Westmoreland Coal Co. has received permission to end retiree benefits and scrap its union contracts with workers at two of its mines after the company said it needed to make dramatic cuts to its labor costs to survive bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones on Friday granted Westmoreland’s requests to terminate ongoing medical obligations for its retirees and reject collective-bargaining agreements at mines in Wyoming and North Dakota. The ruling will permit Westmoreland to unload its U.S. and Canadian mines to lenders in chapter 11 and keep the business running outside of bankruptcy. Termination of the retiree medical benefits, estimated at $329 million, and modification of the agreements is a condition of the transaction.
