About 400 unionized employees of The Greenbrier resort were shocked to learn this week that they are in danger of losing their health care coverage as soon as next week because the Jim Justice family has fallen four months behind on payments to their health fund.
A statement on behalf of the Amalgamated National Health Fund said the Greenbrier Hotel Corp. owes $2.4 million in delinquent contributions, with another $1.2 million currently, or soon to be, due.
“If payment is not timely made, the Health Fund will suspend health and welfare coverage to all the Greenbrier’s covered employees†by next Tuesday, Aug. 27, the statement read. Coincidentally, that is the same day The Greenbrier is scheduled to be sold at a public auction because of a $40 million bank loan default. The Justices have asked a judge to block the sale.
The Greenbrier Council of Labor Unions, which is comprised of the eight unions at the resort, said it is “heartbroken and disappointed.†Chairman Peter Bostic said in a prepared statement: “Additionally, we are concerned to learn that the Greenbrier has not even remitted to the Fund the employees share of the health benefit contributions which the Greenbrier has been deducting from the employee’s paychecks.â€
So, the health fund and the employees’ union say The Greenbrier has been collecting the premiums from the employees, but not paying the bill? What happened to the money? Bostic’s statement goes on to say that The Greenbrier’s delinquency is “morally and legally wrong.â€
I have heard that the Greenbrier employees who could lose their health insurance are not only disappointed, but they are also furious. They did the jobs they were hired to do and agreed to contribute a portion of their pay to their health insurance. But according to the Health Fund, The Greenbrier has failed to live up to its end of the bargain.
There is not enough space here to list all the times Justice companies have stiffed vendors, been delinquent on bank payments, failed to remit sales taxes, not paid property taxes or fallen behind on mine safety fines. The myriad delinquencies have been well documented by the state news media.
However, this latest nonpayment stands out as outrageous and shameful. It has put the employees who depend on their health insurance in jeopardy. The average West Virginian might not care much about an overdue bank loan or even think twice about The Greenbrier because they could never afford to stay there. But this is about a Justice-created hardship for their fellow West Virginians who work there.
If Gov. Jim Justice genuinely cares about people the way he says he does, he will sell the historic resort to someone who can operate it properly.
Hoppy Kercheval hosts “Talkline,†on MetroNews.
