FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER
29, 2019
[TRIANGLE, VA.] United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)
International President Cecil E. Roberts issued the following statement today
regarding the proposal by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Ia.) and Lamar Alexander
(R-Tenn.) addressing the multi-employer pension plan crisis:
“This proposal provides everything those who advocate against working families
have ever wished for. It penalizes workers for joining unions, it penalizes
retirees for sticking with those unions, it penalizes employers for recognizing
unions and it penalizes unions themselves for successfully representing their
members.
“This is not a starting point for negotiations. It is a multi-billion dollar
tax increase on working families – especially retired Americans living on fixed
incomes – their employers and their unions. Retirees covered by the UMWA
Pension Fund, for example, would be subject to a 10 percent tax on pensions
that average a little under $600 per month.
“This proposal does not begin to address the immediate crisis UMWA retirees and
their families are confronting. Fortunately, the Bipartisan American Miners Act
–by Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Ky.) Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and a dozen bipartisan Senate
cosponsors – does address that crisis, using an existing source of funding that
requires no new bureaucracy and most importantly, no new taxes on working
families.
“Retired miners, their families and widows do not have the luxury of waiting to
see if Congress can eventually come up with a comprehensive solution to the
multi-employer pension crisis that treats retirees fairly. 1,200 stand to lose
their health care at the end of this year, 12,000 more will lose health care
within a few short months, and more than 82,000 will likely see drastic cuts to
their pensions a few months after that.
“We continue to strongly urge House and Senate leadership – all of
whom say they want to address the immediate crisis retired miners face – to put
partisanship aside and pass the Bipartisan American Miners Act. These senior
citizens, who provided the fuel to power America at great risk of life and
limb, need action now. Let’s get this done."
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