UMW plans rally on health-care benefits at Consol Energy HQ

United Mine Workers of America plans to stage a rally at Consol Energy headquarters in Southpointe at 10 a.m. Wednesday to protest what it says are recent attempts by the energy company to reduce health-care benefits for its union retirees and threaten potential funding for the pensions of thousands of retired coal miners and widows.
The company said earlier this year it would like to sell the remainder of its coal assets by the end of this year. The union says it wants to ensure its miners’ retiree health-care benefits are secure.
In a news release, UMWA International President Cecil Roberts said the rally is to ensure that the company keeps the promises it made to the union workers.
“It’s no secret that Consol is getting out of the coal business,” Roberts said in a statement. “On its way out the door, Consol is trying to leave behind all its obligations to those UMWA members who made it a successful company for decades. But Consol made those promises to its workers, and we intend to see that it keeps them.”
UMWA spokesman Phil Smith said Monday the union is protesting two issues.
The first, he said, is that when Consol sold its unionized mines to Murray Energy several years ago, it had a contractual obligation with the union miners that extended past the sale of the mines.
According to Smith, the union had secured health-care benefits for its retirees that were not transferred to Murray.
He said the agreement was for the company to provide standard health-care coverage for the retirees through a health-care insurer. According to Smith, the union learned that the company was instead placing fee-for-service payments for the retirees into health savings accounts.
Smith said the union also is protesting what it says is Consol’s attempt to amend legislation under the Miners Pension Protection Act to lessen its obligation to fund pensions originally established under the Coal Act.
In addition to Roberts and the UMWA International’s executive board, Wednesday’s rally will be attended by Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants of the Communications Workers of America.
Smith said about 20 buses are scheduled to bring UMWA members to the rally, and he estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 members will attend.
Consol did not return a call seeking comment on the union’s announcement.