CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) 鈥� West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's family is millions of dollars behind on payments to employees' health insurance fund at their , putting workers' coverage at risk despite the U.S. Senate candidate's claims otherwise, a union official said Friday.
鈥淭he delinquencies are factual, tangible and documented,鈥� Peter Bostic, chairperson of the Council of Labor Unions at The Greenbrier, the historic resort owned by Justice's family.
Justice on Thursday dismissed concerns about at least $2.4 million in delinquent payments to insurance provider during a briefing with press, saying payments had been made 鈥渙n a regular basis" and that there was 鈥渘o way鈥� employees would lose coverage.
But on Friday, Bostic said the situation is in no way resolved.
鈥淲e continue to demand that The Greenbriers鈥� delinquent contractional obligations be met and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached between the ANHF and The Greenbrier to continue benefits into the future,鈥� he said in a statement.
Justice's remarks came the same day the Republican's family announced it had to prevent The Greenbrier hotel, which has hosted presidents, royalty and congressional retreats, from being foreclosed on due to unpaid debts. The Greenbrier was scheduled to go to the auction block August 27, after Beltway Capital declared a longstanding Justice hotel loan to be in default after purchasing it in July from JPMorgan Chase.
Bostic said on Friday that in light of the auction being canceled, the Amalgamated National Health Fund had agreed to continue offering union employees at The Greenbrier health insurance until the end of the month while they work to come to an agreement with the Justices.
Earlier this week, as the auction date approached, about 400 employees at The Greenbrier hotel received notice from an attorney for the health care provider Amalgamated National Health Fund saying they would lose on the day of the auction unless the Justice family paid $2.4 million in missing contributions.
The Justice family hasn鈥檛 contributed to employees鈥� health fund in four months, and that an additional $1.2 million in contributions will soon be due, according to the letter the board received from Ronald Richman, an attorney with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, the firm representing the fund.
The letter also said some contributions were taken out of employees鈥� paychecks but never transferred to the fund, concerning union officials.
Justice told reporters at a news briefing on Thursday that 鈥渋nsurance payments were made and were being made on a regular basis.鈥�
鈥淭here is no way that the great union employees at The Greenbrier are going to go without insurance,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no possible way.鈥�
Justice began serving the first of his two terms as governor in 2017, after buying The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in 2009. The 710-room hotel held a PGA Tour golf tournament from 2010 until 2019 and has welcomed NFL teams for training camp and practices. A once-secret 112,000-square-foot (10,080-square-meter) underground bunker built for Congress at the Greenbrier in case of nuclear attack during the Cold War now hosts tours.
The auction, which had been set to occur at a courthouse in the small city of Lewisburg, involved 60.5 acres, including the hotel and parking lot.
The Republican said that when he purchased The Greenbrier, employees benefits had been 鈥渟tripped to the bone,鈥� and he restored them. He said if the hotel had been foreclosed on, 鈥渢here would have been carnage and devastation like you can鈥檛 imagine to the great people of The Greenbrier,鈥� referring to jobs that could have been lost.
鈥淲hat if we absolutely just threw up our hands, what would have happened to those employees?" he said. "I mean, it's great to have health insurance, but if you don't have a job, it would be pretty doggone tough, wouldn't it?鈥�
Justice is running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Glenn Elliott, a former mayor of Wheeling. Justice, who owns dozens of companies and had a net worth estimated at $513 million by Forbes Magazine in 2021, has been accused in of being late in paying millions for family business debts and fines for .
Leah Willingham, The Associated Press
