Consol retirees march for lost benefits
CANONSBURG – On a miserable Monday, Consol Energy retirees reiterated why they feel left out in the cold.
A group of about 60, including family members and supporters, marched on Consol’s Southpointe headquarters in a candlelight vigil for 1,200-plus former employees who lost medical, prescription drug and life insurance coverage Dec. 31.
The retirees were salaried, nonunion supervisors at five Consol mines in West Virginia, which were sold in late 2013 to Murray Energy Corp. About 160 Pennsylvania families were affected.
The group “Consol Retirees United for Our Rights” organized the event and again reinforced the point it is not blaming Murray for the predicament.
Starting in the Waynesburg University satellite campus’s parking lot on a hill above the Consol complex, carrying lit candles and signs reading “Consol Reinstate Retiree Healthcare Now,” participants took to the sidewalk and strolled purposefully to the lot of their former employer – and fairly close to the front entrance.
They stopped and retiree George Kostelnik addressed the crowd. “These were benefits we paid into under the ‘Consol Plan’ that was promised to us,” he said. “Consol selling our benefits to Murray was a scapegoat and unethical.”
Consol Energy spokeswoman Kate O’Donovan, however, said in a statement via email: “In a transaction such as Consol Energy’s sale of its Consolidation Coal Co. subsidiary to Murray Energy Corp., the structure and terms of the transaction determine the party that is legally responsible for retirement benefits such as pension benefits and retiree medical benefits.
“In this transaction, as in many transactions, the buyer acquired responsibility for those benefits. The transaction agreements are a matter of public record.”
Kostelnik was the first of two speakers planned for the site, but he was cut short by the arrival of Cecil Township police.
“You have been asked to leave,” Chief Shawn Bukovinsky said politely, adding the group could reconvene along the sidewalk above Consol property. The marchers did, chanting “Shame on Consol” as they walked.
When Kostelnik resumed speaking, he said, “They promised benefits and we took them at their word. Loyalty is not a core value of this (corporate) staff.”
Fellow retiree Don Krek of Houston also spoke, lamenting what he called failed hope and broken promises. He likewise targeted Consol.
“I never worked for Murray. I retired from Consol Energy.”
Considering conditions, the size of the group was impressive. Supporters included members of the Center for Coalfield Justice and Fight Back Pittsburgh.
As the chilled marchers returned to the Waynesburg U. campus, and to their very inviting cars, they chanted in unison and rhyme, “Health care for all, shame on Consol.”