For its part Patriot said the statement released by the UMWA was inaccurate and Patriot had not “walked out” of the negotiations.

“In fact, the company only learned that next week’s planned negotiating meetings were cancelled from the UMWA’s press release,” it said.

UMWA president Cecil Roberts though, is sticking to his guns.

He said Patriot’s move threatened the health care positions of thousands of mining retirees.

“We are very disappointed by this action,” Roberts said.

“We had made significant progress toward reaching an agreement that provided a workable alternative to the severe terms Patriot asked for last spring and that were approved by the bankruptcy court in St Louis.

“The union had agreed to more than $400 million in savings for the company over the life of the current contract, which gives them the money they say they need to survive. But that still wasn’t enough for them.”

The union said the two parties were about $30 to $35 million apart when the company literally walked away from the negotiation table.

Roberts, who acknowledged the difference was not large given the issue’s scope, said most of the funds were earmarked for management bonuses to be doled out into the future.

“I can only conclude at this point that there is no end to the depths of sacrifices our members and retirees are expected to make, even while hundreds of managers and executives are thinking about how they will spend the bonus money they’ll be getting in their bank accounts,” he said, pointing to the US Bankruptcy Court’s recent decision to allow Patriot to pay out millions in bonuses.

“The company now says it will implement the terms and conditions approved by the judge, effective July 1. I have consistently made it clear to management that I could not recommend to our membership that they work under those terms, because the sacrifices they require from our active and retired members are too great.”

Bankruptcy judge Kathy Surratt-States said late last month that Patriot could make cuts to its system of retiree healthcare. The decision impacts about 23,000 employees of Patriot, Peabody and Arch Coal and their families.

In lieu of that, it will put into place a Voluntary Employee Benefit Association with guaranteed funding of $15 million plus royalty payments of 20 cents per ton of coal produced.

The company would also transfer a 35% ownership stake to the UMWA under the deal, which could in turn be sold to increase VEBA funding once a value is established.

Roberts noted there was no way to know the level of that potential funding.

The union also is fighting Patriot’s plans to pay out $25 million in management bonuses over the coming three years while about 40% of active workers will be denied their retiree health care later.

“We have repeatedly said that we are willing to make the sacrifices needed to keep this company operating,” Roberts said.

“We are working to preserve these jobs and preserve retiree health care. We also believe that those sacrifices should be shared by all, and that once the company gets through the short-term cash problem it has and begins to make money again in a few years, our sacrifices should be recognized.

“If we’re going to share the pain, we should share the gain. That’s only reasonable. But Patriot refuses to make that commitment to the people who actually mine the coal.”

Roberts said there was still a long struggle ahead and the fight was far from over.

“We find ourselves in this position today because Peabody and Arch made promises that they didn’t keep,” he said.

“We are not letting them off the hook.”

In its response, Patriot officials called the UMWA’s comments “factually inaccurate” and “distorted”

“Patriot has been working diligently with the UMWA in efforts to address their concerns about the contractual changes found to be necessary, fair and equitable by the Bankruptcy Court,” Patriot president and chief executive officer Ben Hatfield said.

“If our goal was to force acceptance of the court-approved contract as is, no further discussions would have been necessary, as that option has been available to us since May 29.

“Instead, we have offered up millions of dollars in additional contract enhancements, including wage increases, healthcare improvements, life insurance, and paid personal time off.”

Hatfield confirmed the company had requested a two-day negotiations recess this week in order to conduct a financial analysis of the union’s demands the company “roll back” a majority of cost relief the Bankruptcy Court had approved.

“It remains the assessment of Patriot management that agreeing to the UMWA's demands would sacrifice any chance of making the company viable,” he said.

Hatfield also noted that, as it continued discussions, Patriot had offered substantial improvements for union employees that result in a wage and benefit package “clearly favorable” for the labor market of the region.

“However, we cannot support UMWA demands for changes in the court-approved contract that would increase Patriot losses by more than $40 million per year in 2013, 2014, and 2015,” he said.

“If we did, Patriot would not emerge from bankruptcy."

Patriot said it was still continuing to respect confidentiality during talks, something needed if the two were to make progress.

“Unlike the UMWA, we will not grandstand in the media or issue press releases filled with distortions about the parties' discussions,” the company said.

“Rather than spending time on such theatrics, we are hopeful the UMWA will return to the negotiating table and work toward a solution that allows Patriot to survive and continue to provide 4000 jobs and meaningful healthcare benefits for thousands of retirees and their families."