Pensions Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Auto Workers Strike Expands To West Virginia GM Distribution Center

Workers at the General Motors distribution center in Martinsburg walked off the job on Friday.

They were among 38 GM and Stellantis distribution centers in 20 states that joined the United Auto Workers union’s strike at GM, Ford and Stellantis assembly plants.

Stellantis is the parent company of Chrysler. The Martinsburg center employs about 100 workers. Last week, 13,000 workers walked off the job. On Friday, 5,600 joined the effort.

The companies say they’ve laid off another 6,000 workers as a result of the shutdowns.

Among other changes, the UAW seeks a 36% increase in wages over four years. The union also wants a 32-hour workweek for 40 hours of pay and to restore traditional pension plans for newer workers.

The union cites record profits and executives making tens of millions of dollars in compensation. The companies say they face new costs in the transition from conventional cars and trucks to electric vehicles.

In a statement, GM spokeswoman Tara Stewart Kuhnen, called the move “unnecessary” and accused the UAW of manipulating the bargaining process.

Still, she said, the company “will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”

A Stellantis site in Winchester, Virginia, also joined the picket lines on Friday.

House Bill Could Restrict State Investments If It Becomes Law

The House of Delegates debated a bill Wednesday that would essentially block the state board of investments from investing in companies that refuse to support fossil fuels. House Bill 2862 would ensure that all shareholder votes, by or on behalf of the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the Board of Treasury Investments, are cast according to the monetary interests of the beneficiaries.

The House of Delegates debated a bill Wednesday that would essentially block the state board of investments from investing in companies that refuse to support fossil fuels.

House Bill 2862 would ensure that all shareholder votes, by or on behalf of the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the Board of Treasury Investments, are cast according to the monetary interests of the beneficiaries.

Democrats, including Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, argued against the bill saying its intent was to keep companies interested in ESG investments – meaning environmental, social and corporate governance considerations – from locating in West Virginia.

“These are green manufacturing jobs,” Hansen said. “We came into special session and passed that micro-grid bill that allows Precision Castparts and Berkshire Hathaway to come to the state of West Virginia. Precision Castparts is producing zero carbon parts for our aerospace industry. These are the jobs of the future. This is not some agenda to attack our coal industry. These are our future jobs.”

Some Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill, including House Energy Chair Del. Bill Anderson, R-Wood, whose concern was more about how the restrictions placed on the investment boards could affect pensions.

“This debate has resulted in ESG. I quite frankly want the investment management board to have the flexibility they need to return the greatest amount of return to this state,” Anderson said. “Part of it is personal. I don’t want to have to raise taxes someday to meet these pension obligations, which we, by various court rulings, must meet … The budget implications for the future of this state, if we constrict them, I don’t think are positive. So I rise today to tell you that I intend to vote against this piece of legislation.”

Despite objections from both sides of the aisle and a nearly hour long debate, the bill passed 73 to 23 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Bipartisan Bill Would Prop Up Coal Miners’ Pensions

A bipartisan Congressional group from the Ohio Valley and beyond introduced a new bill to save pensions for retired union coal miners throughout the region.

The American Miners Pension Act, or AMP, would secure pensions for about 43,000 miners in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia whose retirement benefits have been undermined by the decline of the coal industry.

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Congress acted to protect miners’ health benefits last year but pensions got kicked down the road.

“And every day that it goes without settling our pension problems it’s another day this will cost more,” Manchin said.

Without Congressional action, the United Mine Workers pension plan could become insolvent in about five years. The UMW blames the pension fund’s decline on a downturn in coal markets and coal company bankruptcies. The AMP Act would transfer excess funds from the federal Abandoned Mine Land program to the UMW pension plan.

Manchin said bankruptcy laws are also at the root of the problem.

“This will repeat itself time and time again. We’re not going to change it unless we change our bankruptcy laws,” Manchin said.

Manchin said the bill seeks a loan, not a bailout. The AMP Act would require the pension fund to certify each year that it is solvent and able to pay back the principal and interest. UMW representatives warn that if their pension plan collapses the beneficiaries and their dependents will be moved into the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, which could also put that important source of pension protection at risk.

Robert Bailey was a coal miner for 36 years and retired from Patriot Coal, a company Peabody Coal created. Patriot carried many pension and health benefit costs from Peabody and has twice declared bankruptcy. Bailey said he worries he will lose his main source of income if the UMW’s pension plan becomes insolvent.

“It would definitely be devastating to the majority of coal miners that depend on this,” Bailey said.

Bailey said he has developed black lung and is unable to work. His wife left work to stay home and care for him as well. He said the federal government promised long ago to guarantee lifelong benefits for miners — a pledge he said the AMP Act would keep.

“If they have any morals within themselves, to me, they would have to pass it,” Bailey said.

Coal retirees have been fighting to secure their benefits for nearly five years. The average monthly pension payment in the Ohio Valley is about $500 to $600.

WVPB’s Glynis Board, Roxy Todd, and Jessica Lilly contributed to this report.

McConnell's Plan Doesn't Include Long-Term Options for Miners Benefits

A stopgap bill by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to temporarily protect health care benefits for thousands of retired coal miners has been met with resounding criticism from Senate Democrats.

The pensions and benefits for thousands of retired coal miners are set to run out by the end of this year. Senate Democrats have been working for years to pass the Miner’s Protection Act – a bill that would move money from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund into the miners’ pension and benefits plan. This bill has been met with resistance by Senate Republicans who are wary of bailing out unionized workers.

This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell counter proposed paying for miners’ health care by taking money from their current health-care plan. This proposal only provides enough funds for four months.

In a Tuesday statement, Sen. Joe Manchin, says he will block other bills on the Senate floor until miners get their full health care and pension money. Senator Capito also released a statement expressing her disappointment in Congress’ failure to pass the full bill.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.

Capito: Miners' Healthcare Benefits a Priority

West Virginia’s Congressional leaders will be asked to vote this week on a bill to fund the government through April 2017, but that bill may also be the only hope for thousands of coal miners set to lose their healthcare benefits at the end of the year.

West Virginia Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito have been trying for more than a year to get Congress to pass the Miners Protection Act.

The bill takes money out of a fund used to clean up abandoned mines and puts it into a fund that pays for the pension and healthcare benefits of thousands of coal miners, many right here in West Virginia.

With the decline of the coal industry, however, that fund is quickly running out of money and it will take Congressional intervention to fix it.

But the Miners Protection Act won’t be put to a vote before Congress heads home for their scheduled holiday break this week.

Instead, Sen. Manchin said last week the funding would be added to a continuing resolution that would fund federal government operations through the spring. That resolution must be approved by Friday, when previous funding legislation runs out.

Manchin said, however, it was unlikely funding for both the healthcare and pension pieces would be included.

At a press conference in Charleston Monday morning, Capito said she had not seen the continuing resolution written in the House of Representatives, but that she was fighting for the benefits of more than 16,000 miners and retirees will lose their healthcare at the end of the month if Congress does not step in.

The press conference included both Republican state and federal leaders Monday.

“That’s priority one, I think, is to preserve the healthcare benefits for those that are getting ready to lose it,” Capito said.

“We don’t know exactly how this is going to roll out, but it better roll out that those folks are going to get the healthcare that they deserve.”

Capito said if funding to save the pension benefits of retired miners is not included in the federal government funding bill this week, she is committed to returning to them later.

Could the Fight Over Miners’ Benefits Lead to a Government Shutdown?

Sen. Joe Manchin is attempting to put pressure on Congressional leaders in Washington to take quick action on a bill to save the healthcare and pension benefits of thousands of coal miners.

On a conference call with reporters Thursday, Manchin said he is working with members of both the U.S. House and Senate to pass the Miners Protection Act.

The bill transfers mine reclamation money to a fund that provides healthcare and pension benefits for tens of thousands of miners across the country. That fund is drying up and without Congressional intervention, nearly 13,000 miners, retirees and their families will lose the benefits by the end of the year with more to come the following year.

Manchin said the Miners Protection Act is not likely to be taken up in Congress’ December session, but instead, the provisions will be rolled into a continuing resolution needed to fund the federal government.

That bill must be approved by Dec. 9 to avoid a federal government shutdown, but Manchin isn’t so sure it will include the necessary funding to save miners’ pensions.

“I don’t want to give false hope to anybody,” Manchin said. “I think our chances are much better right now from what I’m understanding, from what I’m hearing, on the healthcare–but we’re not going to quit fighting for the pension too.”

Manchin says the Senate’s Democratic caucus is prepared to block the funding bill if it doesn’t include the nearly $3 billion to fund the benefits. He added he doesn’t want to encourage a government shutdown, but is willing to do “whatever it takes” to find a solution.