UMWA President Cecil Roberts to retire this fall

Source: MetroNews

Date: March 11, 2025

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Longtime United Mine Workers Union President Cecil Roberts has announced his retirement bringing to a close 30-years of leading the labor organization.

Roberts, a native of Cabin Creek, told the UMWA’s International Executive Board on Jan. 16 that he will retire at the close of the International Special Convention that will be held in October in St. Louis.

The union made the announcement in a social media post Tuesday.

“I am going to retire at the end of the Special Convention. I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world. It has been 59 years since I was drafted, and I survived Vietnam, returned home and have been able to live for 50 plus years. I contracted cancer because of Vietnam, but I’m cancer free as of now and am working to remain so. I am a lucky guy,” said Roberts.

“Brian Sanson is going to be your next president. I want everybody to know that I am going to do everything I can to support him, and I’m going to do everything in my power to get him elected when the next elections come around. I will put my name on every piece of material I can in support of him. I suggest that we all ought to do the same.”

After returning home from Vietnam, the fiery Roberts got a job at Carbon Fuel’s No. 31 Mine near Winifrede in eastern Kanawha County. He was elected vice president of UMWA District 17 in 1977. He began serving as UMWA International Vice President in December 1982. He took over for Rich Trumka as president of the union on Oct. 22, 1995.

Roberts is known for holding up the union’s past and fighting for its future.

In a September 2021 commemorative march to remember the Battle of Blair Mountain, Roberts told MetroNews.

“This is something that labor is determined to keep visible, This is something that led to organizing not only in West Virginia but across the country.”

Tuesday’s announcement from the UMWA said Roberts looks forward to spending time with his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren when he retires.

 

Written By: Jeff Jenkins

Associate Member Spotlight

 

Belinda Biafore

The January/February issue of the journal proudly features Belinda Biafore as its Associate Membership Spotlight.

Belinda Biafore is an Associate Member and long-time supporter of the United Mine Workers. Sister Biafore is the former West Virginia Democratic Party Chairwoman and has been an active leader in organized labor. “Our sister Belinda is an amazing woman,” said International President Cecil Roberts. “She is always involved in a fight for the working people of West Virginia. We have been friends for many years and I have deep appreciation for our sister in labor.”

When asked what it means to be a part of the UMWA, Belinda stated, “I have walked alongside my brothers and sister of the United Mine Workers of America for as long as I can remember, and I will continue to do so for as long as I can.”

 

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Federal rule to protect miners from black lung disease faces uncertain future

Source: Kentucky Public Radio

Date: January 20, 2025

 

A Biden administration rule lowered the amount of toxic dust workers in mines and quarries can be exposed to, but a lawsuit and new Congress could upend it.

At the Salem Stone Quarry in Dublin, Virginia, miners crush rocks with a machine. The air is thick with dust.

“You can try as hard as you want to, there’s gonna be some dust somewhere,” said Scott Ross, director of engineering at Salem Stone. “But we’re trying to minimize that as much as we can.”

Another machine pulverizes the stones into finer material for asphalt.Quarries like this exist all over the United States, and like coal mines, they’re regulated as a mining operation. There are scores of companies like Salem Stone which, alone, operates 14 quarries in Virginia and North Carolina.

“They all have silica,” said M.J. O’Brien, CEO of Salem Stone. “We have some [quarries] that have almost 100% silica and some that are a little less.”

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced a new rule last year. It says mines, concrete factories and gravel quarries will face stricter regulations limiting the toxic silica dust workers can be exposed to, and potentially inhale. Any exposure to silica dust poses a risk to develop into black lung disease — an incurable scourge that’s been on the rise in Central Appalachia.

For coal mines, where they’ve been monitoring the dust levels for years, the penalties could start in April. Other places, like the Salem Stone Quarry in Dublin have an extra year to reach compliance.

“We are full steam ahead with implementing it,” said Chris Williamson, MSHA Assistant Secretary. “I only have control of that up until January 20 and I have no reason to think that that won’t continue, but I hope it does.”

Williamson was appointed by President Joe Biden and was not asked to stay on by incoming President Donald Trump’s team.

 

Defending the silica dust rule

Last year, house Republicans tried to block funding to enforce the new silica rule, and they could try again in the next budget negotiation.

Meanwhile, there’s an ongoing legal battle after a group of mining companies took the rule to court, saying the agency overstepped its authority when trying to regulate them. Williamson said he’ll be working right up until the last day defending the safety measure.

“My goal is to at least provide a full throated defense of that rule… before I walk out the door,” Williamson said.

Rebecca Shelton, director of policy for the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, said staffing and political will in a Republican-led Congress are going to be important to making the new silica dust rule effective.

“The boots on the ground to do the enforcement, and also the desire to do the enforcement are going to be really important,” Shelton said.

Shelton doesn’t think the silica rule is perfect. Throughout the rule-making process, the ACLC criticized it for relying on companies to accurately self-report toxic dust levels.

But she says any delay to implementation and effective enforcement means more miners will be put at risk.

“We’ve been waiting for this for such a long time…” Shelton said. “I think the bottom line is that we just, you know, we’re trying to prevent disease.”

Back at the Virginia stone quarry, O’Brien says enforcing the new rule will cost his company lots of money, and there are things he doesn’t like about it. For instance, he says the agency could be better at communicating with companies how they plan to enforce the new rule. But that doesn’t mean he wants to see the Trump administration get rid of it.

It’s complicated, but yes we’re in favor of it, because it goes further to protect our people and we’re gonna protect them at all costs,” O’Brien said.

He’s hoping that whoever Trump picks to lead MSHA will have what he says is “more common sense” overseeing the agency.

 

 

Written by: Roxy Todd, Justin Hicks

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Source: Union Plus

 

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MEU launches Grosvenor explosion investigation

Source: Mining safetowork

Date: January 8, 2025

 

The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) is launching an investigation into the 2024 explosion that caused a month-long fire at Anglo American’s Grosvenor coal mine in Queensland.

The fire broke out on June 29, leading to the immediate evacuation and sealing of the mine until the blaze was confirmed to be stanched on July 25.

Not much is known about how the explosion that started the fire occurred. The New South Wales Resources Regulator visited a number of coal mines across the state following the outbreak at Grosvenor in a bid to understand what could potentially lead to such an event.

The new MEU investigation will aim to bring together mine safety experts from Australia and around the globe, led by MEU Queensland district industry safety and health representative (ISHR) Jason Hill and general vice president Steve Smyth.

The investigation seeks to understand how the explosion was able to take place, including which systems and procedures failed to prevent it from occurring.

“The event itself was a coal mine explosion and had the potential for the catastrophic loss of life,” Smyth said.

“This investigation ensures that the MEU leaves no stone unturned in understanding why this explosion has occurred. We owe it to our members, their families and all underground miners.”

The MEU has already taken action, analysing documentary evidence and data, including gas monitoring data, ventilation readings, inspection reports, risk assessments, hazard management plans, standard operating procedures and trigger action response plans.

Already assisting in the investigation is Grosvenor site safety and health representative Julian Barnsdale, south west district ISHR Stephen Barrett and Queensland district policy and admin officer Annika Geraghty.

The team was joined by United Mine Workers of America administrator for health and safety Josh Roberts, who provided the proceedings with an international perspective.

A site visit of Grosvenor has since been conducted, with the team inspecting surface infrastructure and gas drainage and meeting with workers who were underground at the time of the event.

Hill said the witnesses interviewed by the team gave great insight and detail into the incident.

“We are very fortunate to have a very experienced and knowledgeable investigation team,” he said.

“It’s our intention to create a final report into this investigation, it is so important to do this before the mine reopens.”

 

Written by: Kelsie Tibben 

A Day of Reflection

Source: Herald-Standard

December 8, 2024

 

The thick cold air and unforgiving winds did not seem to deter the union workers and their family members who came out to pay their respects on Friday to the men who lost their lives in the Robena Mine explosion 62 years before.

“These miners sacrificed their lives for me to have it better, for us to have it better,” said Charles Knisell, the international vice president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). “There are no words to describe the value of the sacrifices that they’ve made for us.” And while the somber outing was a reminder of a heartbreaking event that saw the death of 37 men – 31 of which belonged to the United Mine Workers of America – it also served as a reminder of the hard-fought triumphs and current struggle of organized labor.

“We have safer air to breathe, we have safer mining conditions, regulations and so forth on a daily basis because of folks like this, folks that died in Robena,” Knisell said.

On Dec. 6, 1962, at around 1:03 p.m., an underground blast at the Robena Mine killed 37 men, during a time in which no regulations were in place in coal mines. An investigation revealed that the explosion was caused by a buildup of methane gas that was likely ignited by a spark from the mine equipment.

“Robena was a terrible disaster. Families couldn’t properly bury their loved ones, caskets were closed. It was a very violent disaster,” said UMWA Secretary-Treasurer Brian Sanson. “But some good (did) come, whether it be in the form of laws that protect our miners or just more diligence being done on behalf of miners.”

It would take another seven years, but in 1969 the federal government adopted the Federal Coal Mine and Health and Safety Act, which led to the creation of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Keynote speaker and UMWA International President Cecil Roberts reminded those in attendance that countless lives were forever affected by the explosion.

“Let’s remember the others from this tragedy,” Roberts said. “The others would be the mine rescue team that went down in that mine that day and risked their lives to try to recover their brothers from this disaster.”

Roberts also spoke about the toll it took on families, many of whom lost heads-of-households that day.

“In most cases a bread winner went out that door that day and never came back,” he said. “Somebody, mostly the widows, had to take care of the children, had to make the house payment, the car payment and feed everybody.”

Despite the backdrop of a memorial service, Roberts was able to blend a tone of respect for the dead with a hopeful message for organized labor.

“I believe that coal miners and coal miners’ families are the best people on earth,” he said. “They are ready to fight for the United States. They are ready to fight for their rights, and they’ll stand up and fight when nobody else will.”

The union president also reminded the crowd the importance of organized labor and unions as he recounted the type of conditions coal miners were subjected to before regulations.

“In those days there were no such things as black lung. Miners were dying all over this nation,” he said. “Hundreds of thousands of miners died from black lung because there are no restrictions on the matter in the coal mine – until a union stood up.”

 

Written by: Zach Petroff