An estimated 3500 retired coal miners and their families rallied on the issue of pension and health care benefits Tuesday in Lexington. The participants were trying to get a message to Washington.
Retired miners filled Heritage Hall to lobby for the Miners Protection Act. It includes provisions related to preserving health care benefits. The legislation comes following bankruptcy filings by certain coal companies.
Hartford retiree Steven Storm worked 35 years as a miner, “Most of my life I worked 12 hour shifts. I drove anywhere from 80 to a hundred miles to work and now they’re telling me I’m not gonna have my health care or my pensions. It’s not fair."
A representative for Senator Mitch McConnell’s office says the Majority Leader from Kentucky remains committed to helping ensure the benefits of retirees, including coal miners, and he believes it is an important issue that deserves open, transparent debate through the regular order committee process.?
