In early October, John Ward was caught off guard by a letter he got in the mail.
It was from Peabody Energy, the company he retired from a decade ago, alerting him that his medical benefits would expire at the end of the year.
At first he couldn鈥檛 believe it. He still has more than $200,000 in his account 鈥� enough, he thought, to cover the cost of supplemental insurance and other medical expenses for the rest of his life.
鈥淎nd now they鈥檙e trying to take it away, and I just don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 right at all,鈥� said Ward, who recently turned 69. 鈥淎nd the guys who are 65 and under get to keep it.鈥�
It鈥檚 unclear exactly how many former Peabody employees will lose these benefits. Peabody said it鈥檚 ending the program as part of a larger cost-cutting strategy to stay in business. In an email, Peabody said it would save $174.5 million by slashing post-retirement medical benefits.
But Ward said that money was already promised to former employees. He鈥檚 pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the company with the help of an attorney in St. Louis.
He鈥檚 already drummed up support from some former colleagues, and he's hoping more will join his efforts.
鈥淭here鈥檚 probably 1,000 of us who have since retired across the USA, so you鈥檙e talking a bunch of money they鈥檙e trying to reclaim,鈥� he said, adding that the lawsuit hasn鈥檛 yet been filed.
Ward worked in mines for decades, spending the last eight with Peabody at Willow Lake mine, among others, in a Harrisburg, Illinois, complex about 130 miles from St. Louis. Peabody bought it from a company local to that area, Arclar, in the early 2000s.
He retired as a third-shift mine manager after a work accident left his pelvis crushed in six places, and he still walks with a limp.
Ward has Medicare, but he depended on his Peabody retiree medical account to cover his $300 monthly bill for supplemental insurance, in addition to dental and prescription insurance.
鈥淚鈥檒l just have to pay it out of my Social Security. It鈥檚 the only thing I can do. Either that or do without it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut if you have to go to the hospital then you鈥檙e out big money.鈥�
Earlier this month, Peabody warned in a that it could face a within five years if it does not implement cost-cutting measures.
Peabody declined a request for an interview but provided several statements regarding the decision to end the retiree health care program.
鈥淭he change in financial support is designed to maintain Peabody鈥檚 retiree medical subsidy where it is needed most 鈥� for retirees and spouses who are not yet age 65 and Medicare-eligible,鈥� the company said.
鈥楾hey deserve better treatment鈥�
But retirees like Robert Hill say it鈥檚 the other way around 鈥� older people, like him, who are more susceptible to health issues need the money more.
Hill, now 76, retired from Willow Lake, where he worked with Ward, nearly 10 years ago.
鈥淚 got fed up with Peabody,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just wanted to get away from them.鈥�
Hill, who at one point oversaw a mine, said coal mining is a physically taxing job, and he remembers regularly working 12-hour shifts and weekends to keep things running.
These days, he struggles with heart issues and diabetes. He has nearly $180,000 left in his retiree health account, which he currently uses to cover his $350-a-month supplemental insurance bill, among other medical expenses.
鈥淎ll they want is someone to make them money, and then when they get to where they鈥檙e not useful to them, throw them away."Robert Hill
Hill picked up a job as a janitor at a local school to cover his bills, but he said it will take at least two paychecks to make up for the amount he normally withdraws from his medical account. Hill said he鈥檚 angry with the way Peabody is treating retirees after all they鈥檝e done for the company.
鈥淎ll they want is someone to make them money, and then when they get to where they鈥檙e not useful to them, throw them away,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 feel like they just threw us to the dogs so they could pay the people in St. Louis their millions of dollars a year salaries.鈥�
CEO Glenn Kellow is the eighth-highest-paid CEO in St. Louis, at a salary of $7.6 million a year. That鈥檚 67 times higher than the typical worker is paid, according to.
Terry Knies, a 68-year-old Peabody retiree, said ending the medical benefit program is just the latest example of how executives are mismanaging the company.
Knies spent more than two decades working in administrative IT at the St. Louis office.
鈥淭he part that makes me angry is this guy who is saving this money, it will probably be considered a smart move in the boardroom, and then he鈥檒l get a bigger bonus this year because he saved the company $175 million,鈥� he said.
Knies stands to lose nearly $100,000 in medical benefits. When he first retired, about eight years ago, he withdrew sparingly 鈥� hoping it would last him and his wife until their mid-80s.
But then he got a sinking feeling it wouldn鈥檛 last, so he and his wife started scheduling doctor appointments and root canals they might typically have put off.
He said he saw the writing on the wall after Peabody put an $8,000 annual cap on withdrawals a few years ago. Knies said with some financial and lifestyle readjusting he and his wife will be all right, but he worries about former miners like John Ward and Robert Hill.
鈥淭hey made the company successful because they produced all this coal, and they did all this hard, dirty and dangerous work. And then us administrative people kind of rode on their back as far as benefits and our pay and various other things,鈥� he said.
鈥淭o me, the injustices are more at them than somebody like me. They deserve better treatment for what they did for the company.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time Peabody is . During Patriot Coal's bankruptcy proceedings in 2013, to draw attention to lost health benefits for 10,000 retired Patriot Coal miners. Peabody spun off the business in 2007.
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