Mine Workers Thank AFA Members for Support
The United Mine Workers of America personally thanked AFA Members for their action to help secure permanent healthcare for Miners. AFA members and other labor allies took action and now 22,000 retired Mine Workers have the permanent health care benefits that they were promised. Read the letter below:
Dear President Nelson,
I would like to personally thank you for the adamant and unwavering solidarity that you have shown the United Mine Workers of America in our fight to Keep the Promise of lifetime pensions and healthcare for our retired coal miners. Your message very clearly and sincerely calls to attention the moral obligation to protect those workers who have already sacrificed their bodies , their lun gs, and their lives to energize this nation. We have received very positive feedback from our members who are so proud to receive the support of the AFA - CWA.
While there are many differences that exist between the members of our Unions and the industries in which they are employed, there are also blunt similarities. We both work in environments where we are totally dependent on our brothers and sisters to survive; gravity at 30,000 ft. high is the same as gravity at 1,600 ft. deep and it will take someone's life indiscriminately.
Miners and flight attendants both rely on ventilation systems to ensure breathable air to maintain life. However, as you noted, perhaps the biggest similarity is the understanding that a life can be forever changed in just 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes can be the difference between life and death, success and failure, or a miracle and a catastrophe. It means a great deal to me for you to ask Congress to take those 5 minutes to vote on the Miners Protection Act.
I am so proud to share the labor movement with you, Sister Nelson. You honor all retired miners and me with your solidarity and compassion. I look forward to fighting alongside you for a better future for all workers.
May God Bless You and Your Family.
Cecil E. Roberts
