Retired coal miners in Pennsylvania and West Virginia have not given up their fight over health care.
The Miner’s Protection Act gives union retirees health care and pensions for life. In September WTAJ News attended a rally with area coal miners in Washington, D.C. as they urged lawmakers to keep the promise.
Those opposed to funding the pension claim the money has run out. West Virginia Congressman David McKinley helped to extend the benefits for four months, but he and others have not given up on a permanent extension.
“This is not unique to West Virginia,” said McKinley. “It’s the coal industry all across this country. We have to take care of these miners and retirees. There was a promise made in ’46 to do it and we’d best not walk away from that. I think that is so important. So, for anything, they heard was they still got a voice. We’re not moving from this.”
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said he is hopeful President-Elect Trump will support the Miner’s Protect Act but says now the trick is getting Republican lawmakers to do the same.
Retired miners in Cambria County say they never got rich in the mines. They said they put their l ives and health at risk to help power this country and the government should keep their promise.
Senator Bob Casey agrees. He said legislation cleared the Senate Finance Committee and is fully paid for.
In a statement he wrote: “These Pennsylvanians don’t need some half-baked political solution; they need the certainty of quality health care and a secure pension now. Congressional Republican leadership has chosen to leave Washington, D.C. while a widow in Greene County will spend the holidays worried about whether she will have the health care and the pension that the government promised her and her husband many years ago. We have an abiding obligation to her and thousands like her, but House and Senate Republicans have betrayed them.”
WTAJ News also reached out to Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-PA) who had this to say, “It is important that we provided a short-term fix to protect the benefits retired coal miners rely on. I support Congressman McKinley’s Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act. Congress should act on passing that legislation promptly so that we can find a long-term solution to protect the benefits our coal miners deserve.”