SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A group of former workers at a now-closed central Illinois coal mine allege in a federal lawsuit they're owed a year of health insurance under a collective-bargaining deal.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register (https://bit.ly/1jwM1Li ) reports the laid-off workers at the Crown III mine in Macoupin County filed the lawsuit this month in U.S. District Court in Springfield.
The suit names Springfield Coal Co. and Tri-County Coal, which was hired in 2009 to run the nearly 190-worker underground mine near Girard.
Attorneys for Springfield Coal and Tri-County have asked a judge to dismiss the case. The companies say they were never signatories to the collective-bargaining agreement. And they say the National Labor Relations Board should handle the dispute, not a court.
The mine closed late last year.
