Archives: News

This is for all News Pages

We must keep our promise to mine workers

Source: The Hill

July 23, 2019

Perhaps the warning light on your dash is nothing major, but what if it is? No one wants to pay for repairs that might not be needed, but we know that ignoring or avoiding the issue is to do so at your peril and sometimes at great cost.

Congress is facing a flashing warning light with the looming insolvency of the United Mine Workers (UMWA) 1974 pension plan. Now is the time to finally act and do something before the problem gets worse. Congress should pass the Miners Pension Protection Act (H.R.935).

In less than three years, the UMWA’s pension fund will reach insolvency and pension benefits for more than 100,000 miners and their families will be at risk. The families and communities that depend on those pensions will be at risk as well.

The Miners Pension Protection Act ensures that our nation takes care of those who risked their lives to power it. Congress has an obligation to pass this bipartisan bill that would ensure our nation will keep the promise it made to our retired miners, their families, and their widows.

These miners did not do anything to cause this crisis. Their union did not cause it, and their employers did not cause it. Yet, they are the ones who will suffer if we fail to act. Their modest benefit, an average sum of $586 per month, helps them pay for their homes, their groceries, medical bills and basic life necessities.

Misguided federal policies have decimated coal jobs for decades across the country. At the same time, funding for technology that will allow the world to use coal in a carbon-neutral way – a key component of any effort to curb emissions — has languished.

The increased use of natural gas to generate electricity, along with artificial market manipulation to encourage greater use of renewable sources, has led to the closure of hundreds of coal-fired power plants, cost tens of thousands of jobs, reduced the demand for coal and bankrupted more than 50 coal companies. All these recent events – on top of the 2008 financial crisis – brought us to this point.

Since 2013, we have pushed for legislation to fix this problem, and protect the solvency of pensions for retired miners.

In May of 2017, we took a small step by providing a fix for miners’ health care benefits that were at risk of going away. After years of uncertainty, we provided miners and their families with peace of mind that the health care benefits they worked to earn would be preserved. Congress needs to do the same for the UMWA pensions.

While some have advocated turning over UMWA pension plan to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the PBGC has said such an action would cause their multiemployer fund to be exhausted in just one to three years, resulting in massive benefit cuts.

Our solution allows the fund to survive and protect the modest benefits these miners earned through a life of hard, dangerous work.

For years now, Congress has been ignoring the miners’ pension fund warning light and now we are quickly running out of time to keep our promise.

While others may overlook and underappreciate miners, we know that they have worked to make this country the most powerful on earth, and now it is our turn to keep our promise to them.

Congressman David B. McKinley represents West Virginia’s First District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Cecil E. Roberts is a sixth-generation coal miner and President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).

‘Our paychecks bounced’: US workers in limbo as coalmines suddenly close

Source: The Guardian

July 23, 2019

 

Blackjewel files for chapter 11 in a move critics say is increasingly used to avoid paying workers what they are owed.

On 1 July, Missy Cole was notified by her bank that her husband’s most recent paycheck had bounced, leaving their account more than $1,000 in the red. Her husband had worked as a coalminer for nearly three years at one of the eastern Kentucky mines operated by Revelation Energy affiliate Blackjewel mining.

But both companies had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, a financial move that has implications far beyond just laying off staff as the ex-workers now wait for bankruptcy proceedings to play out. Critics say the move is a ploy increasingly used in the struggling industry to avoid paying workers what they are owed.

“A layoff is always expected with miners. It’s always in the back of your mind and it’s no surprise when it happens in the coal industry. But this is much more than a layoff,” Cole told the Guardian.

“We have absolutely no access to our bank accounts. Those accounts are still negative, and falling deeper into the negative daily. We cannot even touch his 401(k) to withdraw money to survive on without the signature of the Blackjewel mining CEO or his personnel.”

One of the largest coalmining operators in the United States, Blackjewel abruptly shut its mines after filing for bankruptcy, jeopardizing the jobs of about 1,700 workers in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Wyoming.

Workers are still unsure if they will be permitted to return to work and for how long, if they will be paid for bounced checks and what will happen to their health insurance and benefits.

“It’s been very hard, not knowing if you’re going to be able to put food on the table for your three kids,” said Mark Turner, a Kentucky miner at a Blackjewel-operated mine. He’s unsure how he is going to afford his upcoming house payment, electric bill or buy clothes and supplies for his children with the new school year approaching.

Jimmy Justus, 22, a mine worker for Blackjewel in Virginia, owes his bank more than $1,400 because his last paycheck bounced.

“Now my account has been closed,” he said. On 1 July, Justus was sent home under the impression work would restart the next day, but then heard from co-workers the company had filed for bankruptcy. “The day-shift foreman had no intention of telling anyone anything.”

Another coal worker in Virginia, Mark Atwell, was on vacation with his family at Dollywood when he discovered his last paycheck had bounced. “I had no money to feed my family or even gas to get back home on,” Atwell said, who has three children and a disabled wife.

According to the bankruptcy filing, Blackjewel mining has at least $500m owed in liabilities. A worker in Wyoming has filed a class action lawsuit against the company, which claims the company failed to give employees’ proper notice, and wages and benefits earned before and after the bankruptcy filing.

Blackjewel is the third large US coal company to declare bankruptcy since May 2019, despite promises from Donald Trump that he would save the coal industry and its jobs.

Since Trump took office, about 2,000 jobs have been added to the coal industry, which currently employs an estimated 53,000 workers. The industry has shed more than 30,000 jobs in the past decade, driven by automation and changes in the energy industry, as renewable sources recently surpassed coal production for the first time ever in the US, and natural gas production hit a record high in 2018.

Through filing bankruptcies, attorneys who have represented coal miners argue current laws allow operators to avoid obligations they have to workers.

“It is especially egregious where Blackjewel bounces paychecks to the employees. This compounds with the loss of health insurance and other benefits,” said Jack Jacobs, an Alabama-based attorney who has represented workers in black lung cases. “The miners work very hard and sacrifice a lot for these operators. Very frustrating to see how their loyalty is repaid.”

Attorney Shannon Anderson with the Powder River Basin Resource Council in Wyoming condemned the management of Blackjewel by its CEO, Jeff Hoops, who was recently forced to resign.

Hoops did not respond to a request for comment.

Anderson said: “Hoops was buying up distressed assets from bankruptcies and companies trying to offload mines that were no longer economically viable, and basically created a coal company with those assets.”

She said several Blackjewel-operated mines in Appalachia racked up various environmental violations and citations as the company operated at a loss and tried to keep costs as low as possible.

She added: “None of these mines were making money and he was paying himself before any of the lenders, and basically running these mines at very low cost.”

Because Blackjewel LLC is privately owned, Anderson noted there is less public disclosure into what’s going on with the company, leaving many questions unanswered for workers, their communities and if Hoops will be held accountable.

“All the information we’re getting is more or less off of social media and other co-workers in other states,” said Joe Williamson, a Blackjewel coal worker in Virginia.

Hoops resigned as a condition for a $5m emergency loan, though his multimillion-dollar plans to build a resort in West Virginia will reportedly not be impacted by the bankruptcy. In a letter to workers, Hoops claimed “no one is hurting more than me” as a result of the bankruptcy.

Few workers agree.

“Our paychecks bounced,” said Jeffery Cochran, a coal miner in Kentucky who has worked at a Blackjewel-operated mine for nearly four years.

“Some people have been denied unemployment which is owed to us. He didn’t pay into it for some people, but yet he can build a $30m resort, and doesn’t have to pay us.”

A representative for Blackjewel shared a press release issued on 10 July that noted about 140 employees have returned to work, and they would be paid for prior and future work, but did not address bounced checks for employees outside of Wyoming or the fees workers are accruing due to bounced checks and late bill payments.

 

 

Sen. Roberts forgets the history of the district he represents

Source: The Register-Herald

July 18, 2019

Senator Rollan Roberts calls for civility in teacher unions (”A call for civility in teacher unions,” July 3). I began to question whether I had his district correct in my mind, so I looked it up. Sure enough, Roberts is from Raleigh County and represents Raleigh Wyoming and a part of McDowell in the 9th District. The senator called out teachers and service personnel for staying silent and not speaking out against the dreaded union bosses. Does he not know the union history of his own district?

West Virginians have deep roots. We have a strong sense of home that’s bred into us. We gain comfort from our lush green mountains, and the heritage that sings through the tree tops down into our valleys.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s in Boone County, we all heard the songs of our ancestors through the lips of our family members. My daddy graduated from high school in 1971 and immediately began working in the coal mines. We lived through many strikes and layoffs throughout the years.

We sat down at the dinner table every evening when he got home and frequently discussed what was happening at the mines and what the union was doing about it. The United Mine Workers of America changed the lives of Appalachians throughout the 20th Century and we take that very seriously. Most of us weren’t alive during the hardest fought battles of our people along with the UMWA, but those stories have been passed down to us. They have solidified our community and forever impacted our history as West Virginians.

No one should be shocked when we rally together to head to the capitol. It’s in our blood to stand up for what is right. The term “union boss” is worn as a badge of honor. When we see the green camo and gold, we pay attention. To smack the proverbial hand of teachers and service personnel for unionizing and fighting for our students and the educational system in West Virginia is quite disheartening. I would hope the folks that take care of my two little boys all day have adequate training, supplies, support, pay and can take a day off when they are sick. Sadly, as educators, we have to fight for these rights every legislative session now and even special ones they call against us.

Sen. Roberts, you seem to have gotten most of your story backward. The “reprehensible, vindictive, retaliatory, and hypocritical” behaviors that you mentioned were not exhibited by our great state’s teachers, service personnel or union leaders. Those behaviors were exhibited by the majority caucus of both the House and Senate towards educators in the 2019 legislative sessions.

Anytime you begin to question what “the union” is doing, walk outside and listen to the voices of our ancestors of 100 years ago. They will tell you to listen to and fight for what is right for our workers, our people, and most importantly the children of West Virginia.

Heather Hayes Ritter

Librarian, Scott High School, Boone County

Treasurer, AFT Boone Local 6101

Union Plus: Concerts and Events

Union Savings That Get You Off the Sidelines and Into the Stands

Enjoy exclusive union-member discounts on everything from live bands, professional sports and even Broadway hits.

 

Here’s a Peek at What You Can Save On:
  • NFL Tickets and VIP Packages
  • Lion King on Broadway
  • Concert Tickets

 

“It was great to be able to afford orchestra seat tickets to a show. It definitely made it a more memorable experience.”

-Arlene  

 

 

Access Your Union Plus Concerts and Events Discount

Access your Union Plus Concerts and Events discount by registering and/or logging into the Abenity website for Union Plus members.

 

REGISTER/LOGIN THEN GET OUT AND HAVE SOME FUN

Head of miners union calls Green New Deal’s main goal ‘almost impossible

The Source: The Hill

July 15, 2019

The president of the United Mine Workers of America characterized the progressive Green New Deal’s goal of transitioning to renewable energy over 10 years as “almost impossible.”

The Green New Deal, introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) earlier this year, aims to cut greenhouse emissions in half by shifting to 100 percent renewable energy over the next decade. The proposal also calls for creating millions of “good, high-wage” jobs to achieve that goal.

“It’s almost impossible to transition in 10 years away from fossil fuels even if everybody was for it,” Cecil Roberts told Hill.TV on Monday. “It just can’t really be done but if you did do that, you’re going to have a massive, terrible economic problem on your hands.”

Roberts argued that over the past 10 to 15 years, the U.S. has been slowly transitioning from coal to natural gas, and that thousands of coal miners in Appalachia have been making the shift too.

“As coal miners have lost their jobs, thousands and thousands of other workers have been able to get employment in Appalachia doing the pipelines to these facilities and in some instances, drilling for natural gas and the new technology — the fracking and all that, that we have all kinds of debates about,” he told Hill.TV.

“What we’re talking about with the Green New Deal is we’re going to eliminate that. So all of this new technology that’s been in place and all the work that’s been gathered because of that — we’re talking about eliminating that and starting down the road to completely renewables,” he added, while noting that climate change is a “worldwide threat.”

Last week, Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) among others, backed a resolutionto declare a climate change an emergency. The resolution would not enact any initiatives to combat climate change or lower emissions.

“This is a political crisis of inaction,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s going to take political will, political courage in order for us to treat this issue with the urgency that the next generation needs.”

The Trump administration has rolled back a number of Obama-era climate initiatives and repeatedly cast doubt over whether climate change is real.

In a recent speech touting his administration’s environmental policies, Trump didn’t mention climate change.

—Tess Bonn

To watch President Roberts interview click here.

Roberts praises former UMWA president during bridge dedication

Source: MetroNews

July 12, 2019

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A man with courage is how United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts described former UMWA President Arnold Miller on Friday.

Roberts spoke alongside two of Miller’s children at the UMWA District 17 Office in Charleston during a dedication of a sign that will be placed on an Interstate-77 bridge near Miller’s hometown of Cabin Creek barring his name.

The late Miller was President of UMWA from 1972 to 1979.

“This way he will never be forgotten,” Roberts said. “Not that he was ever going to be but this is something every time someone goes across the bridge from some other state or some other location in the state, they will say well who was Arnold Miller. Once they go across they will look it up who he was.”

Born in Kanawha County on April 25, 1923, the late Miller became a coal miner at the age of 16.

Roberts said he most admired Miller for his service in the Army in World War II where Miller was severely wounded during the D-Day invasion.

Returning home from service and after 19 operations for his battle wounds, Miller found himself back in the mines.

In 1969 Miller was the leader of a union local where he helped lead the passage of West Virginia’s first black lung compensation law.

Miller ran for UMWA President in 1972 against Tony Boyle, the incumbent, and won to become the first true rank-and-file miner to head the labor union.

Roberts said Miller’s run in 1972 came with a lot of courage because of the murder of Boyle’s previous opponent Jock Yablonski.

“To say that I want to the person to run against Tony Boyle after Jock Yablonski, his wife and his daughter were murdered. He had a lot of courage to do that and it was a tough election,” Roberts said.

“There was a lot of arguments and fistfights along the way but he won.”

From the election, Roberts said Miller helped transform the union as it is today.

First, at the 1973 convention brought democracy to UMWA’s national movement and complete democracy to the coalfields.

“The first time we elected our district officials, we had never done that in the history of the union until after the 1973 convention,” Roberts said.

“Then he gave us a right to ratify collecting bargaining agreements. We never had those rights.”

Roberts said the contract Miller helped negotiate in 1974 was one of the best contracts in the history of the coalfields. The contract helped bring personal leave days, floating vacation days, sick and accident insurance to miners, something Roberts said people take for granted these days.

Miller resigned as president in 1979 due to health issues and died six years later in Charleston at age 62.

The bridge that sits on I-77 on the way to Marmet and Charleston has donned Miller’s name with military honors but through legislation in the House, will read UMWA President 1972-1979 now.

A declaration from the House of Delegates was read Friday noting Miller’s achievements.

Roberts said everyone can learn from Miller’s life.

“He taught us with democracy and autonomy comes responsibility. Sometimes we forget that.”

Miners’ union invites Democratic candidates to court coal workers

Source: NBC News

 

The union’s invitation to 23 presidential candidates comes as mining job losses continue under President Trump.

 

WASHINGTON — The United Mine Workers of America, the union representing mineworkers for nearly 130 years, has for the first time invited every Democratic presidential hopeful to tour a coal mine and to discuss their thoughts on finding a place for coal workers in their vision for the nation’s energy future.

In letters sent Monday to 23 Democratic presidential candidates and obtained by NBC News, the union’s president, Cecil E. Roberts, said many miners who have felt estranged from the Democratic Party for years are now interested in starting a dialogue.

“They want to talk to you, and they have a right to be heard,” Roberts said, inviting candidates to “demonstrate that Democrats are still the strong voice for working families that has long been the party’s tradition.”

The last Democratic presidential candidate to tour a mine with coal workers was John Kerry in 2004.

Mine workers were often the face of the “forgotten man” Trump vowed to prioritize in his 2016 insurgent campaign. As president, Trump has taken credit for what he has called a coal comeback after easing rules governing greenhouse gas emissions and the storage of toxic coal ash over the past two years.

But the reality is far different. Coal production is expected to hit a record low in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a nonpartisan agency. And today, there are fewer people employed by mine operators and contractors than there were under President Obama, according to the Department of Labor.

“Coal-fired power plants have continued to close notwithstanding those rules,” UMWA spokesman Phil Smith told NBC News.

While the steepest decline in coal jobs came between 2012 and 2016, 2018 was a record year in terms of coal plant retirements in critical coal states including Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio.

Just this past week, 600 miners in Gillette, Wyoming lost their jobs when Blackjewel LLC suddenly shuttered two mines.

In the meantime, miners and a landowners’ group are raising health, safety and environmental concerns due to huge open pit mines that aren’t being managed by trained experts, including spontaneous coal fires, explosives and abandoned clean-up operations.

Yet it’s unclear how miners and Democrats will agree on a plan to transform the nation’s energy future. Many Democrats have made addressing climate change a pillar of their campaigns amid historic flooding, hurricanes, heat waves and wildfires.

While they are rolling out plans to invest in clean energy technology in coal communities, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s experience is a cautionary tale. In her book, “What Happened,” Clinton said her biggest regret from the campaign was stating that her plan would put a lot coal miners out of business.

The miners have not sent a letter to Trump with a similar offer, said Smith.

“The miners kind of already know where President Trump is on their issues,” he said.

By Heidi Przybyla

Union leaders call for new MSHA silica standard

Source: Safety + Health

July 1, 2019

Washington — Alarmed by a recent spike in cases of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, a deadly but preventable condition commonly known as black lung, union presidents Cecil Roberts of the United Mine Workers of America and Leo Gerard of United Steelworkers have sent a letter to Mine Safety and Health Administration leader David Zatezalo requesting stricter regulation of respirable silica dust.

In the letter, dated June 19, Roberts and Gerard cite extensive research documenting the impact of silica dust exposure on the resurgence of black lung. One study, released by the University of Illinois at Chicago in May 2018, found that more than 4,600 coal miners have developed the most severe form of black lung disease since 1970, with almost half the cases emerging after 2000.

Writing that MSHA’s current silica standards haven’t been updated since 1985 and are “in desperate need of revision,” Roberts and Gerard call for a new standard to protect miners from silica dust. The pair recommend MSHA follow the example of recent OSHA silica standards for construction and general industry and maritime, respectively, both of which lowered the permissible exposure limit by half to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air over an 8-hour period.

A carcinogen found in sand, stone and artificial stone, crystalline silica also can cause other conditions such as silicosis – a chronic disease that involves scarring of the lungs – and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. OSHA estimates that 2.3 million workers are exposed to silica dust annually.

“MSHA should consider the OSHA silica rule and then promulgate a new rule that is as, if not more, protective of miners,” the letter states. “Currently, our nation provides less protection from silica to miners than to any other group of workers. That is unacceptable.”

Additionally, the letter recommends MSHA:

  • Require the use of a recently developed NIOSH tool designed to provide post-shift assessments of mine workers’ exposure to silica.
  • Require more miners to be sampled.
  • Focus “special attention” on cutting activities that involve high concentrations of silica.
  • Work closely with NIOSH, the National Black Lung Association and similar organizations to share information and monitor trends.

According to the Department of Labor’s Spring 2019 regulatory agenda, released May 22, MSHA in July intends to issue a Request for Information on respirable crystalline silica.

Meanwhile, Roberts and Zatezalo testified during a June 20 hearing before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee on MSHA’s measures to protect miners from black lung.

During his testimony, Zatezalo said MSHA’s RFI will focus on personal protective equipment, focusing primarily on helmets with respirators, which provide “clear air” to miners.

Roberts, however, said certain mine work makes it virtually impossible to wear that kind of PPE, as well as others. Zatezalo expressed optimism that MSHA could find a way to make the PPE less cumbersome, noting that OSHA’s silica rule allows compliance achievement through PPE while MSHA’s current standard doesn’t.

Union Plus – Hearing Care Discounts

 

Exclusive Hearing Care Savings

The Union Plus Hearing program offers exclusive savings on hearing care including virtual screenings, a free hearing exam, and an average of 66% off retail on trusted hearing brands*.

Call 877-583-7071 (Monday-Friday 7am to 8pm (CST) to speak with one of our hearing care advocates.

Take care of your hearing — once and for all

If you’re having difficulty hearing certain sounds or syllables, these are tell-tale signs of hearing loss. If you’re starting to see these or other signs of diminished hearing, it’s time to take action.

 

Free exams, batteries, warranty and so much more

With the Union Plus Hearing Care Program, union members receive exclusive discounts on high-performance hearing aid leading brands such as Amplifon (via Miracle Ear©), Oticon, Phonak, Starkey, and more.

Free benefits include a free hearing exam plus unlimited follow-up care for one year; a 60-day risk-free trial, a three-year warranty (including loss and damage), and a two-year battery supply or a free charging station (depending on the type of hearing aid purchased).

 

The next-generation hearing solutions are here

Today’s hearing aids are small and packed with powerful technology to make sure you don’t miss a beat (literally).

 

Smaller, smarter, rechargeable

With the Union Plus Hearing Program, you’ll save hundreds on a wide selection of affordable hearing aids. Choose from small, smart, and rechargeable models equipped with the sound quality and connectivity you need to keep moving.

Don’t let hearing loss slow you down. Click here to view Union Plus’s full website to find out more!

 

*Based on internal 2022 MSRP analysis. Your savings may vary. 1100% money-back guarantee if not completely satisfied, no return or restocking fees. 2Exclusions and limitations may apply. Contact Amplifon 877-583-7071 for details. 3 Two-year supply of batteries (80 cells/ear/year) or one standard charger at no additional cost