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Patriot and Peabody have both been at odds in court over who will ultimately fund benefits for about 3100 former miners. Peabody initially said that it would continue covering Patriot miners after the spin-off was completed.
Peabody officials said an initial offer, which would have been payable over 15 years and cover all claims and provide lifetime healthcare to the impacted union miners – benefits comparable to those at Peabody – was turned down by UMWA officials.
Peabody global investor and corporate relations senior vice president Vic Svec said the settlement offer could have been used to fund a recently-established Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association that would provide healthcare benefits to retirees post-Patriot bankruptcy.
“UMWA president Cecil Roberts claims to be concerned about his members," Svec said.
“So why did he not accept a settlement amount large enough to provide 3100 retirees with lifetime healthcare benefits comparable with those of Peabody's active corporate employees?”
“The UMWA retirees who have been traveling to St. Louis to rally for healthcare benefits have a right to know that a good faith settlement offer was on the table, and that union leadership rejected it.”
Svec’s comments came just hours before a planned rally Tuesday morning where union workers and supporters were planning to encircle the Peabody Energy headquarters building in St Louis, Missouri.
As the official noted, Peabody had been funding Patriot's healthcare obligations for retirees under contractual agreement since Patriot began its own business in 2007.
“The mid-August offer was to settle all claims with the UMWA and the union would not accept these terms, despite the fact that Peabody's contractual obligation, at any level, has been relieved by new agreements between Patriot Coal and the UMWA.”
Neither the UMWA nor Patriot Coal made public comment Tuesday.
Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company, with operations in the US and Australia and metallurgical and thermal coal customers in more than 25 countries on six continents.
