Archives: Press Release

AUGUST 22, 2019

[CHARLESTON, W.VA.] United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts and International Secretary-Treasurer Levi Allen will walk from Marmet, W.Va., to Racine, W.Va. the morning of September 2, 2019 – Labor Day – in the kick-off event of the UMWA’s two-year remembrance of the 1921 March and Battle of Blair Mountain.

“Blair Mountain was the largest armed insurrection in the history of the United States, other than the Civil War,” Roberts said. “Yet few know that it happened, even right here in West Virginia. We have an obligation to our ancestors who participated in that epic struggle for mine workers’ freedom to never let their sacrifices be forgotten.”

More than 12,000 union miners took up arms on August 24, 1921 and marched under the leadership of Bill Blizzard, Cecil Roberts’ great-uncle, from Marmet through Racine and toward the largely nonunion strongholds of Logan and Mingo Counties, ready to seek retribution for the murders of UMWA supporters Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers in Welch. They were met at Blair Mountain, which is the dividing line between Boone and Logan Counties, by men under the command of Logan County Sherriff Don Chafin, who had organized his private army at the bidding of the nonunion coal companies.

After a five-day battle with many casualties, U.S. Army troops arrived in the area to break up the fighting. With many of the miners being World War I veterans and not wanting to fire upon their own nation’s troops, the miners laid down their arms and dispersed.

Roberts and Allen will be joined on the eleven-mile walk by West Virginia Delegate Mike Caputo (D-Marion) and a small group of others. After they arrive in Racine they will participate in the UMWA’s annual Labor Day Picnic at John Slack Park.

WHAT: Reenactment of the first segment of the Blair Mountain March

WHEN: Monday, September 2, 2019 (Labor Day) 7:00 am to noon

WHERE: State Route 94, Marmet to Racine, W. Va.

WHO: UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts, UMWA International Secretary-Treasurer Levi Allen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JULY 18, 2019

UMWA urges action to save health care and pensions of retired miners

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

“I want to thank U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) for speaking on the Senate Floor yesterday about our fight to pass the American Miners Act and save the health care and pensions for retired coal miners.

“I will be testifying about these very issues before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources of the House Natural Resources Committee on July 24, 2019.

“We urge swift action by the House to pass this legislation and get it over to the Senate so that these retirees and widows do not need to worry about whether or not they will have the health care and pensions they deserve.

“It is time to stop the uncertainty these retirees have to live with every day. They earned their health care and their pensions and they do not understand why Washington’s politicians have yet to fulfill America’s promise to them.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JULY 9, 2019

[WASHINGTON, DC] Cecil E. Roberts, International President of the United Mine Workers of America, yesterday sent letters to all the candidates for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, inviting them to come to a union coal mine and go underground.

“Coal miners are very concerned about their future, and their families’ futures.” Roberts said in the letter. “They want to know that those who are running for President share that concern and have some understanding of what they do and why they do it. They want to talk to you, and they have a right to be heard.”

Roberts sent the letter at a time when the sector of the coal industry that produces steam coal, used as fuel for electricity generation, is under great stress. Coal-fired power plants are disappearing at accelerating levels, with 289 closed since 2010. Fifty have closed just since January, 2017. This has caused further coal company bankruptcies, including last week at Blackjewel LLC in Wyoming, where 600 miners found themselves unemployed with no notice whatsoever.

“While the steam coal sector reels from shock after shock, the workers inevitably end up taking the worst blows,” Roberts said today. “The Trump administration rolled back several regulations that would have made things even worse, yet the market has not recovered and steam coal production jobs are still being lost. If the market and public policy trends we are seeing today continue, American coal production will soon be limited only to the type of coal used to make steel, which is just 20 percent of all coal mined in this country.”

Most Democratic presidential candidates have endorsed the Green New Deal or offered similar plans that would hasten the closure of coal-fired power plants and the mines that feed them. Those plans fall far short of the kind of specificity needed to give miners a sense of comfort that their families’ lives will not be completely disrupted.

“These candidates are promoting plans that will put hundreds of thousands of people associated with the production, transmission and generation of coal-fired power out of work in a relatively short period of time,” Roberts said. “But if all they offer in return are jobs as solar panel installers, making $14 an hour working as contractors with no health insurance, no paid time off from work and without the protection of a union contract, how can they expect a miner to happily accept that deal?

“That’s why I invited the candidates to come to the mines,” Roberts said. “They owe it to these workers to meet them face to face, tell them their plans and then just listen. They may get an earful, but that is the only way to start the dialogue that needs to happen. This action is not about who we are supporting for President, it’s about finding out who is supporting us.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 13, 2019

[TRIANGLE, VA.] The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) that will result in a $1.00 per hour wage increase over the remaining life of the existing agreement and the restoration of a holiday for the workers represented by the Union.

            The parties agreed to a wage increase of 50 cents per hour effective August 15, 2019 and another 50 cents per hour increase effective January 1, 2021. Additionally, the parties agreed, effective January 1, 2021, to restore the birthday holiday that UMWA members gave up when the current agreement was ratified in 2016.

            “We are pleased that the parties were able to reach this reopener agreement that recognizes the hard work our members have done over the last two and a half years since the current contract was ratified,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said. “They have not had a raise for more than three years and they deserve one. Under this agreement, they will have two.”

            The National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 2016 runs through December 31, 2021, and covers all Murray Energy subsidiaries in Northern Appalachia where the workers are represented by the UMWA.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 10, 2019

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

“Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has demonstrated his contempt for the working families of Appalachia and other coal-dependent communities once again with his $500 million pledge to destroy every American job associated with coal by 2030. Instead of taking a rational approach to addressing the issue of climate change, he has pledged to throw more than 800,000 people out of work and destroy their families and communities while he’s at it.

“Bloomberg is not just interested in throwing coal miners and their families in the ditch, he is throwing utility workers, electrical workers, building tradespeople, boilermakers, laborers, railroad workers and more in the ditch as well. And his action contributed to the assault on pensions and health care of retirees his Wall Street buddies began in 2008 when they cratered the American economy and caused a worldwide recession.

“And if he is successful, the only thing he will have achieved by 2030 is to put all those families on the economic chopping block, because simply ending coal-fired power in the United States will have no actual effect on global greenhouse gas emissions. Nations in Africa, Asia and South America already have hundreds of coal-fired power plants under construction, all built without the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that will be needed to truly address climate change.

“His money would be much better spent on helping to more rapidly develop CCS so that it can be commercially applied in America and across the globe. But since he apparently doesn’t have the vision to see that, he should at least team up with his buddy Tom Steyer and donate $2 billion or so to the UMWA 1974 Pension Plan, since he has been such a driving force in putting it in critical and declining status. At least then he would be doing something to help Appalachian families and communities instead of destroying them.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 4, 2019

[CHARLESTON, W.VA.] United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts issued the following statement today, after the passage of legislation by the West Virginia Senate that includes language that would prohibit strikes by teachers and school support personnel and subject them to being fired if they participate in a picket line:

“Once again, the Republican leadership in the West Virginia State Senate have demonstrated that they are mere tools of the radical out-of-state billionaires who pull their puppet strings. No one who actually cares about West Virginia schools, children and families would ever propose such meaningless nonsense, let alone codify it in legislation.

“Teachers and school support personnel already do not have the right to strike in West Virginia, but they ignored that and demonstrated the power of solidarity in each of the last two years. Their fight for better education for our kids remains an inspiration to education professionals across the nation, and the UMWA was proud to stand with them.

“From the Baldwin-Felts thugs at Paint Creek and Cabin Creek to Sherriff Chafin at Blair Mountain to Don Blankenship at Massey Energy, the UMWA has a long history of standing up to union-busting bullies in West Virginia. Mitch Carmicheal and his minions in the Senate are no different, and we will never back down to their kind.

“Let me make this very clear: If our state’s education workers believe they need to take to the streets once again, we will be there with them. And if someone comes to arrest them, they will have to go through us first.”​

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 29, 2019

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) today sent a March 21, 2019 letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) asking them to consider and pass H.R. 934, the Health Benefits for Miners Act and H.R. 935, the Miners Pension Protection Act as soon as possible.

The letter said, in part, “passage of this legislation to preserve retired miners’ pensions is a key legislative priority of the NAACP…. As such, we strongly urge you to advance these bills through your committee and on to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as quickly as possible.”

“Throughout our history, the NAACP has advocated for people who are struggling against adversity,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “Retired miners and their widows fit that description today. Their benefits are at risk through no fault of their own, and Congress is the last resort to save them. This cannot wait any longer; Congress must act as fast as possible.”

“We are extremely appreciative of this strong support from the NAACP,” United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts said. “Their support for our retirees and widows lifts the hearts and spirits of every one of us. Theirs is a powerful and clear voice on behalf of millions of working people in this country, and we are proud to have their support as we continue our fight to preserve earned retirement benefits for our members.”

H.R. 934, by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) preserves health care benefits for retirees of coal companies that went into bankruptcy in 2018, and H.R. 935 preserves pension benefits for some 106,000 current and future coal industry retirees across America.

For more information on both these bills, click here.

To see the entire letter click here.

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