FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 8, 2018
[TRIANGLE, VA.] Cecil E. Roberts has been elected by acclamation to a sixth full term as International President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) along with his entire slate of returning and new union officers, the UMWA announced today.
“I am extremely humbled by this great honor the membership has bestowed upon me,” Roberts said, “and I stand ready to continue to live up to the tremendous responsibilities that come with this office. We have a lot of work to do as we fight to preserve the pensions our retirees have earned and keep our active members working in safe, secure jobs with the best pay and benefits possible.”
Roberts’ running mate, Levi Allen, has been elected to his first full term as International Secretary-Treasurer. Allen was appointed to that position in 2017 upon the retirement of Daniel Kane, and at 37 is the youngest Secretary-Treasurer in the history of the UMWA.
Roberts wasted no time in confronting the key challenges the UMWA and its members face. “There are those who say it’s time to cast retirees aside and let their pensions wither away, no matter what happens to them and their communities,” Roberts said. “To them I say that we will fight for those pensions to our last breath, and we will prevail.
“There are those who say we need to roll back regulations that keep miners and other workers safe on the job,” Roberts said. “To them I say we will never compromise on health and safety at work. We have come too far and saved too many lives in America’s coal mines and workplaces to turn the clock back to a day when workers did not know if they would return home from their shift.”
“And there are those who say that we must solve the world’s climate issues by eliminating American coal miners’ jobs and further destroying their communities,” Roberts said. “To them I say we will never stop fighting for our members’ jobs no matter where they work. Wiping out American coal jobs won’t stop other countries from using coal to generate power. America must take the lead in developing technologies that will allow for the continued production of electricity with coal while reducing and eventually eliminating carbon emissions.”
Elected to International Office and serving on the UMWA’s International Executive Board with Roberts and Allen are:
At-Large International Vice Presidents
Don Barnett
James Gibbs
Donnie Samms
International District Vice Presidents
Chuck Knisell, District 2 (Pennsylvania, New York, Eastern Canada)
Steve Earle, District 12 (midwestern United States)
Gary Trout, District 17 (southern West Virginia, southern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, Virginia)
Larry Spencer, District 20 (southern United States)
Mike Dalpiaz, District 22 (western United States)
Rick Altman, District 31 (northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio)
International Auditor-Tellers
Jody Dukart, Canada
Tanya James, eastern United States
Roy Fernandez, western United States
Knisell and Altman will be serving on the Board for the first time; and Trout, Spencer and Dukart will be serving their first full terms on the Board, having been appointed after retirements by their predecessors.
The UMWA Constitution requires that a nomination period to be held prior to every International election, beginning on June 15 and ending August 1. Nominations are made during that period at special nomination meetings of local unions. 308 of the UMWA’s 309 local unions held nomination meetings. To be on the ballot, candidates must receive at least 20 percent of local union nominations.
The Roberts leadership team received the nomination of 307 UMWA local unions, and as the only nominees to meet the 20 percent threshold are automatically elected to five-year terms by acclamation.
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