News Archive - Page 42 of 58 - United Mine Workers of America

Retired from Kemmerer coal mine, workers plead for pensions in company bankruptcy

Source: Casper Star Tribune

Perry Norris, 65, worked at the Kemmerer coal mine for 40 years. For four decades he worked three shift rotations. He broke an elbow at the mine in southern Wyoming, broke his back and picked up a persistent cough from years of inhaling dust, he explained in a handwritten letter submitted Monday to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, where Westmoreland is moving rapidly through its Chapter 11 restructuring.

His reason for writing was to object to Westmoreland potentially cutting pensions and health care benefits for retired miners like him.

“I am 65 and my wife is 64,” Norris wrote. “We are barely surviving on our social security and retirement together.”

Similar letters told similar stories: 30, 40, 46 years of work in Kemmerer and fear that income those workers had believed would carry them through retirement would disappear with the approval of a judge in Texas.

Westmoreland Coal Co., which owns the Kemmerer mine and three mines in Montana, filed for bankruptcy in early October, with a lender already on hand and a plan to restructure $90 million in debt. The company, which is one of the oldest coal firms in the country, would also sell off core assets.

In bankruptcy filings this week, the company requested permission from the court to offer incentives to 243 managers, averaging $6,000 per upper-level manager. The company would like to set aside $1.5 million per quarter through the period of bankruptcy for bonuses.

The company argued that incentives — which are not uncommon during bankruptcies — would keep mangers from leaving due to the company’s financial insolvency. Bonuses were also requested of bankruptcy judges in the high-profile Chapter 11 cases of Peabody Energy and Alpha Natural Resources, large Wyoming coal firms whose bankruptcies bookended Wyoming’s dramatic coal downturn.

Westmoreland was the first coal firm to seek bankruptcy protections since 2016, when the largest firms in Wyoming buckled under debt in a narrowing coal market. The pressures that led to those bankruptcies in the Powder River Basin have continued — competition with cheap natural gas, an increase in renewable power on the grid, customer preference for green energy — and they’ve pressured Westmoreland.

But the United Mine Workers of America have protested Westmoreland’s plea for relief at the expense of miners who bargained their retirement plans over decades of work in southern Wyoming.

Weeks after Westmoreland’s bankruptcy filing, the United Mine Workers of America filed an objection to the coal firm’s reorganization plan over retiree benefits. The union argued that the company’s progress was unnecessarily rushed and that Westmoreland’s lender would oversee employee bargaining agreements and benefits.

The union and the company had spatted via letters in the runup to the bankruptcy over this very issue. The union argued Westmoreland had an obligation. The company pressed that economic conditions had changed for the worse.

“The unfortunate reality is that Westmoreland Coal Company and its subsidiaries cannot survive as a going concern without material changes to the retiree medical benefits currently offered to union employees and retirees,” a Sept. 18 letter from the company to the union’s lawyers states. “We will be filing for Chapter 11 protection shortly and we will have no choice but to address this pressing issue.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 9 that Westmoreland had paid $10.2 million in bonuses to its executives in the year before filing for bankruptcy, a point noted in many of the miners’ letters.

Miners are looking at the possibility of poverty, wrote Steven Hutchinson of Utah, who said he worked at the Kemmerer mine for 41 years before retiring.

“Please be wise and have (compassion) on the worker, his family,” he wrote. “Hold Westmoreland to the (their) moral responsibilities and commitments.”

Calls to Westmoreland’s offices in Colorado were not returned by press time.

The Kemmerer mine employed 286 miners as of June. The union is currently bargaining for a new contract, a process union members report has been slowed by the bankruptcy.

Pacificorp, the lone buyer of coal from the Kemmerer mine, has also lodged a protest to some of Westmoreland’s bankruptcy plans. The Oregon-based utility, parent company to Rocky Mountain Power, said that if Kemmerer were to abruptly shut down it would “advance the interest of private financial creditors over public utilities and their customers.”

The mine and the power plant are significant drivers of local income, as well as two of the few employment opportunities in the rural town.

Jim Vilos worked at the mine for 41 years. His letter to the judge recalls working in subzero temperatures that numbed the feet and hands.

“It was our job and we done it,” he said. “We the miners kept our end of the deal.”

Written by: Heather Richards

Westmoreland Coal Asks Bankruptcy Judge Permission to Pay Bonuses for Top Managers

Source: KTVQ.com

BILLINGS- Westmoreland Coal, the owner of three coal mines in Montana and one in Wyoming, is asking a federal bankruptcy judge for permission to pay bonuses to 243 of its top managers.

In a filing this week, Englewood, Colo.-based Westmoreland said the bonuses would total $1.5 million per quarter as the bankruptcy proceeds and average $6,000 per employee.

In making its case, Westmoreland said it cannot afford to risk losing the valued employees, whose continued employment is crucial to ongoing restructuring efforts.

Westmoreland, one of the nation’s oldest coal companies, owns the Rosebud Mine at Colstrip along with the Savage and Abasloka Mines in Montana and the Kemmerer Mine in Wyoming. The company has a total of 1,743 employees.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Oct. 9 in Houston as it attempts to restructure more than $1.4 billion of debt. Westmoreland shares traded at 7 cents at market close Thursday.

Environmental groups and union miners are crying foul over the proposed bonuses.

Mike Scott of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign says the bonuses won’t go to those who need it the most.

“It doesn’t appear that any of these bonuses are going to miners. It seems to us those are the people who really need to be supported right now as coal in general is facing a steep decline in its market. Really what Westmoreland is doing right now is wrong,” said Scott, who is based in Billings.

Scott also said the uncertainty surrounding Westmoreland’s future also poses a challenge to groups trying to keep tabs on the company’s plans and commitments.

“In this restructuring, it appears they are talking about just liquidating, so we don’t even know who’s going to own this mine in a couple of months. That makes it really hard to deal with things like new permitting and expansion at the mine, because it’s hard to say who’s going to be in charge of implementing what they propose,” he said.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents approximately 300 miners at Colstrip, told Q2 News it’s keeping a close eye on the company’s bankruptcy but has not decided if it will try to intervene.

Montana IUOE Business Manager Steve Gross said union members at Colstrip voted earlier this month to extend their current contract with Westmoreland through March of next year, in hopes that many of the questions about the company’s future will be decided by then.

In Wyoming, the United Mine Workers, which represents union workers at the company’s Kemmerer Mine, has intervened in the bankruptcy raising concerns that Westmoreland is using its bankruptcy to cut health care benefits for retirees.

Q2 left a message for Westmoreland officials Thursday afternoon but has not heard back.

Written by: Jay Kohn

Robena Mine memorial service to take place on Dec. 6

Source: Greene County Messenger

A memorial service will take place on December 6 to honor the miners who died 56 years ago in an explosion at U.S. Steel Corp’s Robena Mine No. 3.

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) will begin the service at 11 a.m. at the Robena Monument on Route 21 in Monongahela Township, just west of Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station.

UMWA District 2 and the Local Union 1980 will conduct the service, which takes place each year to honor the 37 miners who died in one of Greene County’s worst mining disasters. The memorial service also fulfills a promise by the UMWA to never forget the men who died, as well as their families.

“Robena was the impetus for the development of the Mine Safety and Health Act in 1969,” said Edward Yankovich, International District 2 vice president. “This service reminds us year after year of the sacrifices of these men for a common good no matter how tragic it was.”

The public is invited to attend and the UMWA has extended a special invitation to the union’s membership and families.

The keynote speaker at this year’s event will be UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts. Also scheduled to speak is Levi Allen, the secretary and treasurer for UMWA International. Yankovich will serve as master of ceremonies.

According to the UMWA, at about 1 p.m. on December 6, 1962, an explosion ripped through Robena Mine, starting from a point about 650 feet below ground and about two miles from the base of Frosty Run Shaft in Carmichaels. The force of the explosion was so strong it knocked down men who were working more than two miles away.

One hundred and seventy men were in the mine at the time of the explosion. The 37 miners who died were members of a continuous miner crew working in the 8 left 4 main section.

The explosion was believed to have been caused by a buildup of methane gas, resulting from a temporary shutdown of ventilation fans. The gas was ignited by a spark from mine equipment.

The explosion at Robena was the worst mine disaster to have occurred in Greene County since May 19, 1928, when an explosion at Mather Mine took the lives of 195 miners.

The 37 men who lost their lives at the December 6 explosion were: Adam Andrews Jr., Norman A. Benninghoff, William J. Blacka, James H. Boyd, Albert Bronakoski, Nicola Caromano, Albert Cavalcante, Frank Hainzer Jr., James W. Hribal, Frank Hudock, Andy J. Hvizdos, John Karlyak, Andrew K. “Kino” Kanyuch, Arthur Labons, Charles Laucher, Alex Marra, John C. Martoncik, Elmer W. McCann, Orrin E. McDowell, Ernest Mollica, Homer F. Pitts, Samuel Rain, Franklin H. Rifenburg, Allen J. Sanner, John M. Santer, Charles J. Sebeck, Charles J. Seper, George L. Speelman, John J. St. Clair, Hurley C. Stalnaker, Mike E. Stanik, John H. Steech, Joseph V. Tokish, Charles S. Van Divner, William H.R. Wright, Eugene G. Zuzak and Paul C. Zvolenski.

Written by: Jon Stevens

UMWA Miners Keep Youth Warm Around the Ohio Valley

Source: The Intelligencer – Wheeling Register News

Students can stay warmer at the bus stop, sled longer when the snow falls and better enjoy watching Christmas parades, thanks to the Winter Warmup for Kids.

A program of the United Mine Workers of America Local 1473, Winter Warmup is providing 300 coats to children in need this year. The coats, along with hats and scarves, are being distributed at eight local schools in Ohio and West Virginia.

Local members on Tuesday presented coats to staff at the Bellaire school, while Ohio County Schools received donations Monday. Others school districts receiving coats this year include Bridgeport, Martins Ferry and Barnesville. Central Elementary in Moundsville also is receiving a donation.

John Miller, recording secretary for Local 1473 and a Mount Olivet resident, said he started the program five years ago after he drove by a school and noticed a young child not wearing a coast despite it being cold outside.

“He didn’t have a coat, but I did have a coat on and I wanted to do something about it,” Miller said.

Since then the UMWA, with help from Boscov’s and donations of money and coats from groups like Trinity Lutheran Church in South Wheeling, Christ Lutheran Church in Mozart, Align HR and UMWA members, have given away 1,300 coats to various elementary schools in the past five years.

Miller said the principals and staff members of each school determine which students are in need of the coats. They give Miller the sizes needed and how many are for boys or girls. Miller then gives that information to Boscov’s, which then compiles the needed coats for pickup by the UMWA.

“It doesn’t matter how many they need,” Miller said of a school. “If need they 50 coats, we get them 50 coats.”

Donnie Samms, UMWA at-large international president and a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, resident, said Miller has the full backing of the UMWA and his local members for the program.

“We’ve always tried to be involved in the community,” Samms said of the union. “This local is the best example of that. It takes a lot of heart and a lot of work.”

Ritchie Elementary School Principal John Jorden said UMWA and Miller do an exceptional job in providing for Ritchie students, and he has been told this year’s contribution to the school’s students may be the biggest donation yet.

“I’ve heard that they’ve outdone themselves,” Jorden said. “They always come through for our kids, and I can’t say enough about what a great effort this is.”

Westmoreland Paid Millions in Executive Bonuses in Year Before Bankruptcy

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Westmoreland Coal Co. paid eight of its current and former executives more than $10.2 million in salary, bonuses and severance in the 12 months before the coal-mining company filed for bankruptcy protection in October.

Executives at Westmoreland collected additional compensation in the form of benefits and expense reimbursements over the same one-year period, according to a Thursday filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. The Englewood, Colo.-based company also listed more than $3.8 million in so-called retainer payments and management fees to its directors.

Bankruptcy rules require companies that seek protection from creditors in chapter 11 to disclose payments made to insiders during the 12-month period prior to the bankruptcy filing. Westmoreland paid more than $5.88 million in bonuses and $2.27 million in salary to current and former executives, the filing said. Nearly $1.98 million in severance was paid to the company’s former chief executive officer and president and chief operating officer.

The bonuses are described in court papers as incentive awards. Financially distressed companies across industries regularly pay these types of bonuses to executives in the months leading up to a bankruptcy filing.

“This is how chapter 11 works,” said Jared Ellias, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings who studies corporate governance in bankruptcy and is the author of a forthcoming academic paper on the payment of corporate bonuses in bankruptcy.

Westmoreland’s senior lenders, who are funding the chapter 11, consented to the bonus payments before the bankruptcy filing, a person familiar with the company’s restructuring told The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The cash bonuses are intended to retain executives who had participated in a long-term incentive program that had been paid in stock but that is now essentially worthless in chapter 11, this person said. Westmoreland’s stock was previously listed on the Nasdaq and is expected to be cancelled in chapter 11, court papers say.

Westmoreland interim Chief Executive Michael Hutchinson received more than $2.36 million in bonus payments, while Chief Operating Officer Joseph Micheletti received $1,240,200 in bonus payments, court papers say. The board appointed Mr. Hutchinson interim chief executive in November 2017. He had served as an independent director since 2012, according to the company.

Chapter 11 creates incentives for distressed companies to pay executive bonuses prior to a bankruptcy filing, Professor Ellias said. Such bonuses can, in effect, help retain top managers during a bankruptcy. Meanwhile, it can be more difficult to award such bonuses while a company is in chapter 11 because such payments are reviewed by a judge and could bring a legal challenge from creditors or labor unions, he said.

Westmoreland filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 9, listing about $1.4 billion in debt. The company is seeking concessions from its union employees and retirees. The coal-mining company employs about 1,732 workers overall. Westmoreland is party to seven collective bargaining agreements covering about 900 employees, according to court papers filed in October.

“Once again, we find corporate executives looting coal companies and driving them into bankruptcy while setting up workers to take the brunt of the fall,” UMWA International President Cecil Roberts said in an email to the Journal.

“Just as we have in every bankruptcy that has hit our industry, we will fight for our active and retired members through every step of this bankruptcy,” Mr. Roberts said. “If Westmoreland thinks it can steamroll the UMWA it had better think again.”

Under a proposed chapter 11 plan, Westmoreland’s lenders have agreed to acquire the company’s Canadian operations and mines in New Mexico and Montana in a proposed transaction that would reduce the coal-mining company’s debt. The agreement is subject to higher bids. A handful of other U.S. mines owned by Westmoreland will be marketed separately during the bankruptcy, court papers say.

Written by: Jonathan Randles

Band of Brothers and Sisters

A very special event Thursday at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place, took place.

In fact, you could call it an international event, a presidential inauguration, a non-political rally, a who’s who of labor leaders, a tribute to women, a civil rights gathering, a rockin’ country music concert, a convention on family values and a church revival that would make any evangelist proud — all rolled into one.

That’s what happens when the membership of the United Mine Workers of America comes together for its inauguration of officers, including the president of the UMWA, Cecil Roberts.

With over 600 union “brothers and sisters” in attendance, as well as many family members of UMWA officers from across the United States and Canada — yes, it is an international union — the bond that connected those in attendance, as well as the thousands of union members on the job across North America, is a spirit of mutual trust, respect and commitment to a common cause.

It’s no wonder that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who also got his start in the UMWA, was present and spoke at Thursday’s event.

This is not the “wildcat strikers” and union protestors fighting against armed company “thugs” of the 1920s-1960s. No, this is a union dedicated to non-violent civil disobedience as taught by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. UMWA members have learned to win the good fight for justice, worker safety, fair wages and benefits — not through violence, but through perseverance.

Make no mistake: There is plenty of fight in these union members. But their strength comes in their shared values and their willingness to stand up for others, even those who are not members of the union.

Surprisingly, today’s UMWA has found that reaching across the political aisle can have very positive results when people put aside their differences for the common good.

Certainly, the UMWA has endorsed Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., for re-election because of his decades of championing issues important to coal miners, such as black lung benefits, retiree pensions and health care and coal mine safety.

But in what was surely a historic occasion, Republican Congressman David McKinley took center stage to a standing ovation for his tireless efforts to overturn Obama administration rules and regulations that were part of the “War on Coal.”

If that was’t impressive enough, the UMWA Constitution requires that at least one member of the union’s senior leadership team be an African-American. James Gibbs, who hails from southwestern Virginia, was sworn in for another term as an international at-large vice president.

But the UMWA didn’t stop there. Starting with this year’s union elections, at least one member of the senior leadership team must be a woman. As a result, during the inauguration of officers, Tanya James, a member of Local 9909 at Loveridge Mine in Marion County, was sworn in as an international auditor/teller.

In addition, the UMWA has pledged to fight for equal pay for equal work for women and require safe workplaces where women are afforded the same rights and respect as their union male counterparts.

Talk about promoting diversity. The UMWA has led the way in promoting equal rights for all.

The chief evangelist of the UMWA is none other than Roberts, a sixth-generation coal miner from Cabin Creek. He was re-elected to another five-year term, having already served 23 years as president, making his tenure in that post the second longest in the history of the UMWA. Roberts also serves as a vice president of the AFL-CIO.

A Vietnam veteran, Roberts also makes it a priority to honor and recognize the sacrifices that our nation’s veterans have made so our families and our communities can enjoy the liberties and freedoms that we all take for granted.

Although overall union membership in the United States has fallen to a low of 10.7 percent, compared to 20.1 percent in 1983, you have to credit unions like the UMWA for fighting for better wages and benefits, as well as safe work conditions — all of which has enabled much of the middle class in America to enjoy the standard of living that we do.

Fighting for coal miners’ benefits

Source: Times West Virginian

The coal miners of West Virginia and Virginia dedicated their lives to mining the coal that powered our nation to greatness. Over 70 years ago, President Harry Truman recognized the important role our brave miners were playing in our economy and the ongoing war effort. He made a promise that the government would guarantee coal miners’ healthcare and pension benefits in return for their service.

Last year, after months of hard work and negotiations, we finally secured the healthcare benefits that our coal miners’ have earned. That would not have been possible without the miners themselves traveling to Washington, D.C. to attend countless hours of meetings and hearings to advocate for the benefits they were promised. This was an important win for coal country, but our work is not done yet. The pensions our miners have worked for over the years are still on the chopping block, and we are not going to stop until Washington makes good on President Truman’s promise to coal miners and their families.

Together, we introduced the bipartisan American Miners Pension Act to shore up the 1974 United Mine Workers of America Pension Plan. In the years we’ve spent fighting to save these hard-earned benefits, we’ve heard from thousands of miners and their families about the devastating impact the loss of these pensions would have on their families and their communities.

We couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, with each day that passes, miners face more uncertainty and often some tough choices as a result.

We’ve heard from retired miners, their wives and children who have shared their fear of being forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying their medical bills. These men and women aren’t asking for a handout. They just want the federal government to keep its word.

We will not sit idly by while Congress refuses to act and miners grow closer to making these cruel choices.

What we’re going to do is keep fighting until we pass the American Miners Pension Act, standing alongside miners, their families, their unions, and their communities who are all in this together.

What we’re not going to do is let political partisanship get in the way of doing what’s right for coal country. Just this month, we worked with Sen. Capito and several other Republican Senators who represent coal mining states to pass legislation improving early detection of black lung disease and complicated black lung. With President Trump’s signature earlier this month, that legislation is now law.

And we’re going to keep fighting for coal miners’ pensions with the same bipartisanship that was crucial to saving their healthcare benefits. The American Miners Pension Act is sponsored by coal-state senators of both parties. When it comes keeping the promise to America’s coal miners, we all play for the same team.

But the truth is, this fight is about more than pensions. It is about making sure our government keeps its promise. And it is about making sure that people who work hard can still get a fair deal in this country.

That is something worth believing in and worth fighting for.

West Virginia and Virginia coal miners are among the hardest working people in America. They have dedicated their lives to powering this country and keeping it the strongest in the world. We will continue fighting for a solution that is worthy of their sacrifice.

Joe Manchin is the senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia. Mark Warner is the senior U.S. Senator from Virginia.

Written by: Senators Joe Manchin and Mark Warner

Miners Urge Congressional Action On Pensions, Black Lung Fund

Source: Ohio Valley Resource

Retired coal miners and coal community activists are on Capitol Hill this week urging action on two important issues for miners: pensions and black lung benefits. Advocates say funds supporting both pensions for retired miners and the federal benefits for those sickened by black lung disease are at risk if Congress does not act.

Pension Problem

A United Mine Workers of America spokesperson said the miners’ pension fund could become insolvent by 2022. Congress created a Joint Select Committee to shore up this and other similar pension funds that are in jeopardy. But UMWA spokesperson Phil Smith is concerned that the committee is not making enough progress. Smith said Congressional Democrats have proposed a potential solution but Republicans have not responded.

“They’ve had a few meetings and they’ve had a few hearings but they really didn’t hear much from workers,” he said.

If the miners’ pension fund goes under, it would be backed up by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. But lawmakers have expressed concern that the failure of large pension funds could in turn overwhelm the PBGC.

“Society at the end of the day, and taxpayers at the end of the day, are going to have to pick up that cost,” Smith warned.

Black Lung Fund

Retired Kentucky coal miner Larry Miller is also skeptical about whether the committee will find a solution to the miners’ pensions. And Miller is also concerned about what’s ahead for miners who depend on federally-supported black lung benefits.

Miller mined coal for more than 20 years and is on Capitol Hill this week talking to lawmakers about the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which covers the costs for miners who worked for companies that have gone bankrupt.

The fund is supported by a tax paid by coal companies which is set to be reduced unless Congress intervenes. In June the Government Accountability Office found that the fund could be in financial trouble without Congressional action. The issue is personal for Miller, who has been diagnosed with stage one of black lung disease.

“The doctor said you could live like this the rest of your life and not see any lung impairment,” he said of the progressive disease, “or you could start to go down tomorrow.”

The Ohio Valley has seen a surge in cases of black lung disease. That will likely mean more demand for benefits from the trust fund, which is already in debt.

Miller said the prospect of reductions in both pensions and black lung benefits is a frightening one-two punch for miners and retirees. Coal miners who developed black lung rely on those benefits and their pensions to live because they can’t work and support themselves due to their illness.

“I based our retirement on social security and this pension. If we lose one leg of that retirement, pensions, we’re going to be looking at some tough financial decisions,” he said.

And he said those effects could ripple through the economies of many communities that have already lost jobs because of coal company bankruptcies.

Congress has until the end of the year to reinstate the tax supporting the black lung trust fund. The Joint Select Committee is to present its recommendations for shoring up multi-employer pensions by November 30th.

Written by: Becca Schimmel

Jefferson County coal mine to be bought for $400 million

Source: Birmingham Business Journal

A private Birmingham coal producer is selling a coal mine in Jefferson County to a major public company.

Peabody (NYSE: BTU) is purchasing Shoal Creek metallurgical coal mine from Drummond Company Inc. for $400 million. The purchase price is subject to customary working capital adjustments.

Located on the Black Warrior River in Adger, Shoal Creek provides Asian and European steel mills with high-vol A coking coal.

“Peabody has consistently outlined our intention to upgrade our metallurgical coal platform and make strategic investments using a strict set of filters,” said Glenn Kellow, Peabody president and chief executive officer, in a news release. “We believe the purchase of the well-capitalized and high-quality Shoal Creek Mine meets these filters, offers major logistical advantages and represents an opportunity to create significant value.”

Peabody is buying the mine, preparation plant and supporting assets. Legacy liabilities other than reclamation are not part of the transaction, which is expected to close before the end of 2018.

“Peabody’s acquisition of Shoal Creek adds another productive metallurgical coal mine to the company’s platform,” said Benjamin Nelson, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service. “We view the deal as credit positive based on expectations that Peabody will fund the transaction with cash, maintaining its strong liquidity and positioning the company for stronger cash flow.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, certain preceding conditions, which includes Drummond’s negotiations of a collective bargaining agreement with the union-represented workforce, the United Mine Workers of America.

“As always, the UMWA’s mission is to keep our members working in good, safe jobs so that they can provide for their families. We will continue to do that no matter who the owner of the mine is,” said UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts. “We are in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement that is fair and equitable to both sides prior to this sale.”

The Shoal Creek Mine was developed in 1994 and employs a workforce of about 400. The current mine plan accesses 17 million tons of reserves under a minimal-capital plan. In 2017, the mine sold 2.1 million tons.

Credit Suisse and Lazard are acting as financial advisors for the transaction.

Peabody is a global pure-play coal company and a member of the Fortune 500, serving power and steel customers in more than 25 countries on six continents.

Written by: Hanno van der Bijl

A Life Built From Underground

Source: The Register-Herald

It was a normal Friday in 1971 when a young man returning home from the Vietnam War decided to become a coal miner.

Unaware that he would later become the longest serving president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Cecil Roberts stepped foot in his first coal mine as a sixth generation miner, ready to work.

Both of Roberts’ grandfathers were killed in the mines, and his great-uncle, Bill Blizzard, was a well-known organizer during the West Virginia Mine Wars in the 1920s. Blizzard was also a UMWA district president.

Despite his deep, familial ties to the mines, nepotism was never a factor for Roberts. Like every other hardworking coal miner, he paid his dues by starting at the bottom as a red hat.

The average height of a coal mine is 42 inches. Roberts’ first coal mining job was in a small, West Virginia drift mine with ceilings as low as 36 inches.

“The first day of work all you know is what you heard,” Roberts said. “I was scared to death.”

In those days, someone had to sign for each red hat coming to work. An experienced miner has to be responsible for you, Roberts explained.

A miner named Joe Prett was assigned to supervise him. Prett and Roberts loaded into an underground personnel carrier, commonly called a mantrip, on the mine railway.

“They (cars) didn’t have canopies on them because it was so low you had to lay flat in the car,” Roberts remembered.

Prett instructed Roberts to lie beside him.“He said, ‘Boy, don’t raise up or you’ll get your head took off,’” Roberts said. “I was like, ‘Do what?’”

He was terrified, but he took the cold, dark, 1.5-mile ride inside the drift mine like a champ, refusing to let the men he would later spend his career fighting for know he was scared.

The entire ride, Roberts thought, “What in the world did I get myself into?”

In the endless sea of underground darkness, the men could easily touch the ceiling of the small hole bored into the mountain. When the ride came to a stop, Roberts was once again astonished.

It was a good one-fourth of a mile walk to the location they had been assigned. He couldn’t stand, let alone walk. To his amazement, the older coal miners jumped out and got right to work.

“I kept hitting my head on the roof and thought, ‘This is absolutely impossible,’” Roberts said.

The experienced miners handed him a shovel and told him to get to work. After several hours, Roberts was hungry and thought he missed lunch.

“I actually thought they forgot about me.”

What felt like eight hours of work was only two. He was glad his first day was a Friday, with the rest of the weekend off.

“I couldn’t get out of bed on Saturday,” he said. “I thought, ‘I don’t know if I am going to survive this or not.’”

For two months, Roberts persevered. He learned to get around underground and the experienced miners helped him.

“Within three months, I loved it. I would’ve been happy to be a miner for the rest of my life.”

Roberts grew up in a remote area 15 miles up Cabin Creek Road in Kanawha County, locally referred to as “Shamrock Holler.”

He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966. After leaving Vietnam and becoming a coal miner, he became active in his local union No. 2236.

Roberts’ first elected role was vice president of his local union, District 17, in West Virginia. He served for five years. He was then elected vice president of the UMWA International in 1982 and served in that role for 13 years.

The time spent in Washington, D.C., for this position was a culture shock. For a kid who grew up in Shamrock Holler, the idea that a mortgage payment could be $1,000 was inconceivable. His family’s house payment was $176.

Roberts became UMWA president in 1995 at age 49. He acclimated to his new life in D.C., expecting to be there five to 10 years. Although he says he’ll always consider West Virginia home, he’s been in D.C. since 1982.

“I was fortunate. I was elected at a very young age,” Roberts said. In 41 years, he has only faced opposition in three elections, none of which have been hotly contested.

Throughout conversations with The Register-Herald, it became apparent that John Lewis, who served as UMWA president for 40 years, was appointed, not elected to the position, making Roberts the longest serving elected official in the history of the UMWA.

“That means I’m old,” Roberts remarked glibly.

He doesn’t take sole credit for his success though — “I couldn’t do anything here without others helping. Never think you get somewhere all by yourself because that’s a lie. You have to have other people help you along the way or you can’t be successful.”

When asked if this is the last term he will serve, Roberts says he plans on working if the people want him and he’s physically able. At age 71, he still proudly makes it to the gym daily.

As he reflects, he realizes how far he’s come from where he started.

“For someone to be born up a holler 15 miles up Cabin Creek Road… I’ve been blessed in a mighty way.”

He’s spent his life fighting for coal miners’ jobs, pensions and safety. He’s also witnessed the coal industry evolve and change — not always for the better.

When he first started working in the mines, anyone could become a miner. Coal companies were hiring everywhere in Appalachia.

“Look at the number of people that work in the industry now,” Roberts said. “It’s very, very sad. We went through the oil embargo in 1973.

“Many people don’t remember this, but Jimmy Carter was one of the most pro-coal presidents we’ve ever had,” Roberts said, referring to the coal council President Carter set up with hopes of the U.S. becoming energy independent.

Things began to change in the 1980s as America began to shift away from its industrial roots. Many mines closed that had once supplied the steel industry, resulting in a loss of work for many West Virginia miners.

In 1990, the requirements of the Clean Air Act forced operators to favor low sulfur mines to traditional coal, resulting in the closure of many local mines. As the debate on climate change progressed, there was a “drastic, drastic reduction in coal used in the United States,” Roberts recalled.

“All of those things transformed the coal industry over my career.”

Roberts laments that over 40 years he has witnessed the coal industry decline.

The most heartbreaking result, Roberts said, is the large number of union jobs lost in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. To him, these union jobs were some of the best jobs, allowing people to live a great middle-class life with great benefits and health care.

“I think the nation has handled this poorly. Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, if you’re for reducing emissions in the atmosphere, there should’ve been a conversation with rules being implicated.”

Referring to a plan for education and retraining to replace the careers taken by these new laws, Roberts said he feels there was a lack of forethought to the unintended consequences of closing the mines that subsidized an entire economy.

In response to changes made by the current presidential administration, Roberts said he believes they have made it possible for currently operating mines to stay open.

However, he said the atmosphere has not been conducive to new opportunities for new or laid off miners. He realizes West Virginia has seen some increase in employment, but this isn’t the case nationwide.

He ascertains that the central issue for mines today is the closure of coal-fired plants.

“There is no investment on behalf of utilities to open new power plants which would create a sustainable market here domestically. The market overseas has been able to sustain. Every time there’s a closure of another coal-fired power plant, there’s a reality of miners losing their jobs.”

He explained that UMWA advocacy has centered on research for clean burning coal for years. Unions have supported this initiative because the utilities will not invest in coal-fired plants without assurances the plants will not be closed for carbon emissions violations in the next 30 years.

With the recent discovery of abundant natural gas, utility companies have an option for clean-burning, low-emission gas plants with indefinite resources.

To Roberts, the long-term solution is heavy economic investment in the coal mining industry.

Written by: Jackie Whetzel