The bankruptcy of the nation’s largest coal companies included dumping responsibility for a large number of retired miners, many of them afflicted with black lung and other industry-related illnesses, onto health and pension funds that were already underfunded and near collapse. Though there are fewer than 50,000 coal miners currently working, there are over 89,000 on the UMWA funds. Of those, 22,000 are the responsibility of companies that have already used bankruptcy to slide out from under their responsibility to the fund. Congress gave the fund a temporary boost in December, but without immediate action, those 22,000 miners will face a loss of both medical care and pension benefits in a matter of days.
Democrats has been lobbying to address this issue for months, while Republicans prevented any permanent solution. Meanwhile, Trump refused to address the issue, frustrating miners who somehow thought he was on their side.
“A lot of our members supported Trump,” said Joseph Holland, a 68-year-old former miner from western Kentucky who works with local retirees. “I would like for him to step up and say ‘I want both the House and Senate to support this,’” he said. “I keep hoping and praying” and telling members to write Trump to say “I supported you, please stand by me.”
On Thursday morning, Trump finally did make his first mention of this issue.
"I want to help our miners while the Democrats are blocking their (health care)," he tweeted Thursday morning in a series of other tweets blasting Democrats for demands that could potentially hold up the bill.
Not only has Trump suddenly become an advocate for this bill, Republicans are ready to pile on board. But not because it helps miners. They’ve worked out something very special.
Profitable coal companies may get a bailout in the government spending bill that lawmakers are trying to pass next week, and it could place Congress at the brink of a shutdown.
Companies like Peabody, Arch, and Patriot (which is just Peabody under another name) have already shed their obligations in court, while winning awards for their skill at playing the bankruptcy court …
It’s been a wild year for Arch Coal, the country’s second-largest producer of coal. In January, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; less than a year later, they won approval for a restructuring deal that allowed them to cut millions in debt from their books and emerge relatively unscathed. On Thursday night, as part of the 2017 Distressed Investing Event, Arch Coal will receive an award for that deal, despite the fact that the restructuring benefited company executives while leaving workers and the environment worse off.
And rewarding executives with massive bonuses even as miners were left to fend for themselves.
A year ago, Peabody Energy Corp's chief executive was presiding over $2 billion of losses as the world's largest private sector coal miner spiraled into bankruptcy.
Now, CEO Glenn Kellow and other top executives stand to reap tens of millions of dollars in stock bonuses under Peabody's bankruptcy exit plan ...
But since those companies got away with dumping their legal obligations to retirees, why not let everyone else get in on the fun?
Under a new measure being floated in the House, companies like Consol Energy would be able to shift their obligations to cover the health care costs of retired coal miners on to the federal government, which already pays for other retirees’ coverage.
What’s bringing Republicans around to supporting a bailout of miner healthcare and pension funds? The tantalizing thought that this bailout could really be another bonus paid to coal mining companies. They can get credit for being friends of miners, slip millions to corporations, and blame Democrats for any opposition. It’s the kind of win-win-winning Republicans never get tired of.
The bill West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has been pushing for months doesn’t include the corporate gift.
Manchin said the current measure to permanently fix health benefits for United Mine Workers and their widows is “truly a bill that protects orphans.”
But the revised measure, from Pennsylvania Republican Senator Tim Murphy, could wreck support of that measure in order to reward corporations. Currently profitable companies are responsible for their retirees in the fund. Murphy would gift them by switching that responsibility to taxpayers.
The Murphy text, lawmakers warn, could complicate those already difficult negotiations as Congress tries to keep the government funded this week.
Expect Republicans to press the Murphy plan. Expect Democrats to oppose it. Expect Trump, McConnell, and Ryan to paint this as “Democrats trying to hurt miners.”
Coal companies have already done their best to bail out Murphy.
[Murphy] has received $353,039 from the industry over the course of his career in Congress, according to Open Secrets. Consol Energy and a number of its high-ranking employees appear to have contributed more than $70,000 to Murphy’s campaigns during his time in the House.
