Apr 10, 2017 3 min read

RUFF CREEK – A bill to provide money to support the United Mine Workers’ pension and health-care plan has a “good shot” at being approved by Congress before the end of the month, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said after addressing a room full of union miners Monday at the UMWA Career Center in Ruff Creek.

“I think we have a good shot, but this is always precarious because just when you think it’s going to be accepted as a unit, the whole bill, something happens,” Casey said.

Casey urged the miners who filled a conference room at the Mining Technology and Training Center to continue to contact legislators and write letters in support of the bill.

Time is running out. The Miners Protection Act was approved by the Senate Finance Committee last year but, despite promises from Senate leadership, never made it to the floor for a vote.

Money was included in a continuing resolution approved by Congress in December to extend the health-care benefits of retired miners who worked for bankrupt coal companies, but only until the end of this month.

More than 22,600 retired union coal miners who worked at bankrupt companies, including those at Alpha Natural Resources’ Emerald Mine, will see their health benefits expire April 28 unless action is taken.

Casey said the bill, which has bipartisan support, is expected to be included in another continuing resolution that must be approved to keep the government operating after April 28.

But “we don’t have any certainty on that,” he said.

He urged those in attendance to continue to lobby for the bill. “Once again we have to ramp up and fight like hell to get this done,” he said.

Though Congress now faces a deadline in approving a spending bill, Casey said, “You have been living those deadlines, those nightmares, while Washington couldn’t get its act together.”

Casey spoke of the “promise” made by the federal government in 1946 to provide union miners with lifetime health-care benefits and pensions. That “promise” was first made in negotiations between the union and the federal government, which had seized the nation’s coal mines to resolve long-running strikes.

“Everyone in this room has kept their promise, to their families, their employers, their country. You’ve done your part,” he said. “The only entity now that has not fulfilled its promise is the U.S. government.”

Despite President Donald Trump’s talk of his support for coal miners, Casey said following his address that he was “not aware of any effort” Trump has made to call the Senate or House leadership in support of the bill. “If there is something on record I missed, I’ll stand corrected,” he said.

The approval of the entire bill addressing pensions and health-care benefits also is not a given. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has introduced a separate bill that would provide funding only for the health-care benefits. It would not address the union’s pension fund.

Casey also spoke in support of two other bills that have been introduced to protect miners: the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act and the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act.

The bills would reform the federal program that provides benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung and provide the Mine Safety and Health Administration with improved tools to investigate unsafe mines and ensure irresponsible mine operators are held accountable.

The bills have been introduced in previous years, Casey said, but they have failed to receive support from any Republican senators.