Friday, February 10, 2017

McConnell prevents miners’ bailout

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky blocked help for the pensions and health care for 120,000 retired miners and their families in West Virginia, the Washington Post reported.

There was bipartisan support for a plan to save the fund, but the Majority Leader wouldn’t allow it to happen.

McConnell’s office blocked efforts to rescue health and pension funds on which thousands of retired and disabled miners rely. Miners get an average of $530 a month in pension checks.

A plan that would ensure the solvency of the funds nearly made it through Congress in December as part of the bipartisan budget deal that cleared both chambers. But the bailout attempt — backed by key lawmakers from both political parties — was excluded from the deal at McConnell’s request, according to four Senate officials directly familiar with the events.

Without intervention, some of the funds could run out of cash before spring, Congressional officials say.

Two years ago, UMWA officials donated heavily to McConnell's political rival, Democrat Alison Grimes, during McConnell’s successful reelection bid.

After World War II, with miners threatening to strike, President Harry S. Truman ordered his secretary of the interior to negotiate an agreement with the president of the union on pension and healthcare benefits. Decades later, in 1992, Congress passed the Coal Act, requiring companies to continue contributing to pension plans for all covered retired employees.

To read the entire story, click on the blue


 

No comments:

Post a Comment