CHARLESTON, W.Va. — United Mine Workers of America president Cecil Roberts is demanding Mission Coal provide its coal miners and retirees with benefits in light of the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this week.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a federal court in Alabama. It has around $175 million in debt.
Mission Coal operates the Pinnacle mine in Pineville, which is preparing to cease operations.
Roberts said Mission Coal cannot ignore the obligations made to workers and retirees just so the company can protect itself from its debts.
“Mission seeks to throw out the collective bargaining agreement for active workers and eliminate its obligations to retirees who put their lives and their health on the line every day, working underground so that the owners of those mines could make billions of dollars,” he said.
“Neither the miners nor the retirees did anything to cause this bankruptcy, but they will be expected to give up the most nevertheless.”
According to Roberts, the UMWA has hired legal counsel to assist in the bankruptcy proceedings.