Thousands Rally as Mine Workers Fight for Fair Pay, Benefits in West Virginia
07/09/2013 - More than 5,000 people rallied in Fairmont, W.Va., today, supporting the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) campaign for fair pay and benefits for active and retired miners at Patriot Coal.
Protesters filled 29 buses, along with scores of vehicles from Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and other locations. The crowd heard remarks from community and labor leaders and elected officials, including UMWA president Cecil Roberts, United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard, West Virginia secretary of state Natalie Tennant, West Virginia house of delegates speaker Tim Miley and AFL-CIO executive vice president Arlene Holt Baker.
As the audience stood strong through a steady rain, Holt Baker noted that union members and supporters were not turned back by inclement weather. "That is just the tears of the righteous trying to wash away the injustice of Patriot Coal," she said.
"The United States of America is not great because of CEOs," Roberts said. "It's not great because of lawyers. It's great because of the working people of the United States. This is a faith-based movement, it's a civil rights movement, and it cannot fail.
“We're standing for those afflicted with black lung. We're standing with those who are in hospice care taking their last breath with their priests and ministers and families all around them. We're standing with those who have cancer. We're standing with the afflicted because the Bible tells us, 'Honor your mother and your father.”
UMWA secretary Treasurer Dan Kane reported on a recent visit by a delegation of UMWA members to Brisbane, Australia. Hundreds of members belonging to the Construction, Mining, Forestry and Energy Union (CMFEU), some walking off their jobs, rallied at Peabody facilities in support of UMWA members. “They cussed Peabody until a fly wouldn’t light on them,” said Kane.
Following the rally, 30 people, including Roberts, Baker Holt and Mayor Ed Mahalik of Rivesville, W.Va., were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. Today’s action in Fairmont is the latest in a series of protests against actions by Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, which have led to the inevitable bankruptcy of Patriot Coal.
Patriot, which was created by Peabody in 2007, subsequently acquired Magnum Coal, a company created by Arch Coal and other investors. Patriot, with numerous mining operations in the eastern United States – including the Federal 2 underground coal mine in nearby Fairview, W. Va. – was never provided with sufficient assets to meet its obligations to retired workers, and filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
Patriot implemented cutbacks in pay, benefits and safety protections for active miners earlier this month, acting under authority granted by a judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis in May. The company had also threatened to effectively eliminate health care for retired miners on 1 July, but has agreed to continue benefits in July and August. The UMWA is in ongoing negotiations with the company, working to protect health care benefits for retired miners and to improve pay, benefits and working conditions for active miners over what the judge ordered.
The UMWA has mounted a comprehensive legal, legislative, public education and citizen mobilization campaign in support of active and retired miners.
A lawsuit on behalf of UMWA members, filed in federal court in Charleston, West Virginia, charges that Peabody and Arch violated the federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by scheming to eliminate contractually-guaranteed lifetime health care benefits for retirees. UMWA members are also working with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to pursue legislative remedies.
Those arrested during today’s protest in Fairmont include:
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
UMWA Secretary Treasurer Dan Kane
AFLCIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker
UMWA Int’l Vice Pres. and West Virginia House of Delegates Majority Whip Mike Caputo
UMWA International at Large Vice President Donnie Samms
Rev. Richard Bowyer
Rev. Donald Prange
Fr. Andy Switzer
Mayor Ed Mahalik, Rivesville, W. Va.
Peggy Reynolds, UMWA Local Union 1570 Women's Auxiliary
Tina Caputo, UMWA Local Union 1570 Women's Auxiliary
Beverly Alvarez, UMWA Local Union 1570 Women's Auxiliary
Joni Sanders, UMWA Local Union 1570 Women's Auxiliary
Sherry Lepka, UMWA Local Union 1570 Women's Auxiliary
Eva Jarvis, UMWA Local Union 1570 Women's Auxiliary
Benjamin Murray, UMWA Local Union 1702
Grace Murray, spouse of Benjamin Murray
Jimmy Murray, UMWA Local Union 1702 (son of Benjamin and Grace Murray)
Randy Murray, UMWA Local Union 1702 (son of Benjamin and Grace Murray)
Bobby Murray, UMWA Local Union 1702 (son of Benjamin and Grace Murray)
Patsy Ricciuti UMWA Local Union 762
Darrell Bias, UMWA Local Union 1503
David Moore , UMWA Local Union 1503
Dwayne Belcher, UMWA Local Union 781
Mark Dorsey, UMWA Local Union 1702
David Serock, UMWA Local Union 2258
Tanya James, UMWA Local Union 9909
Joe Reynolds, UMWA Local Union 1570
Glenn Switzer, UMWA Local Union 9909
Curtis Burton, UMWA Local Union 2300
