News Archive - Page 45 of 61 - United Mine Workers of America

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

Labor has its Day with November in mind

Source: West Virginia Metro News

MARMET, W.Va. — Before the Labor Day parade in Marmet began Monday morning, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., stood beside local union members and United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts for a photo.

After the photos were taken, Manchin talked to a handful of people about the importance of protecting the federal health care law as well as pensions for union members.

“We’re all in this together,” he said.

Manchin is in the midst of a challenging reelection campaign; political analysts consider the contest between the senator and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to be a toss-up or leans Democrat, although polling has favored Manchin.

While Morrisey spent much of Monday campaigning in the Eastern Panhandle, Manchin was in Marmet for the parade and Racine in Boone County in the afternoon for the UMWA District 17’s annual picnic.

“I need your help,” Manchin told the crowd. “This is not a West Virginia race; this is a national race. They’re spending millions of dollars from all over the country against me. I understand that. They just don’t care at all. They don’t know who we are, and they’re not going to wait to find out.”

For Roberts and the UMWA, the Senate race in West Virginia is a top priority.

“Joe Manchin has been a champion of our pension legislation, along with (Republican Sen.) Shelley Moore Capito and a handful of others,” he said. “If it wasn’t for Joe Manchin, there would be thousands of West Virginians without health care today.”

Congress approved a resolution in May 2017 that included a permanent solution for funding health care for coal miners, including more than 22,000 coal miners in West Virginia. The chamber did not reach a solution for funding pensions.

Manchin is a member of the Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans, who is responsible for finding a solution to fund pensions by the end of the year. Around 1.5 million Americans will be affected if lawmakers fail to act, including 86,000 coal miners..

“It’s slow-rolling, and it’s a shame,” Manchin said of the committee’s work. “Thank God we got health care. Took us three years. This is ridiculous.”

Roberts agreed the efforts have not been moving forward as quickly as it should.

“If there’s a big wave election in early November, I think many people will see the handwriting on the wall and try to come to some kind of compromise to try to protect these pensions for coal miners,” he said.

“Even if it doesn’t happen, I’m very confident the right thing will be done by Congress because of the lobbying we’ll do and the pressure that will be applied from these coalfield areas and across the United States to protect these pension plans.”

The UMWA endorsed Manchin in March, as well as U.S. Rep. David McKinley in the 1st Congressional District race and state Sen. Richard Ojeda, D-Logan, in the 3rd District contest.

“You cannot keep electing people who don’t vote for you. You can’t,” Roberts told the crowd in Racine. “You vote for somebody that’s not for you, you vote for somebody that won’t vote for you, that’s stupidity. I’m sorry. I’m just sorry.”

“You send me a scab, and he’s going to be a scab when he gets there,” he added.

Ojeda, one of the leading figures of this year’s teachers’ strike, said his campaign centers on representing the working class and unions.

“What they’re trying to do is trying to silence the voice of the union, and unions are starting to wake up,” he said. “The teachers’ strike woke up people across America, and they realized we have the power if we stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder, side-by-side.”

Manchin touched on the teachers’ strike, thanking those who participated in the work stoppage.

“The first time in our lives we’ve ever seen school service personnel, educators and teachers and administrators come together with parents and grandparents to say enough is enough,” he said. “That’s what you did, and you started a national movement.”

Teachers in other states, including Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Arizona marched for increasing pay and benefits.

Ojeda said in Racine his Republican colleagues were startled by protests on the state Capitol steps, which non-education unions supported.

“They said, ‘Oh my. What have we done?’” he said.

The West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Manchin, as did the West Virginia Education Association and West Virginia School Service Personnel Association.

“We endorse candidates that believe in the same thing that we believe in,” said Christine Campbell, president of AFT-West Virginia.

“Regardless of party, if everybody believes that people should have affordable health care, a living wage and a secure pension, then those are the people we should be electing.”

Manchin said he is a senator who puts the state’s working people first.

“Who’s going to be there for you? Who’s going to fight for you? Who’s going to understand how we were raised? Who understands the hardships we have? Who’s going to speak up against this and income inequality?” the senator asked the crowd.

“The rich can’t even spend what they got. They’re looking for ways to give money away. I’ll tell you how to give it away: Make sure the person who’s working gets an honest wage. Make sure they get benefits.”

Campbell and Roberts said their organizations will have an active role in the election, including informing voters through canvassing efforts.

Morrisey said in February he opposed the work stoppage and would support legal methods to enforce the law to prevent the teachers’ strike from going forward. He also noted in a release at the time support for raises.

“That was from being from Jefferson County. We saw a lot of teachers migrate over into Loudon County (in Virginia) or over into Maryland. I’ve always thought West Virginia teachers should be paid more to be competitive with states we touch,” he said Monday in a telephone interview.

While labor has backed Manchin, Morrisey’s recent support has come from the business sector; the West Virginia Coal Association and the U.S Chamber of Commerce have announced endorsements for Morrisey.

“People know that we have to continue the progress that we’re making with our economy, and President Trump pushed an important tax bill through that Joe said no to,” the attorney general said. “Joe Manchin says no to West Virginia values. He said no to the Trump tax cuts. He said no to the opportunity zones that are going to be able to lift impoverished communities up.”

Manchin said it is Morrisey’s values that aren’t aligned with those of West Virginians.

“Everything Patrick does is about Washington, whether it’s lobbying for the large pharmaceuticals and large distributors who put all these pills in our state … strictly business model,” Manchin said.

Both the West Virginia Coal Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed Manchin in past elections.

Manchin has voted in line with Trump’s agenda more than 60 percent of the time according to FiveThirtyEight, with noteworthy votes against efforts to repeal the federal health care law and the tax bill. Manchin said he is willing to work with anyone — including the president — but he does draw a line somewhere.

“He has to understand I work for the people of West Virginia. The only people I vote for 100 percent of the time is West Virginia,” he said. “That’s a 100 percent voting record for West Virginia.”

Written by: Alex Thomas

Southern West Virginia brings in national labor leaders on Labor Day

Source: Beckley Register-Herald

It would seem that a small park along the Big Coal River in Boone County wouldn’t serve as a national Labor Day celebration location, but with the 2018 general election right around the corner, it was just that.

Hundreds of members from District 17 of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) were drawn to John Slack Park in Racine to hear from UMWA International President Cecil Roberts along with political candidates, most notably U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and state Sen. Richard Ojeda, who is seeking the U.S House of Representatives seat for West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District comprised for the most part of the entirety of southern West Virginia.

Under a blistering September sun, the crowd was warmed up by performers singing labor and Appalachian songs before turning over the microphone to union leaders and political candidates.

While the mine union was central to the festivities, the state’s teaching union leadership was also on hand along with Sara Nelson, the International president for the Association of Flight Attendants, which according to its website represents over 50,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines.

Nelson told the crowd that she decided to make West Virginia her Labor Day stop in part due to the Mountain State’s labor history, quoting the famous Mother Jones, and the more modern history of this year’s teachers’ strike.

Congratulating the women of various union movements, Nelson introduced Roberts, who also took time to call female union members to the stage.

When Roberts began his speech in earnest, passers-by on Coal River Road could have been confused about whether what they were hearing from the fiery Roberts was an argument or an old-fashioned tent revival.

“I got news for the folks on the other side: This land is our land,” Roberts said, trying to fire up the audience after hearing the famous labor and protest song of that name earlier in the program.

A West Virginia native, veteran and coal miner, Roberts took a swipe at those who run large corporations.
“There ain’t never been no millionaire and no billionaire (that has) outworked somebody from a coal mine or anybody that ever worked for a living at all,” Roberts told the crowd.

Harkening back to the state’s labor struggles, most notably the mine wars, and labor’s success in building up unions across the nation, setting a healthy retirement plan for miners in the 1940s, influencing the passage of mining safety laws and the fight for the recognition of black lung, Roberts asked the crowd why God had chosen West Virginians and Appalachia for the task.
“God knows coal miners can handle it,” Roberts told the audience. “He knows we can handle it.”

While shifting from labor to politics, Roberts gave the crowd some blunt advice.

“You vote for somebody that’s not for you, you vote for somebody that won’t vote for you, that’s stupidity,” Roberts said.
After being introduced by Roberts, Manchin spent time discussing miners’ health and pension benefits.

While praising last year’s securing of health care benefits for miners, Manchin told the crowd that his attention has been turned toward securing the pensions of retired miners.

“We’re going to get that done. We’re going to get that done,” Manchin said.

Shifting paths, Manchin praised the efforts of the state’s unions in the successful teachers’ strike.

“The first time in our life we have seen school service personnel, educators, teachers, administrators come together with the parents and grandparents to say, ‘Enough is enough. We’re going to make sure our kids are going to get the proper education and the people that do it every day are going to be taken care of,'” Manchin said.

Sharing his family’s background in the mines, Manchin talked about an uncle, friends and a neighbor who were killed working in mines.

“You take that and tell me people know who we are, where we come from and all the challenges we’ve had in life,” Manchin told the audience.

Emphasizing that the congressional races in West Virginia had national implications, Manchin played to the underdog role of attempting to win the election as a member of the opposite party of a president who had carried the state by over 40 percentage points.

“The political parties don’t have all the answers, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican, they’re not always right,” Manchin told the crowd. “Pick the person that you believe in; pick the person you trust.”
Manchin then introduced Ojeda, a newcomer to national politics but a candidate who gained momentum after his support of the teachers’ strike.

“You are worthy,” Ojeda said, opening up his speech. “You are worthy. Think about that.”
Extolling the importance of the working man and woman, Ojeda urged anyone not in a union to join and anyone whose career field does not have a union to create one.

“If you don’t have a seat at the table, chances are you are on the menu,” Ojeda said.
Telling the audience of his family’s connection to mining, a grandfather who worked in the mines into his 70s and another grandfather killed in a mine collapse, along with his family’s connection to the UMWA, Ojeda thanked the audience for listening to him.

“It’s a pleasure to come here,” Ojeda said. “It’s always a pleasure to come here and find myself around people that know what it means to struggle, that know what it means to fight and that know what it means when you’re in a fight and you have to stand there with one another. This is a blessing. This endorsement means more to me than anything because this is my family.”

Ojeda told the audience that he has four uncles currently who live off miner’s pension and if elected he would work with Manchin to attempt to save those pensions because it is such a personal issue to him.

“We will get these coal miners’ pensions taken care of or we will rearrange the furniture on the House and Senate floor,” Ojeda said to the cheers of the crowd.

Written by: Matt Combs