I am writing this letter because of the Patriot Coal bankruptcy proceedings taking place at the federal courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. I am writing this letter on behalf of the thousands of UMWA [Mine Workers] retirees who sacrificed their bodies to build a billion dollar company, on behalf of the thousands of UMWA retirees and their families who depend on their pensions and health care to live, on behalf of the more than 4,000 active UMWA employees at Patriot Coal whose jobs are threatened, on behalf of the coal miner spouses who wait and worry that their loved ones will not return to them due to a mining accident or disaster, on behalf of the mine workers who fought, suffered and died at the battle of Blair Mountain, and the Ludow, Colo., massacre, on behalf of the mine workers at Piston and countless other labor struggles.