During
President Trumps campaign he told the miners that he would help them. Many of
these miners believed him and voted for him in hope of a resolution to their
problems. Since Trump has been in office
he has maintained silence on the issue. There are many families such as the
Leaches who depend on the health benefits for severe medical conditions.
I feel
that Congress has allowed corporations such as Peabody and the United Mine
Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds to take advantage of these
retirees. These companies promised the miners and their dependents lifetime
health benefits. When Peabody sold the company to Patriot Coal is when things
got bad.
Unfortunately
for the miners, Patriot Coal was able to discontinue these benefits by filing
for bankruptcy. I feel that Congress
should step in and help these men and women who put their health on the line by
working underground in horrible conditions. These retirees contributed to the
win of World War II. Without these
individuals there would not have been power and steel that aided in the victory
for The United States.
1 comment:
I really appreciated the article my classmate wrote over mineworkers and their health benefits that are in jeopardy. I was not aware that this was happening, and after reading the CNN article I was shocked that this is even an issue. What I am and have been aware of were the countless of promises that Trump made to these mineworkers. This was one of the pivotal points in his campaign were he promised to give power back to mineworkers through more work and benefits. However, he is doing nothing for the rights of these people and much rather standing back and watching this unfold. I believe that my classmate did a good job at summarizing this article and stating her opinion, but it was very pathos heavy. I would have liked to see numbers in the commentary. In the CNN article it mentions that there are over 22,600 retired mineworkers and their families being affected by this. Putting that in numbers shows just how many people are being impacted. Another point that puts things in perspective is that these people signed up for this job with these promises in hand. How is it that through a “bankruptcy loophole” thousands of people will not get the promises that were made to them before they signed a contract that put their life and health on the line. This just seems unethical. These people put their life on the line during WW2 to provide coal and steel to fuel the war that now enables us to live on the land of the free. How enraging must it be to be in the shoes of these people. Much like the already controversial crisis over health care in our country, there are people who’s life depend on the availability and affordability of healthcare. This is just a small piece of a much larger problem. Awareness is the first step to fixing a problem and this was a very enlightening article from my classmate.
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