‘Do you have to be dead?’: US coalminers plead for benefits as black-lung disease cases surge
US coal miners are facing a surge in black lung disease cases while simultaneously struggling with long delays and appeals in the federal benefits program. The report highlights the plight of retired miners who require medical support while the industry receives political backing.
Why it matters
It underscores the human cost of industrial labor and the systemic failures in providing promised healthcare to disabled workers.
A coalmine in Wharton, West Virginia. The Trump administration is moving to boost the coal industry. Photograph: Ricky Carioti for The Washington Post via Getty Images A coalmine in Wharton, West Virginia. The Trump administration is moving to boost the coal industry. Photograph: Ricky Carioti for The Washington Post via Getty Images US unions ‘Do you have to be dead?’: US coalminers plead for benefits as black-lung disease cases surge Trump says he digs coal – but pneumoconiosis cases are at a 50-year high, and sick miners are mired in benefit delays
Prefer the Guardian on Google For 38 years, Josh Armes worked as a coal miner in West Virginia and Virginia.
After retirement, Armes, 74, of Grundy, Virginia, was diagnosed with black lung disease, medically known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), caused by breathing in coal dust over long periods, which irreversibly damages the lungs.
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