Retired coal miners rallied in Washington, DC, last Tuesday to demand enforcement of a federal silica exposure rule blocked by the Trump administration. The protesters, numbering around 80, highlighted the rule's absence as a deadly threat to miners suffering from black lung disease. Union leaders and advocates called on President Trump to act, decrying the delay as a betrayal of workers.
On October 15, 2025, approximately 80 retired coal miners, dressed in camouflage and carrying signs reading “Silica Kills,” “Stand With Us! Enforce the Silica Rule!” and “Coal Miners Lives Matter,” gathered outside the Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, DC, amid a government shutdown. Their goal was to draw attention from President Donald Trump to the administration's refusal to enforce a crucial workplace health rule limiting exposure to respirable crystalline silica, a dust 20 times more toxic than coal dust and a primary cause of black lung disease.
The rule, intended to halve the allowable exposure level to 50 micrograms per cubic meter, was set to take effect on April 14, 2025. However, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), now led by a former coal industry executive within Trump's Labor Department, has not implemented it. A 2024 Department of Labor estimate projected that enforcement would save thousands of lives. United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts described the delay as “a death sentence for more miners.” Former Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su stated, “Trump’s DOL is not enforcing this rule, and because of that, workers will die. This isn’t just cruel to miners. If Trump’s DOL reverses protections on one of the most dangerous jobs, what protections are they willing to enforce?”
The protest underscored the crisis in Appalachia, where thinner coal seams and advanced machinery expose miners to higher silica levels from rock. Coal miners face double the exposure limit of other workers (100 micrograms per cubic meter versus 50). Dr. Leonard Go, a pulmonologist at the University of Illinois Chicago, noted, “Unfortunately we’ve seen miners who have complicated black lung, or progressive massive fibrosis, with less than 10 years of coal mining experience... That could be people in their 20s.”
Participants included widows holding photos of deceased husbands and retirees like 77-year-old Brenda Ellis from Wyoming County, West Virginia, who worked 24 years underground and now requires oxygen. Vonda Robinson, vice president of the National Black Lung Association, said, “We’re tired of seeing 28-year-olds with complicated black lung... We saw a 35-year-old die last week.” Gary Hairston, the association's president, lamented, “I’ve been coming up here for 20-some years to get this silica rule and get it enforced.” UMWA Secretary-Treasurer Brian Sanson criticized the administration for favoring coal companies and canceling miners' health grants.
The event, joined by union officials, advocates from Appalachian Voices and BlueGreen Alliance, and family members, ended with calls for justice. UMWA President Roberts petitioned, “We want representation, we want healthcare, we want to end this plague... Let’s stop the killing in Appalachia.” Rev. Brad Davis urged a “moral imperative” to act, referencing the long fight since the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's 1974 warnings on silica dangers.