Protest Story Archives - Page 6 of 6 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Union Rallies Outside Patriot Coal Over Pension Benefits

Some 2,000 active and retired coal miners gathered in the parking lot of the movie theater in Scott Depot Monday afternoon, looking up at their leader…

Some 2,000 active and retired coal miners gathered in the parking lot of the movie theater in Scott Depot Monday afternoon, looking up at their leader United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts.

“If you think this crowd is big, you try to mine one lump of coal without us,” Roberts shouted. “We won’t just stand in front of your offices. We’ll stand in front of your coal mines. We’ll stand in front of your cleaning plants. We’ll block the roads and nobody will have a job.”

Roberts looked down on the crowd from the bed of a tow truck set up as a stage. After his rallying speech, he along with several UMWA led the miners down the road to the front door of Patriot Coal’s West Virginia headquarters.

The miners had gathered to protest a request by Patriot of a Virginia bankruptcy judge.

The company is seeking to end a competitive bargaining agreement with the union that requires pension payments and retiree healthcare benefits. Since the company’s second bankruptcy filing in May, it says it can no longer afford the benefits and a continuation will lead to liquidation.

If you think this crowd is big, you try to mine one lump of coal without us. We won't just stand in front of your offices. We'll stand in front of your coal mines. We'll stand in front of your cleaning plants. We'll block the roads and nobody will have a job.- UMWA Pres. Cecil Roberts

A miner listens as UMWA President Cecil Roberts spoke to the crowd.

“We were promised health care from cradle to grave,” John Alderson, who has worked in the mines for 40 years, said, “and it’s a shame that one person, a bankruptcy judge, can make the decision to take everybody’s pension and health care away from them.”

Alderson marched alongside his fellow miners, who arrived at an empty Patriot building just minutes after the short pilgrimage began.

“It’s really going to affect the retirees who are 70, 75 years old who depend on this health care and pension to make it through life,” Alderson added. “I really feel sad for them.”

Patriot also announced Monday it plans to sell a portion of its assets and liabilities to an affiliate of the Virginia Land Conservation Fund. The company would acquire the federal Mining Complex in northern West Virginia, the Corridor G Mining Complex in southern West Virginia and a number of land reclamation and water quality improvement permits.

In June, Lexington, Kentucky-based Blackhawk Mining announced it had entered an agreement with Patriot to purchase the bankrupt company’s Panther, Rocklick Wells, Kanwha Eagle, Paint Creek and Midland Trail complexes in southern West Virginia.

Miners that those locations have received WARN notices, informing them they’ll soon be out of work. Blackhawk has said some miners will return to work for the new company, but is reportedly working to get rid of the mines’ current union status.

Thousands Rally on the Capitol Steps Against Prevailing Wage Bill

At the capitol Monday, a rally was held to speak out against the scaling back of the prevailing wage. Senate Bill 361 passed last Thursday in the senate. The rally was organized by Senator Jeff Kessler who has spoken strongly against the bill on the Senate Floor.

Over 1,000 people showed up to support the rally on the steps of the capitol building. The majority of protestors were union workers who were angered by the bill which initially repealed the wage altogether.

A number of Democrats from both the House and Senate spoke to the crowd including Delegate Tim Manchin.

“The snow out here it looks like Christmas, and it is. It’s Christmas from the Chamber of Commerce, and guess who’s buying the presents? You are! You’re paying for the presents. You’re paying for the presents, because they’re taking away the safety that you’ve come to expect after 60 years under Democratic rule. This is not a new agenda. They’ve been proposing these bill for the last ten years since I’ve been here. We’re the ones that have stopped them,” Manchin said.

Sen. Jeff Kessler speaking at the rally he called at the Capitol to protest changes to the state’s prevailing wage.

Anthony Jividen was one of the many protestors who felt like the scaling back of the prevailing wage would hurt workers and their families.

“They’re basically taking food off our tables and our livelihood; taking food from our families,” Jividen said, “I mean, they get voted for us, the working man, they say, for that they need to show it. All these bills they’re passing, it’s not right. It’s just telling us, they don’t care.”

Laurie and Sheila are teamsters from Wheeling, and they both feel like the prevailing wage is good and to lose it is detrimental.

“It affects our wages. The thing with the union is, you know, you get treated fairly, good wages, it’s made a huge difference in my life, and I know it has in Sheila’s also. And just want to support it,” Laurie said.

“You know I can make all the noise on the floor of the Senate that I’d like and over in the House the same way. Politicians understand one thing and that’s the voice of their voters and the voice of their people, and quite frankly I think many of them think they came down here, they won their election, and they have a mandate, because if you look at the votes that are being cast, you know, I don’t call it a mandate, I call it a mistake. Because there are so many things that are running out of there that are not good for the people of our state. I challenge anybody to go out there and say, I can’t remember any of the new majority that ran on a platform issue of right to work, and prevailing wage repeal, and shutting down the seventh amendment right to have access to the courts. I don’t remember any of that, I don’t remember anybody out there advocating those type of issues, and yet those are the things that are shooting right out of the box, and ram-rodding through." – Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler

Senator Kessler says he was very glad to see the turnout for the rally, and he hopes it sends a message to his fellow legislators.

Senate Bill 361 has been sent to House Government Organization for Consideration.

Puppet Protest Commemorates January 9th Chemical Leak

A protest featuring giant puppets was held in front of the Kanawha County Public Library yesterday, commemorating the January 9th chemical spill one year ago.

A local art group called the Vandalia Collective performed the ten minute puppet show in front of the Kanawha County Public Library in Charleston. The protest featured giant handmade puppets re-telling the story of the chemical leak just one year ago.

The various puppets played the characters of Mother Earth, the elements; water, fire, earth, and air, as well as puppets representing Freedom Industries, the coal company, and the chemical, MCHM.

“Puppetry is a very long-standing tradition in America and in Europe,” said Marcus Fioravante, the organizer of the event and puppeteer, “You know, you think about like Punch and Judy shows, and stuff like that. You know, it’s street art, it’s street performance, and that has existed, you know long before there was TV, and long before there was anything else, there was street art. And to me, it is a wonderful breath of life into activism, and I feel like you know, you can’t ignore a big puppet as much as you can ignore a person with a sign.”

Fioravante says the Vandalia Collective will perform the puppet show again next weekend, January 17^th at 2:00pm in front of the Capitol complex in Charleston.

W.Va. Groups Stand with Michael Brown

A group of about 25 protestors gathered on the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday with handmade signs chanting, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” just as thousands of other activists gathered in large cities across the country. The group, while small in numbers, was there to show their support of Michael Brown, the black teenager shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, this summer.

On Monday, a Missouri prosecutor announced a grand jury would not indict the officer, Darren Wilson, on charges in the death, but a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the operations of the city’s police force is on going.

Greg Suzanne McAllister organized the Charleston protest which included members from multiple organizations including her fledging group Mothers of Color America, the NAACP, business owners and others.

“We just wanted to stand in solidarity today,” McAllister said. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

The Charleston protest was about more than just Brown and his death, McAllister said. It was also about standing for the unnamed African American men and women in West Virginia who have been gunned down by police.

“We know our people here are not immune to that type of discrimination,” she said. “It’s important that we stand together no matter what our race is against injustice.”

Greg Suzanne McAllister stands in front of the group gathered.

McAllister said the response in West Virginia to the Ferguson shooting was likely smaller because of the overall population, but also because of the lack of diversity. Only about 3 percent of the state’s population is African American.

Still, McAllister pointed to statistics that show West Virginia incarcerates African Americans at a much higher rate than whites in both the adult and juvenile justice system, meaning a change is necessary, she said.

W.Va. DHHR Workers to Picket Over Large Caseloads

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources employees are picketing outside the agency's Fayette County office to raise awareness over what…

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources employees are picketing outside the agency’s Fayette County office to raise awareness over what they call large, unmanageable caseloads.

The employees say they’ll participate in an informational picketing on Tuesday afternoon. The West Virginia Public Workers Union says employees are carrying the large, unmanageable because of understaffing.

They say the employees at the area office have caseloads that are two or three times larger than the recommended standard.

And they say large caseloads mean client services are not being delivered in a timely manner, and children and the elderly are being put at risk.

The union says recommendations developed last year to reduce caseloads by up to half have not yet been implemented by the agency.