UMWA
workers from 13 local unions at Patriot Coal operations in the two states
participated in the vote, with 85 percent favoring the agreement that followed
months of negotiations.
“The
membership has made it clear that they are willing to do their part to keep
Patriot operating, keep their jobs and ensure that thousands of retirees
continue getting the healthcare they depend on and deserve,” said UMWA
International President Cecil E. Roberts in a news release.
Reached
last week, the agreement was announced Monday to the union membership for
consideration. The
UMWA claimed the new deal makes significant improvements to a federal
bankruptcy judge’s order from May, which made steep wage cuts.
The ratified contract includes the
restoration of all but $1 an hour in wages, an annual pay increase of 50 cents
per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015, a reduction in the annual out-of-pocket
maximum for healthcare benefits and a decision by Patriot to remain in the UMWA
1974 Pension Fund, meaning no pension benefits for current retirees are
affected.
“Ratification
of these agreements provides labor stability and ensures cost savings essential
to Patriot’s plan of reorganization,” said Patriot president and CEO Bennett K.
Hatfield in a news release. ”These agreements should set Patriot on a path
to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of 2013.”
While
the agreement could end months of protests by the UMWA over Patriot’s
bankruptcy filing, Roberts said the union has other contentions that must be
addressed.
“We
are now able to turn our full attention to securing the lifetime healthcare
benefits Peabody
and Arch promised these retirees,” Roberts said in the release. “If those
companies thought our public effort to highlight their poor corporate
citizenship was over, they will quickly find out otherwise. We’re moving into a
new phase of that effort, and soon we fully intend to hold Peabody and Arch accountable.”
Roberts
and the UMWA claim Arch and Peabody
intentionally set up Patriot to fail in order to drain off pension and
healthcare obligations.
“This
settlement has not solved that problem, it has only bought us time to seek a
more permanent solution,” said Roberts.
A
motion seeking authorization to enter into these agreements with the
UMWA has been filed with the Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis and will be heard at the Aug. 20
hearing.