WHEN MINERS LOSE COVERAGE, WHAT DOES A CONTRACT MEAN? AP, The Southern Illinoisan
'I feel let down and cheated,' says Kenny Kondoudis, president of the United Mine Workers local at the Zeigler No. 11 mine here that recently closed. 'We were productive for these people. We lived with what we signed. They should have to. But these lawyers, these corporations, they see the loopholes and they can take our benefits.'
The Horizon miners are not alone. Hundreds of thousands of steel, airline and technology workers -- many of them retirees -- have seen long-promised benefits disappear or be slashed or threatened in recent years.
The Horizon workers, though relatively few, have generated sympathy far beyond the coal fields and union halls, with calls for reform (a New York Times editorial urged "humane revision" of bankruptcy law) and pledges of help from Capitol Hill.