CHARLESTON — The chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party criticized Gov. Jim Justice for his family's failure to pay healthcare premiums for retirees.
Mike Pushkin says Justice's family-controlled coal companies failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in healthcare premiums owed as part of a union retiree health benefit plan.
Pushkin's criticism follows a recent judgment by a federal court against three companies owned by Justice's family in which the court found the companies liable for failing to pay nearly six years of unpaid premiums for the union workers.
Pushkin
| File photo
"The failure of Governor Jim Justice's coal companies to fulfill their obligations under the union retiree benefit plan is deeply concerning," Pushkin said. "These unpaid premiums not only jeopardize the health care coverage of hardworking union miners and their families but also violate federal law. The miners who put their lives on the line every day so that Jim Justice can live in the lap of luxury deserve better."
Pushkin said West Virginia citizens deserve a leader who prioritizes the well-being of its community members while honoring commitments made to its workers.
"Governor Justice must take immediate action to ensure that his coal companies fulfill their responsibility to provide health care coverage to these miners and their families," Pushkin said.
Pushkin said if Justice can't bother to pay his retirees, he shouldn't be running for U.S. Senate.
"Last session Governor Jim Justice broke a promise to teachers and public employees and signed a bill to dramatically increase health care premiums under PEIA while owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid premiums to his own workers," Pushkin said. "If he can't afford to pay the health care benefits he owes his workers then he can't afford to run for the US Senate."
In May, U.S. District Judge Frank Volk ruled that the Justice-owned companies — Bluestone Coal Corp., Bluestone Industries and Keystone Service Industries — needed to pay the unpaid premiums that total about $130,000.