Rally against Patriot Coal and co-conspirators

Thousands of active and retired miners, along with family members and supporters, will attend this mass rally. Sponsored by the United Mine Workers of America, this is the latest in a series of protests against actions by Peabody Energy and Arch Coal that led to the inevitable bankruptcy of Patriot Coal and the retraction of promised health and retirement from miners.

More than 90 percent of the retirees whose health care is at risk never worked a single day for Patriot Coal, spending their careers at either Peabody Energy or Arch Coal.  Patriot, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year, was created in 2007 by Peabody, subsequently acquired Magnum Coal, a company created by Arch and other investors.  Because Patriot was created with insufficient assets to meet its liabilities to retired miners, analysts such as Bruce Rader, Professor of Finance at Temple University, have described the company as “designed to fail.”

“Peabody and Arch say they have no responsibility for this, even though they were the ones who promised these retirees health care,” said UMWA President Cecil Roberts.  “We can see right through that kind of corporate doublespeak. Our members labored for decades to make these companies rich. We’re not going to let a bunch of rich CEOs get away this."