Coal workers have been among the president's strongest supporters, but their pensions remain at risk as industry barons thrive.
WASHINGTON — Dozens of retired miners, some in wheelchairs and using oxygen tanks to manage black lung disease, recently visited the Capitol seeking federal help for their failing pension plans.
Members of the United Mine Workers of America bow their heads in prayer during a rally on Capitol Hill Sept. 8, 2016. The union and its supporters in Congress say the federal government should honor a 1947 promise to provide for the pension and healthcare benefits of retired miners.At issue is the Miners Pension Protection Act, legislation that would transfer public funding into the miners’ troubled pension fund in order to guarantee their pensions and health care.
Manchin’s office says Trump has been privately supportive of the miners, yet the president has said nothing publicly to pressure McConnell to act. While McConnell has sought a broader fix to shore up the federally chartered Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the miners have said they don’t have time to wait for it.
Other mining executives have reaped millions in retention bonuses as their companies undergo the bankruptcy and restructuring process. “Coal miners make up the coal industry. Coal miners, and the coal mining industry, have been, and are continuing to be helped by the Trump administration,” the spokesperson said.The state of coal country illustrates how Trump’s 2016 mantra of “draining the swamp” in Washington has, in many cases, yielded the opposite — windfalls for donors and lobbyists.
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