UPDATE: Miners, supporters rally again in St. Louis

Source: WVVA.com

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Twelve demonstrators have been arrested following a protest by mine workers and their supporters in a dispute with St. Louis-based Patriot Coal.

The United Mine Workers of America staged another protest Monday in St. Louis. A spokesman for the union says 12 people were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience.

Patriot wants to make significant changes to health benefits for retired miners and reduce pay and benefits for current miners. The company says the moves are necessary for survival. Union leaders say Patriot was set up to fail when it spun off from St. Louis-based Peabody Energy in 2007, so that benefits could be eliminated. A spokesman for Peabody called that claim a "misguided attempt to rewrite history."

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has given Patriot the go-ahead for its changes.


Read more: http://www.wvva.com/story/22607728/2013/06/17/miners-supporters-to-rally-again-in-st-louis

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Thousands Protest at Peabody HQ

Mine Workers say “Jury is Not Out” on Giant Coal Firms as Deadline Looms for Cut-off of Retiree Benefits and Cuts for Active Miners

St. Louis – Thousands of members and supporters of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) protested today in front of Peabody Energy headquarters in downtown St. Louis, demonstrating against the giant coal firms they say are responsible for the pending cut-off of health care benefits for retired miners and severe wage and benefit cuts for active workers.

“Their strategy is ‘deny, deny, deny,” said UMWA President Cecil Roberts, who spoke during today’s rally. “We respond the same way we do our work underground in the coal mines: We stick together, we shine a light where it’s dark, and we insist that the health, safety and welfare of our members and our families is the number one priority for this industry.”

Twelve protestors were arrested for “failure to obey” today, following non-violent civil disobedience in front of Peabody headquarters on Market Street, including:

· UMWA Secretary Treasurer Dan Kane

· Ron Collins, Chief of Staff to Communication Workers of America President Larry Cohen

· UMWA members from Alabama, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

“These corporate executives must have figured they could mess with the lives of people from small towns in the coalfields, and nobody would ever know,” said William ‘Sonny’ Smith, a member of UMWA Local 2161 from Illinois who was among those arrested for trespassing today in front of Peabody Energy’s headquarters. “We’re not going to let that happen. If Peabody and Arch get away with what they’re trying to do to us, than no labor contract in America is worth the paper it’s written on.”

Mining operations that were wholly-owned and controlled by Peabody Energy negotiated and signed numerous agreements promising lifetime health care for retired mine workers and their families. In 2007, however, Peabody spun off Patriot Coal, assigning the new company 43 percent of its retiree health care liabilities and just 11 per cent of its assets. In 2008, Patriot also acquired the liabilities of Magnum Coal Company.

Patriot, which has been described as “designed to fail” by Temple University Finance Professor Bruce Rader, was unable to operate with these liabilities and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012. Last month, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kathy Surratt-States granted Patriot’s request to effectively eliminate health care for retired miners and their families, and to impose severe cuts in wages, benefits, and working conditions for active miners.

Patriot is able to impose these cutbacks on July 1. UMWA representatives are currently in negotiations with Patriot executives, seeking alternatives to the company’s harsh and unnecessary demands.

“We’re doing all we can to find solutions that will allow Patriot to keep operating while respecting the security and safety of our active and retired members,” said Roberts. “But we all know that the resources needed to really solve these problems are piled up in the corporate coffers of Peabody Energy and Arch Coal. Those two companies made billions from the sweat and hard work of our members, and if these executives think we’re going to sit idle while they abandon their promises and put our members at risk – well, then they don’t really know or understand the United Mine Workers of America.”

A lawsuit on behalf of UMWA members, filed in West Virginia, charges that Peabody, Arch and Patriot violated the federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by scheming to eliminate contractually-guaranteed lifetime health care benefits for retirees. The union is also working with members of Congress from both parties to pursue legislative remedies.

The UMWA is also continuing a public education campaign, with a “Peabody Lied” television advertisement currently running in St. Louis and Evansville, Illinois.

UMWA members and family members arrested today include:

· James Jarrell, UMWA Local Union 9177

· Mike Browning, UMWA Local Union 9177

· Joe Hicks, UMWA Local Union 5958

· William ‘Sonny’ Smith, UMWA Local Union 2161

· Carol Smith (spouse of William Smith)

· Larry Spencer, UMWA Local Union 2397

· Jimmy Thomas, UMWA Local Union 1928

· Jerry Stallard, UMWA Local Union 2274

· Jeff Samek, UMWA Local Union 2300

· Tom Mills, UMWA Local Union 2300.

Additional information about the UMWA campaign to stand up for active and retired miners is at FairnessAtPatriot.org.