Archives: Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 15, 2019

[CHARLESTON, W.VA.] The entire membership of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is mourning the passing of Mrs. Evelyn Roberts, mother of UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts. Mrs. Roberts passed away February 19, 2019 and was laid to rest on February 22.

She was born in Eskdale, W.Va., on July 7, 1919, and lived her entire life in the coalfields of West Virginia. She was the daughter, wife and mother of coal miners.

She was married to Cecil, her beloved husband of 68 years, before his passing in December, 2007 at the age of 91. Together they raised three children: Becky, Cecil and Lucille. Before marrying Cecil, Evelyn spent a majority of her time working with her grandmother, the legendary Mother Blizzard, a union activist and a close friend of Mary Harris “Mother” Jones. She is also the niece of Bill Blizzard, who led the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike of 1912 and also led the miners at the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921.

After living in a company-owned house for several years, she then moved into the house that Cecil built for the family. Cecil used lumber from the company house they previously lived in to build the home, and she lived there for 60 years. In an interview in 2017, she said she was proud to be a coal miner’s wife. Her husband started working in the mines at age 16 and was a miner for 48 years. She also stated she’s been provided a good life because of the United Mine Workers of America. Evelyn was an Associate Member of the UMWA.

Donations may be made to UMWA Miners Aid Fund, 18354 Quantico Gateway Drive, Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172 to the attention of Bob Scaramozzino.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 8, 2019

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

“A rogue group of members of the West Virginia House of Delegates has introduced resolutions to remove or censure Del. Mike Caputo for actions taken during a protest against a racist display sponsored by the West Virginia Republican Party last week. These resolutions serve to only ratify the racism so clearly demonstrated in the Capitol Rotunda.

“Mike has apologized for losing his temper, but no one should ever apologize for standing up against racism and religious intolerance. This attempt to punish him for doing so is an affront to the ideals that make our country what it is.

“The UMWA will not stand for this, and we call on all Delegates, regardless of party affiliation, to oppose the resolutions that could come before the House today. West Virginia – and indeed our nation and the world – is watching. Which side of history does the House of Delegates wish to be on?”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 2, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 1, 2019

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

“As the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of Westmoreland Coal draw to a close, I want to make sure our active and retired members and their families who are affected by this bankruptcy are up to date with where we are.

“We have negotiated a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the buyer of the Kemmerer and Beulah mines. However, we have not reached final agreement with the seller of those mines on funding for retiree health care going forward. Judge David Jones did order Westmoreland to set aside $6 million for retiree health care, meaning retirees do not have to worry about their immediate health care needs. But that is not enough to make it through the year, so negotiations are ongoing.

“When a final agreement on retiree health care is reached, the union will bring the tentative agreement before the membership for an explanation and a ratification vote. We expect this to occur by March 15, pending further rulings from the court.

“Regardless of how much money we are able to secure for retiree health care going forward, it will not be enough to provide the lifetime benefits that retirees earned and were promised. That is why we have worked with our allies in Congress to introduce House Resolution (HR) 934, the Health Benefits for Miners Act of 2019, and Senate Bill 27, the American Miners Act. These bills will put Westmoreland retirees’ health care under the umbrella of the UMWA Health and Retirement funds and will provide lifetime coverage.

“I urge all active and retired UMWA members at all former Westmoreland operations, their families, friends and community leaders to contact their members of Congress and urge that they support HR 934 and S. 27. The promise must be kept to all retired UMWA miners, their dependents and widows.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 14, 2019

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

            “National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting recently ran a generally excellent investigative story on the rise of coal workers pneumoconiosis, or Black Lung, in America’s coalfields. It was an in-depth piece that went beyond the normal reporting on the issue.

            “However, there was one part of the story that contained an inaccurate statement from Ms. Celeste Montforton, a former employee of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), regarding the UMWA’s position on developing regulations to curtail coal mine dust, including quartz and silica. She said that she “thinks” the union resisted promulgating such regulations. That statement is false.

“The Union has never take such a position. We have always forcefully argued that exposure to silica, quartz and all other coal mine dust must be controlled through all environmental and technological means available if we are to successfully eradicate pneumoconiosis. I have written a letter to NPR asking that they correct their reporting on this point (see letter here).

            “Due to the nature of this erroneous statement and the need to ensure that the UMWA’s consistent strong advocacy for miners’ health and safety is not besmirched by Ms. Montforton’s statement, I have decided to make our letter public. I look forward to discussing this with NPR, getting the correction made and moving on.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

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

“House Bill 2875, introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates last week, is one of the most outrageous attempts to slash critical protections for miners’ safety and health on the job that I have ever seen. The sponsors and co-sponsors of this bill should be ashamed of themselves for kowtowing to the will of some coal operators who care more about the coal than they do about the coal miners.

“This bill would drastically reduce safety inspections in the mines and take away inspectors’ enforcement powers, it would remove the right for a representative of the miners to travel with the inspector during his or her inspection and it would remove all of the state’s underground ventilation laws. It would make serious reductions to the amount of time new, inexperienced miners would need to be supervised by an experienced miner, exposing those new miners to dangerous conditions they are unprepared for.

“Let’s get the facts straight: West Virginia has led the nation in coal mining fatalities for the last seven years in a row. Now is not the time for the state to even be considering reducing safety enforcement and putting new miners in needless danger. West Virginia lawmakers can make improvements to the state’s health and safety laws without acting as mere puppets for the industry.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JANUARY 24, 2019

“800,000 Americans who provide essential services to the rest of us will miss their second paycheck in a row because Washington politicians are trying to resolve political differences on their backs. Federal workers are standing in line at food banks, negotiating with creditors about their mortgages and keeping the heat on in the winter, taking donations of diapers and baby food all because some politicians are refusing to follow the democratic principles that have kept our nation moving forward for more than 200 years.

“Nearly 500,000 workers are now being forced to work without pay, in jobs that are critical to our nation’s safety and security. FBI agents, Coast Guard personnel, TSA screeners, air traffic controllers, airplane safety inspectors…they are still on the job but haven’t seen a dime for more than a month. We salute their dedication to the rest of us, but we also believe that a worker must be paid for his or her labor in a timely manner, no matter where they work or what they do.

“Making federal political policy through government shutdowns has never been a good idea, and never results in a good outcome for the American people. We urge all parties to recognize that in our system of government a majority rules, and that includes votes in Congress. If your proposal has the votes, then pass it. If it does not, then it is time to move on and get back to doing the business of the people.

“The Washington politicians must end this shutdown now. Stop holding the families of 800,000 American workers hostage in an attempt to subvert the democratic principles of our nation.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECEMBER 28, 2018

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

“The UMWA today received notice from the United States District Court of the Southern District of West Virginia that our lawsuit against the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regarding its unlawful lifting of the Pattern of Violations (POV) status at Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC’s Affinity Mine has been put on hold for at least two weeks due to the government shutdown. This is unacceptable and puts miners at risk.

“Our lawsuit demanded that the court immediately order MSHA to put the Affinity Mine back on POV status because without the extra enforcement that comes with such status, there is no reason to believe mine management will maintain the highest safety standards. In addition, other mines that are currently on POV status may feel free to ignore safety issues if they believe MSHA will continue to flout Congress’s express mandate regarding removing a POV status.

“Obviously, if government employees at the Court are not being paid, they should not work. It is a real shame that the critical work our government employees perform day in and day out is being held hostage to issues that do not pertain to them or the issues they deal with on our behalf. There are real people whose lives are at stake here. Every day we delay raises the risk. Congress and the President need to put our government employees back to work without delay.

 

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