ARLINGTON, VA. – The United Mine Workers of America and Patriot Coal have reached a deal on new terms and conditions of employment.
It comes more than two months after a federal bankruptcy judge in St. Louis ruled in favor of Patriot. Both sides have been at the bargaining table since then trying to work out a compromise. According to UMWA President Cecil Roberts, that has now been accomplished.
“After several weeks of nearly around-the-clock negotiations, I believe we have reached something that can be taken to the membership for ratification,” Roberts in a prepared statement. “We have been able to restore, or at least improve upon, many of the most drastic changes that the Judge ordered, including in the area of wages, health care benefits, paid time off, pensions, and more. In addition, we have negotiated a mechanism that will allow retiree health care benefits to continue.”
The major sticking points between the company and union were health care and benefits.
Neither the union nor company are talking about the specifics of the deal. The union says it plans to lay out the settlement and hold a vote on the proposed deal for those laid-off workers in West Virginia and Kentucky this coming Friday, Aug. 16. That involves about 1,800 union members.