Dear UMWA Activist,

Commenting on recent actions by elements of the Trump administration to make American coal uncompetitive and threaten the health and safety of American miners, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts issued the following statement today:

“There is a perfect storm brewing in America’s coalfields that will have the effect of destroying thousands of coal miners’ jobs and significantly increase the risks those miners who are left will face to their health and safety on the job.

“First, the Government Services Administration announced the potential closure of up to 34 MSHA offices around the country with no provisions as to how the agency will be able to continue its mission of keeping miners safe on the job. From what we have learned, MSHA personnel still have no idea if or when they will be moving to a new location or even if they will have a job any longer.

“Second, the USTR announced a proposal to impose up to $1.5 million in fees on Chinese-made ships that enter U.S. ports to take on materials – including coal – that is produced in the United States and exported around the world. More than one-quarter of coal produced in this country is exported.

“This proposal is designed to help rebuild the American shipbuilding industry over years, and we support that principle. But today, most exported U.S. coal is carried on Chinese-made ships. This proposal will add such significant costs to exported coal as to make it uncompetitive in the global marketplace. Mines will close and thousands will be laid off – and soon.

“And just today, at the direction of the Department of Health and Human Services, NIOSH began laying off hundreds of workers who are engaged in research and the improvement of products and practices that literally save the lives of coal miners every day. The announced significant downsizing of offices in Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa., are particularly devastating to the coal industry, which relies on the research done there to improve its safety practices.

“I do not think that these actions are being done in a coordinated way to hurt the American coal industry and those who work in it. But that is the effect. Miners have and can continue to produce the materials to power American homes, produce American steel and so many other products our society uses every day. They deserve answers from the administration as to why it appears there is now a target on their backs.”