Unions representing about 400 employees at The Greenbrier resort say there’s a short reprieve on the possibility of losing health care coverage.
Citing past-due payments for health insurance coverage by The Greenbrier Hotel Corp., attorneys for the Amalgamated National Health Fund had said coverage would lapse by Tuesday. That was the same day The Greenbrier Hotel had been set for a foreclosure sale because of other debts. The owners of the hotel, Gov. Jim Justice and his family, announced this week that they have secured financial support to satisfy the hotel debt, at least for now, halting the foreclosure sale.
Because the auction of the hotel is now off, the Health Fund will continue to provide health care benefits through the end of this month, just one week away, according to a new statement by the Greenbrier Council of Labor Unions.
“However, the delinquencies are factual, tangible and documented,” the union organization said in the news release from Peter Bostic, chairman.
“We continue to demand that The Greenbrier’s delinquent contractual obligations be met and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached” between the Health Fund and The Greenbrier to continue the benefits coverage.
The Health Fund says the owners are delinquent on $2.4 million in health premium contributions, with another $1.2 million in premiums soon due. Those are the numbers that Ronald Richman, an attorney representing the Health Fund, told MetroNews remain accurate at this time.
The insurance company alleged The Greenbrier collected premiums from employees but did not pass the money along. The health insurance payments collected from employees of The Greenbrier but not remitted to their insurance company total $612,000, according to Bostic.
Justice publicly promised employees at the resort won’t go without health insurance.
“There is no way that the great union employees at The Greenbrier are going to go without insurance. There is no possible way,” Justice said in a statewide administration briefing.
“And I’ll promise you to the good lord above that insurance payments have been made and were being made on a regular basis just like we’ve done in the past in many ways.”
A little after 7 p.m. Friday, The Greenbrier issued a statement.
“The Greenbrier Hotel wants to make absolutely clear that without exception ever penny of money collected from our nearly 2,000 employees for health care coverage has been timely paid to either the union health care fund or the non-union health care provider.“ The Greenbrier’s management and accounting staff monitor and make payments for the health care. Governor Jim Justice has never been consulted, nor has he directed any of these payments since 2017.
“The Greenbrier is very proud to carry on the tradition as “America’s Resort” and values greatly the contributions of its employees. Many of its Team Members have worked at The Greenbrier for decades and count on it to provide for their families in our community.
“To demonstrate the payments of our employee’s withholdings for health care, we have provided this information to the union health care fund today. We want each and every Team Member to know, as always, that with their help, we will do our very best to ensure that this resort delivers an incredible experience to its guests for many years to come.”
Justice addressed the insurance matter on the same day The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. announced a deal holding off the foreclosure sale of key pieces of the resort, including the main hotel building. Under the agreement, Beltway Capital will receive a specific amount to be paid in full by Oct. 24, according to a statement distributed by the Justice family. That announcement did not say how much the specific amount is.
Justice gained goodwill and steps toward statewide name recognition when he bought The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in spring of 2009. Justice, a two-term governor, is now a Republican nominee for U.S. Senates.
When asked questions by West Virginia reporters during this week’s briefing, Justice described his family’s history of financial involvement at The Greenbrier, characterizing it as supportive of workers, and then asked, “What if we absolutely just threw up our hands, what would have happened to those employees? I mean, it’s great to have health insurance, but then if you don’t have a job it would be pretty daggone tough, wouldn’t it?”
He continued by saying, “I promise you with all in me, we will not miss one step with regard to people’s health insurance and we’ll move on down the road.”
