The United Mine Workers of America is urging Sen. Manchin to rethink his opposition to Build Back Better

• The United Mine Workers of America asked Sen. Joe Manchin to rethink his stand on Build Back Better.
• The UMWA asked Manchin to consider how the bill could help coal miners. 
• Manchin has had long-standing ties to both the union and the coal industry.

A coal miners’ union with strong ties to Sen. Joe Manchin released a statement on Monday asking the senator to rethink his opposition to the beleaguered Build Back Better legislation. 

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) asked Manchin to reconsider saying no to President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better social and climate spending legislation, saying the bill had provisions for coal miners who suffer from black lung disease. 

“The bill includes language that would extend the current fee paid by coal companies to fund benefits received by victims of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or Black Lung. But now that fee will be cut in half, further shifting the burden of paying these benefits away from the coal companies and on to taxpayers,” wrote UMWA leader Cecil E. Roberts in the statement. 

Black lung disease happens after continued exposure to coal dust and is an occupational hazard for many coal miners. According to The New Republic, Build Back Better would help to extend an excise tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, a source of benefits for coal workers set to expire at the end of 2021. 

Roberts added that the bill also includes provisions for tax incentives that might encourage manufacturers to build facilities in coalfields that could create thousands of jobs for coal miners. 

“The bill includes language that will provide tax incentives to encourage manufacturers to build facilities in the coalfields that would employ thousands of coal miners who have lost their jobs,” Roberts said in the statement. “We support that and are ready to help supply those plants with a trained, professional workforce. But now the potential for those jobs is significantly threatened.” 

“We urge Senator Manchin to revisit his opposition to this legislation and work with his colleagues to pass something that will help keep coal miners working, and have a meaningful impact on our members, their families, and their communities,” Roberts added. 

Build Back Betters had previously seen opposition from coal miners that complicated the bill’s progress. Roberts previously penned an op-ed in November lauding Manchin for axing the Clean Electricity Performance Program from the bill. The CEPP advocated for the building of wind and solar generation plants over keeping fossil fuel plants running, an item in Build Back Better that Roberts strongly opposed. 

The UMWA represents coal miners in Manchin’s state of West Virginia, and has long-standing ties with the senator, having named him an honorary member in 2020. Manchin is also deeply invested in the coal industry and has millions of dollars in holdings in Enersystems, Inc., a coal brokerage firm he founded. 

“If I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it,” Manchin said on Fox on Sunday, torpedoing a large part of the Biden administration’s agenda by coming out against BBB. “I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there. This is a no.”

However, there is a chance that Manchin might agree to vote on a scaled-down, $1.8 trillion counter-offer to Biden’s plan, which includes provisions for universal pre-K and measures to combat the climate emergency. Politico also reported that Manchin and Biden had a phone conversation on Sunday night, which indicates there might be hope yet for Build Back Better.