Archives: Press Release

 

 

MANCHIN, LABOR SECRETARY WALSH, UMWA SECRETARY-TREASURER SANSON TOUR OHIO COUNTY COAL MINE, PROMOTING THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL’S IMPACT ON COAL COMMUNITIES

 

To view photos of Senator Manchin, Secretary Walsh and Secretary-Treasurer Sanson’s tour, click here

 

Wheeling, WV – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International Secretary-Treasurer Brian Sanson toured the American Consolidated Natural Resources Ohio County Coal Resources Inc. Golden Ridge Portal Mine to view underground mining operations. They also discussed the impacts the bipartisan infrastructure bill would have on coal communities in West Virginia.

 

“Today, I had the opportunity to tour the Golden Ridge Portal Mine with my friends Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and UMWA Secretary-Treasurer Brian Sanson and discussed the tremendous impacts the bipartisan infrastructure bill would have on West Virginia’s coal communities. For generations, West Virginia coal miners have made enormous sacrifices and done the heavy lifting to power our great nation. As our country and West Virginia move forward with emerging energy opportunities, we will not leave behind our coal communities,” said Senator Manchin. “I have always said the transition to a cleaner energy future must come from innovation, not elimination and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate will do just that. I look forward to working with Secretary Walsh to support and reinvest in coal communities across the Mountain State.”

 

“Our coal communities are a critical part of the bipartisan infrastructure investment bill and we must reinvest in them to create new opportunities in the clean energy industry,” said U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. “The Department of Labor is committed to training miners and keeping workers safe on the job. I’m grateful for the opportunity to join Senator Manchin today and see firsthand how our miners do the hard work of powering our homes and cities. This infrastructure bill will bring innovation, invest in our energy producers, and build a modern infrastructure through good-paying union jobs.”

 

“We appreciate Secretary Walsh and Senator Manchin for coming to the Ohio County Mine to see a safe and productive operation in person,”said UMWA Secretary-Treasurer Brian Sanson.  “The UMWA and our local unions work hard to ensure that union mines are safe mines, and we hope Secretary Walsh was able to see that first hand today. We look forward to having further conversations with him about how we improve safety conditions for all miners throughout the United States.”

 

In August, the Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) bipartisan infrastructure bill that will bring at least $3.8 billion to West Virginia for infrastructure investments over the next five years. The bipartisan infrastructure bill included Senator Manchin’s Energy Infrastructure Act – a robust energy and public lands infrastructure package that advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan basis.

 

The Energy Infrastructure Act would fund over $100 billion in energy and related infrastructure. Specifically, the bill would:

 

• Carbon Capture: The bill would fund more than $12 billion for carbon capture technologies, including direct air capture and demonstration projects on coal, natural gas, and industrial plants and supporting CO2 infrastructure. It also funds work to advance use of coal, carbon, and CO2 for valuable products, including a demonstration in Appalachia.
• Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation: The bill would fund $11.3 billion for the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Fund. As of September 2020, there were at least 140,355 acres of unfunded AML problem areas in West Virginia, which would cost at least $1.78 billion. It also extends the collection of the AML Reclamation Fee for 13 years. This fee levied on coal provides funding for the AML program.
• Hydrogen: The bill would fund $9.5 billion for hydrogen, including regional hydrogen hubs, of which two would be in the largest natural gas producing regions, including Appalachia. It would make NETL one of three lead laboratories for the new DOE hydrogen programs.
• Grants for Small- and Medium-Sized Energy Manufacturers: The bill would fund $750 million in grants for small- and medium-sized manufacturers of advanced energy products in census tracts where coal mines or coal power plants have closed in recent years so that investment in energy jobs returns to the communities and workers who have powered our country for generations.
• Demonstrating Clean Energy on Mine Lands: The bill also would fund a new Department of Energy clean energy demonstration program on current and former mine land to identify and address siting, permitting, and site remediation challenges.

 

To view photos of Senator Manchin, Secretary Walsh and Secretary-Treasurer Sanson’s tour,click here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 5, 2021

UMWA mourns the loss of UMWA President Emeritus Richard Trumka

 

[TRIANGLE, VA] United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E Roberts issued the following statement today.

“The global labor movement has lost a giant. Richard Trumka was more than the leader of the American Labor Movement, he was an unequaled voice for the workers around the world.

“Born the son of a coal miner in Nemacolin, PA, Richard learned the critical necessity for unions at an early age. His rise from coal miner to President of the UMWA to Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO and then to President of the AFL-CIO was an inspiration to us all. I had the honor of nominating Richard as Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO when he was first elected, and nominated him for that office and for the presidency, every election after that.

“Richard and I were partners in leadership at the UMWA for many years, but we were more than that. He was my brother, he was my friend, he was my confidant.

“The hearts and prayers of the entire UMWA family are with his wife, his children and his grandchildren. We will miss him terribly, but we know that he has joined Mother Jones, John L. Lewis, William Green, Phil Murray, and all other UMWA leaders who have gone before him.

“Rest in peace Brother. I will miss you.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JULY 9, 2021

 

More company violence on the Warrior Met picket line

 

[BROOKWOOD, AL.] The wife of a striking miner was hit while peacefully and legally walking a picket line at Warrior Met Coal here yesterday in other instance of company-inspired violence as Warrior Met attempts to intimidate strikers to return to work.

            “She was obeying the orders of the Sherriff’s Deputy to stay out of the way of vehicles as they were going in and out of the mine,” said United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts, who witnessed the incident. “Without any warning the driver of a Mazda pulled in, swerved toward her and struck her along her back and arm.”

            Amy Pinkerton, the woman who was struck, is the wife of Greg Pinkerton, a UMWA Local Union 2245 member who was a victim of another violent incident last month. A truck driven by Warrior Met personnel drove past a picket shack on the side of a road where Pinkerton was sitting, turned around and deliberately drove through the front of the shack and picket location, knocking a fire barrel 30 feet into Pinkerton. 

            “The deputy saw what happened to her,” Roberts said. “And then did nothing. This was a company foreman who committed this act of violence today. This is an intentional and ongoing pattern of vehicular assault perpetrated by high-level employees of Warrior Met. We need some equal justice from law enforcement here in Alabama.

            “I reiterate my call for Warrior Met’s CEO to meet with me as soon as possible so that we can negotiate a fair, reasonable and peaceful end to this strike,” Roberts said. “That is in the company’s best interests, the miners’ best interests and the communities’ best interests. This violence by company personnel has to stop.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 29, 2021

 

Sanson appointed UMWA International Secretary-Treasurer

 

[TRIANGLE, VA.] The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) announced today that Brian Sanson has been appointed by President Cecil E. Roberts as the union’s International Secretary-Treasurer, filling the unexpired term of Levi Allen, who resigned earlier this month.

 

Sanson, 47, has been a member of UMWA Local Union 1582 for 25 years. He has served as the UMWA’s Director of Research since 2008, and has been a key negotiator for dozens of contracts over the last decade covering the union’s members working in the coal and other industries. Sanson also serves as a Trustee for the UMWA Patriot VEBA, a fund established in the wake of the Patriot Coal bankruptcy in 2012, that has provided health care to thousands of UMWA retirees and dependents.

 

“Brian is smart, he is creative, and he is an extremely talented negotiator,” Roberts said. “There is no one who knows more about the economics and structure of the coal industry, and the other industries where our members work.

 

“Most of all, he is dedicated to our members and their families,” Roberts said. “He will be a great partner for me, the International Executive Board and the entire union as we embark on the very difficult path we have before us to preserve our members’ jobs and uplift their families and communities.”

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 25, 2021

 

UMWA announces resignation of Levi Allen as Secretary-Treasurer

[TRIANGLE, VA.] United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) announced today that Levi Allen, the union’s Secretary-Treasurer since June, 2017, has resigned.

“The Secretary-Treasurer’s position requires full-time, undivided, moment-to-moment devotion,” Allen said.

“My family and my personal life require more of my time at this point; I am simply unable to give the job what it is due. I thank President Roberts for the opportunity to serve the union in that capacity for the last four years.”

“Levi has been a good steward of the UMWA’s finances,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said.

“That is the first priority for any Secretary-Treasurer of the union. He has also been a strong voice on behalf of the safety and health of our members.

“I thank him for his service in that position, and he will continue to serve the membership of the union in another capacity moving forward.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 18, 2021

UMWA Applauds Bi-Partisan Legislation Establishing Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday

 

[TRIANGLE, VA.] As the nation celebrates the first official Juneteenth National Independence Day, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts issued the following statement today:

 

“I was very pleased to see Congress come together to recognize the importance of Juneteenth. This holiday commemorates the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed the last enslaved Black Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free.

 

“But it means so much more than that. Juneteenth celebrates freedom and reminds Americans of the significance of celebrating our history, of where we have been and where we need to continue to grow. Let us not only take today but every day to remember how far we still need to go in order for our nation and those who live in it to truly recognize and respect each other as equals.”

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 7, 2021

 

[BROOKWOOD, ALA.] Three separate incidents of vehicular assault by persons working for Warrior Met Coal, Inc. have occurred on legal picket lines set up by members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in the last three days, raising questions as to whether the company has determined that violence and the threat of bodily harm are its best responses to the ongoing strike by UMWA miners at the company (Videos of 2 incidents available here).

“Warrior Met personnel, either management or nonunion workers, have repeatedly struck our members who were engaging in legal picket line activities, with their vehicles,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said today. “We have members in casts, we have members in the hospital, we have members who are concerned about their families and potential of violence against them if they come to the picket line.

“We have been to court on multiple occasions regarding what we can and cannot do on the picket lines and our members respect the guidance of the court,” Roberts said. “Warrior Met seems to believe that it is all right to strike people with cars as they engage in legal, protected activity. This is a dangerous course of action that can swiftly lead to events spiraling out of control. That is the last thing anyone should want.

“I call on Warrior Met to back away from violence and finally come to the bargaining table in good faith, ready to hammer out a fair and reasonable agreement,” Roberts said. “But if Warrior Met decides to continue inspiring violence on the picket lines, their leadership should understand that UMWA members have been subjected to company violence for 131 years and will not be deterred from seeking a fair contract for them and their families. We are still here and we will remain here long after those leaders have gone.”

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