These are some really high-minded corporations.
In the Coal Fields, A Novel Way to Get Rid Of Pensions Is Born - Working In These Times
by Mike Elk, In These Times
"In 2007, Peabody Energy spun off a new company, Patriot Coal, which inherited 10 unionized mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. Along with the mines, Patriot took on $557 million in healthcare obligations to UMWA retirees. In 2008, Patriot bought Magnum, which had been similarly spun off from Arch Coal three years earlier. From Magnum, Patriot inherited another $500 million in obligations to retired miners, according to the UMWA.
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Over breakfast in Morgantown, UMWA President Cecil Roberts describes the founding of Patriot. “It’s like we all are Peabody sitting here, and I am the CEO. This is what happened. 'Well we're going to create a new company boys. You’re gonna be the CEO; you're gonna be the vice president; you're gonna be the treasurer.' All the officers came from the corporate headquarters [of Peabody] in St. Louis. Peabody unilaterally decided what assets Patriot would have. They unilaterally decided what liabilities it would have. They gave Patriot all of its retirees.”
