A pension fund covering about 90,000 coal workers and their families is on the brink of insolvency while hundreds of these miners also face losing medical benefits, part of mounting financial stress on the larger safety net meant to protect sick or out-of-work miners, the Wall Street Journal reported. The United Mine Workers of America multiemployer pension plan is projected to become insolvent during its 2022 plan year if Congress doesn’t authorize using public funds to buttress it for the first time in a history tracing back more than 70 years. Murray Energy, which filed for bankruptcy yesterday, is the last major contributor to the fund. Large U.S. coal producers have used bankruptcy as a tool to survive the industry’s decade-long decline. Several companies have successfully argued in chapter 11 that they must walk away from pension and medical obligations to stay in business, keep mines open and save jobs, according to court records, testimony and interviews. Since last October, at least eight coal companies employing nearly 16,000 union and nonunion workers have filed for bankruptcy protection. The use of chapter 11 has nearly eliminated coal company contributions to the plan. During the 2018 plan year, the pension fund collected $30 million in employer contributions, dwarfing its $613.8 million in benefit payments. The fund’s assets were valued at about $2.4 billion, compared with $6.6 billion in liabilities. Read more. (Subscription required.)
In related news, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and leaders with the United Mine Workers are expressing concern about the effects of yesterday’s bankruptcy of coal giant Murray Energy, WVMetroNews.com reported. The company employs about 5,500 people, including about 2,400 active union members. Murray’s filings in bankruptcy court showed $2.7 billion in debt and more than $8 billion in actual or potential legacy obligations under various pension and benefit plans. The mine workers union said that the bankruptcy is likely to adversely affect the fragile standing of miners’ health care and pensions. Manchin echoed the concerns about how the bankruptcy would affect a national pension agreement that has been troubled for years. The senator introduced a bill called “Stop Looting American Pensions” and described it in a floor speech. “The SLAP Act ensures all workers, union and non-union, are treated fairly when a company files for bankruptcy and ends the inequities of the current system,” Manchin said on the Senate floor. Read more.
