My maternal grandfather, Clarence Bledsoe, died in 1986, six months before I was born. He was known for being stern but fair-minded, an honest man of deep faith, an avid fisherman and an excellent guitar player and singer.
Though I never met him, few figures had more influence on my life. I know from experience that a lot of my fellow Appalachian millennials have a similar figure in their own family — a “ghost” known only through the stories of others, whose life was cut short due to complications from black lung disease.
My grandfather first entered the mines in 1931, when he was only 14. By the time he tried to enlist to fight against fascism in World War II, he was diagnosed with black lung disease and told that his lungs were too bad for him to serve his country. He was forced to leave mining behind, and he retrained as an automotive mechanic, all while continuing to struggle against black lung.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a law providing the first monthly payments for miners debilitated by black lung disease. My grandfather was not deemed eligible to receive his benefits until the late 1970s, and continued to work as a mechanic and small farmer to support his family until he became too sick to work.
The deadly march of the black lung epidemic continues to affect miners and their families to this day. But sadly, the real buying power of the modest black-lung benefit has decreased because it is tied to cost-of-living increases for federal employees rather than inflation.
Thankfully, a new bill introduced in Congress earlier this year by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., the Support Our Miners Act, aims to increase the disability payment that miners with black lung receive and adjust it as inflation rises. But the bill faces an uphill battle to become law.
Through my job with Appalachian Voices, I’ve gotten to know some of these retired miners with black lung. Last October, I drove a van of them up to Washington, D.C., to a rally outside the Department of Labor building to urge the administration to start enforcing stronger silica protections that would help prevent the disease.
And earlier this summer, I talked with a few of them at a meeting of our local Black Lung Association in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, about how inflation is impacting them and why they support increasing the black lung disability payment.
John Robinson worked underground for 28 years and fought for three years to receive his black lung benefits after his diagnosis at the age of 47. Robinson explained that being diagnosed under 50 made the struggle to get his deserved benefits even harder. And the benefits still aren’t nearly enough.
Today, he and his wife, Vonda, are both deeply involved in the Black Lung Association, with Vonda serving as vice president.
Bill Hatfield, who mined in Eastern Kentucky, was diagnosed with black lung disease at the age of 36 and had an even bigger battle for his benefits. He was hospitalized on five occasions for issues related to his breathing. Despite his medical issues, he had to fight 18 years to obtain benefits. Hatfield says the payments help, but rising costs are also affecting his budget.
“I think people need health care, and I think people need enough monthly income to have a decent living,” he said.
Throughout these conversations, one thing rings crystal clear. The workers who’ve powered this country since before my grandfather’s time have always deserved better treatment than they’ve received from the federal government and the coal companies.
More should be done to prevent black lung. Miners deserve to be able to do their jobs without the risk of developing black lung before they reach their 40th birthday. No more children should grow up not knowing their grandfathers — or even fathers, in some cases — because of preventable black lung disease.
For those already suffering from this devastating illness, champions are needed in Congress to help push Rep. Lee’s Support Our Miners Act across the finish line. These miners put their bodies on the line to power America. The least we can do is make sure there’s an adequate safety net to catch them when they’re no longer able to do the hard work of mining.
Rep. Morgan Griffith represents Hatfield, Robinson and thousands of miners with black lung and their family members — he should co-sponsor the Support Our Miners Act.
Garrison is a communications coordinator for Appalachian Voices who lives in Norton.
