No Kentucky coal company has complied with a law designed to protect miner wages

https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article234398952.html

By Will Wright
August 29, 2019 01:36 PM, Updated August 29, 2019 10:04 PM

Not a single coal company formed in Kentucky within the past five years has posted a bond required by state law to protect miners’ wages if the company suddenly shuts down, according to records obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader. In addition, officials in Gov. Mat Bevin’s administration urged lawmakers last year to pass a bill that would have eliminated the requirement.

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In the weeks after Blackjewel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Herald-Leader reported the company appeared to be in violation of a law requiring it to post a performance bond to protect wages. The violation allowed the company to close its mines without paying employees for three weeks of work.

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If the Labor Cabinet can find time to launch an investigation of teachers who called in sick to protest a Republican-backed pension overhaul bill, the cabinet should make time to protect workers in the coal and construction industries, Finn said.

“When the Labor Cabinet’s spending all of this time — resources, effort and man hours — to go out and chase down these 1,074 teachers and check their time cards and sick days, take that same amount of effort into enforcing this performance bond and those people wouldn’t be standing on those railroad tracks with a whole lot of families hurting right now,” Finn said.

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Many coal companies that file for Chapter 11, including Cambrian Coal and Blackhawk Mining, which both filed for Chapter 11 this year and operate within Eastern Kentucky, continue to employ and pay their workers during bankruptcy proceedings.

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