News March 19, 2019 COEBURN, Va. (AP) — Former coal miner John Robinson’s bills for black lung treatments run $4,000 a month, but the federal fund he depends on to help cover them is being drained of money because of inaction by Congress and the Trump administration. Amid the turmoil of the government […]

Union Plus Theme Park Discounts

Source: Union Plus   Time to Save and Splash at America’s Favorite Theme Parks   “My vacation was a huge success and so much fun thanks to the discounted theme park tickets!” SONYA – Union Member   Disney  Six Flags (Multiple locations) Adventureland Park Colonial Williamsburg Crayola Experience Dollywood Dorney Park Funtown Splashtown USA Hersheypark […]

2019 Workers Memorial Day

Source: AFL-CIO   NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality- winning protections that have made jobs safer and saved lives. But our work is not done. Each year, […]

AFL-CIO criticizes Green New Deal, calling it ‘not achievable or realistic’

Source: The Washington Post March 13, 2019 The AFL-CIO, the national arm for U.S. labor unions, offered a critical assessment of the Green New Deal, warning that the ambitious plan to combat climate change could adversely affect U.S. workers. In a letter last week to Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), […]

Sen. Warner Meets with Coal Miners

Source: The Coalfield Progress March 8, 2019 In a meeting with United Mine Workers of America coal miners in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner stressed the need to pass the American Miners Act of 2019, legislation he sponsored that would permanently protect the healthcare and pension benefits for thousands of Virginia’s retired […]

UMWA Works on Legislation to Benefit Westmoreland Retirees

Source: Kemmerer Gazette March 8, 2019 UMWA Local 1307 member Larry Hinton speaks about what’s at stake for retired Kemmerer coal miners. The bankrupt Westmoreland Coal Company may soon be free of all obligations to retired miners at the Kemmerer mine. But the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) has shifted gears in order to […]

The Fight Is Not Over For Westmoreland Retirees – UMWA

Source: Wyoming Public Media March 5, 2019 Retirees of the Kemmerer Coal Mine won’t be getting their expected health-care benefits, but the United Mine Workers of America aren’t giving up. Mike Dalpiaz, International Vice President for United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) representing coal mine workers in the Western U.S., said negotiations are underway with […]

Will Congress Fix Pension Crisis Before Coal Miners’ Pensions Disappear?

Source: Value Walk March 5, 2019 Worried About “The Cost of Inaction,“ Retired Coal Miners with Pensions at Risk Head to Capitol Hill as Education and Labor Committee Holds Hearing on Growing Pension Crisis. WASHINGTON – On Thurs., March 7, a Congressional hearing on “The Cost of Inaction: Why Congress Must Address the Multiemployer Pension Crisis,” […]

Labor Unions are Skeptical of the Green New Deal, and They Want Activist to Hear Them Out

Source: The Intercept March 4, 2019 DECIDING WHETHER TO sign onto the Green New Deal resolution is not an easy call for many members of Congress. They have to contend with the usual opponents: coal, utilities, oil companies, and other big-pocketed interests who like today’s economic order just fine. But even on the left, coalition-building can be […]

Westmoreland Coal Can End Benefits For Retired Miners, Judge Rules

Source: NPR March 1, 2019 A judge has confirmed that yet another bankrupt coal company can end health benefits for hundreds of retired miners and their families. Congress is again weighing whether to help them.  

How Bankruptcy Code Factors Into Lost Benefits For Westmoreland Retirees

Source: Wyoming Public Media March 1, 2019 Two years ago, Jim Bills retired from the Kemmerer mine in Southwestern Wyoming. “After spending seven years in the Air Force, I spent 36 years with Westmoreland coal,” he said. Bills worked as a laborer, truck driver, and driller. His son works there now, too. Bills recalls watching […]

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