CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's family is millions of dollars behind on payments to employees' health insurance fund at their financially beleaguered hotel , putting workers' coverage at risk despite the U.S. Senate candidate's claims otherwise, a union official said Friday.

“The unpaid amounts are verifiable, concrete, and documented,” Peter Bostic, chairperson of the Council of Labor Unions at The Greenbrier, the historic resort owned by Justice's family.

Justice dismissed concerns about at least $2.4 million in overdue payments to the insurance provider during a press briefing on Thursday, claiming that payments had been made “on a regular basis" and that there was “no way” employees would lose coverage.

But on Friday, Bostic said the situation is in no way resolved.

“We continue to demand that The Greenbriers’ outstanding contractual obligations be fulfilled and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached between the ANHF and The Greenbrier to ensure continued benefits in the future,” he stated.

Justice's remarks came on the same day that the Republican's family announced it had reached an agreement with a debt collection agency 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 be auctioned off on August 27, after Beltway Capital declared a longstanding Justice hotel loan to be in default after acquiring it in July from JPMorgan Chase.

Bostic stated on Friday that in light of the canceled auction, the Amalgamated National Health Fund had agreed to continue providing health insurance to union employees at The Greenbrier until the end of the month while they work towards an agreement with the Justices.

This week, as the auction drew closer, about 400 employees at The Greenbrier hotel received a notification from an attorney for the health care provider Amalgamated National Health Fund stating they would lose their coverage on the day of the auction unless the Justice family paid $2.4 million in overdue contributions.

According to a letter the board received from Ronald Richman, an attorney with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, the firm representing the fund, the Justice family hasn't made contributions to employee health funds in four months, and an additional $1.2 million in contributions will be due soon.

The letter also stated that some employee contributions were deducted from their paychecks but were never transferred to the fund, a cause for concern among union officials.

During a news briefing on Thursday, Justice reassured reporters that “insurance payments were made and were being made on a regular basis.”

“It is absolutely unthinkable that the dedicated union employees at The Greenbrier will be left without insurance,” he declared. “It is simply not an option.”

Justice commenced his first term as governor in 2017, following his acquisition of The Greenbrier from bankruptcy in 2009. The 710-room hotel hosted a PGA Tour golf tournament from 2010 to 2019 and served as a training ground for NFL teams. A once-secret, 112,000-square-foot (10,080-square-meter) underground bunker constructed at The Greenbrier as a contingency for a nuclear attack during the Cold War now welcomes visitors on guided tours.

The auction, originally scheduled to take place at a courthouse in the small city of Lewisburg, involved 60.5 acres, including the hotel and its parking lot.

The Republican stated that when he acquired The Greenbrier, employee benefits had been “significantly reduced,” and he had restored them. He claimed that if the hotel had been foreclosed on, “there would have been widespread devastation and job losses that would have been impossible to imagine for the people of The Greenbrier.”

“What if we had simply given up, what would have become of those employees?" he asked. "I mean, health insurance is important, but if you don't have a job, it wouldn't be easy, would it?”

Justice, a Republican, is running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Glenn Elliott, a former mayor of Wheeling. Justice, who owns a vast number of companies and had an estimated net worth of $513 million according to Forbes Magazine in 2021, has faced accusations in legal cases regarding delayed payments of millions for family business obligations and penalties for unsafe conditions at his coal mines .