Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation v. LOCAL NO. 6167, ETC.

• Decision Date: 25 January 1944
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 73.
• Citation: 53 F. Supp. 935
• Parties: JEWELL RIDGE COAL CORPORATION v. LOCAL NO. 6167, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia

53 F. Supp. 935

JEWELL RIDGE COAL CORPORATION v. LOCAL NO. 6167, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, et al.

Civil Action No. 73.

District Court, D. Virginia, at Abingdon.

January 25, 1944.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

George Richardson, Jr., of Bluefield, W. Va., and William A. Stuart, of Abingdon, Va., for plaintiff.

Crampton Harris, of Birmingham, Ala., Frank W. Rogers and Leonard G. Muse, both of Roanoke, Va., and Welly K. Hopkins, of Washington, D. C., for defendants.

Edward R. Burke and John C. Gall, both of Washington, D. C., for Southern Coal Producers Ass'n amicus curiae.

BARKSDALE, District Judge.

Statement of the Case.

This is a declaratory judgment action instituted by Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation, the owner and operator of two bituminous coal mines in this District, against two locals of the United Mine Workers of America and certain officials and committee members thereof, District No. 28, United Mine Workers of America, and its officers, and International Union, United Mine Workers of America and its president. The two defendant locals of the Union comprise all of the underground mine workers employed by plaintiff, said two locals being within the jurisdiction of said District 28, said District 28 in turn being a component of the International Union, United Mine Workers of America. The complaint alleges, the joint answer of all defendants admits, and the evidence proves, the existence of an actual justiciable controversy between plaintiff and defendants as to the construction of Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 207. By pretrial order, it was stipulated that the issues to be now tried in this action are as follows:

"a. What constitutes the working time which makes up the work week of plaintiff's underground employees within the meaning of Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and what amounts, if any, are due and unpaid to such employees under said Section, the determination of such amounts, if any, to be later referred to a special master:

"(1) In reference to `a' above, the plaintiff contends that such work week does not include that portion of the time spent by its underground employees in being transported or walking to and from their usual working places.

"(2) In reference to `a' above, the defendants contend that such work week includes all the time from the time such employees are required to report and do report for work at the portal of the mine until they return to the portal at the end of the shift, less the regular lunch period when they are relieved of all duties."

Neither side having demanded a jury, evidence adduced by both sides has been fully heard in open court by the court without a jury, oral argument has been heard, and briefs have been filed on behalf of both sides, and a brief has also been filed by Southern Coal Producers Association of which plaintiff is a member, whose petition for intervention was denied, but which was permitted to participate as an amicus curiae.

This action having been tried upon the facts by the court without a jury, the court doth hereby find the facts specially and state separately its conclusions of law thereon, and directs the entry of the appropriate judgment, as follows, in conformity with Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c:

Findings of Fact.

Plaintiff, Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation, owns and operates two coal mines within this District, the older one being known as the "Jewell Ridge Mine" and the other being known as the "Jewell Valley Mine". The Jewell Ridge Mine was opened in 1910, and the Jewell Valley Mine in 1936. Both mines having been in operation for a number of years, the coal now being mined is at a considerable distance from the driftmouth or portal of the mines. Jewell Ridge being the older mine, the distances there are naturally greater, and vary from approximately 4,250 feet to 25,460 feet; at Jewell Valley, the distances vary from approximately 4,600 feet to 14,450 feet. Approximately 500 men are employed at each mine. Although there are slight differences, the methods of operating the two mines are substantially the same.

The coal which is mined at these two mines exists in seams, the thickness of which varies in the two mines from 32 to 54 inches. The main tunnels into the mines, from which coal has been extracted, are known as "haulage ways". From these haulage ways, laterals have been driven which are called "cross entries". These cross entries give access to, and form the boundaries of, "rooms", from which all the coal is taken except the pillars that are left to support the roof. Electric railways are operated for the removal of the coal when mined, and the men are also transported to and from their places of work on these railways. The company has numerous employees for the operation and maintenance of these railways and the electric power systems and the maintenance of safety within the mines, such as motormen and brakemen, trackmen, bratticemen, wiremen, and a bondman. These employees are all called "company men" and are paid at hourly rates. The employees who actually extract the coal from the seams, are known as "machinemen" and "coal loaders". The method is about as follows: Between shifts, the machinemen place their cutting machines at the faces of the seams. Each machineman then makes a cut or kerf, approximately six inches in height, at the bottom of the seam of coal and parallel to the floor, which cut extends across the width of the room or working place and back into the seam to the depth of six or eight feet. The fragments from this cutting, called "bug dust", are first removed by the "coal loader" when he begins his work, by means of a long-handled shovel. The loader then bores holes at the top of the seam of coal to the same depth as the undercut. He then places explosives in these holes and fires them. These explosions dislodge the entire section of coal which has been undercut, pushing it down and outward. The loader, with his pick and shovel, then proceeds to load the coal thus shot down, into empty coal cars placed adjacent to his work place by operators of gathering motors. The coal is then hauled out to the tipple, processed, graded, and ultimately loaded into railway cars for shipment. All coal loaders, and ordinarily, the machinemen, are paid upon a piece-work basis, that is, at an agreed rate for each ton of coal. The hours of labor of these piece-work employees are, however, important, because they are paid a time-and-a-half rate, or more accurately, a rate-and-a-half rate, for coal extracted by them after the expiration of seven hours of labor.

All plaintiff's employees are required to be at their places of work, for the morning shift, at 8 o'clock, A. M. The men come from their homes to the mines in various ways. Some walk, some come in their own cars at their own expense. More than 400 come in trucks and buses operated for that purpose by the plaintiff company and certain individuals, the expense of such transportation being borne by the company. The employees arrive at the mines at various times, but each in time to board the "mantrip" which is to take him to, or near, his respective place of work, "Man-trips" are trips made by trains of mine cars drawn by electric locomotives for the purpose of transporting the underground workers to or near their respective places of work. Employees leave the trains at the "man-trip stations" which are nearest to their respective places of work, and walk the rest of the way.

Upon arrival at the mines, each underground worker first obtains his lamp from the company's lamp house near the portal, which is an electric light that has been charged while the employee is off duty. Each underground worker carries with him such drinking water as he needs for the day, as well as his lunch.

After securing their lamps, various men do various things before taking the man-trip. Coal loaders, the most numerous class, do nothing, unless they have brought tools out for repair. Some four or five times a month, they bring tools out for repair, and on such occasions they go by the blacksmith shop and obtain their repaired tools. The bondman, wiremen, bratticemen, trackmen, and such machinemen as ride man-trips, get such tools as they may have brought out of the mine from the tool house, and such supplies as they may need for the day, from the supply house, and load them into the tool cars of their man-trips. However, if these men so desire, they have the option to give their orders for supplies to the section foreman, and such supplies will be delivered on their section overnight by the supply crew. Some machinemen use motors, and those who do, get two gallons of oil from the oil house, approximately 50 pounds of machine bits from the blacksmith shop, and such other equipment as may be necessary, and load such supplies and equipment onto their motors. They get their motors out of the yard, switch them to the sand house, where they fill their four sand boxes and oil the motor. They then run their motors to their assigned places of operation in the mine. Motormen and brakemen go through substantially the same process of getting out their motors and oiling and sanding them, as the machinemen do, before proceeding in the motors to their places of work. These preliminary activities require variously from three to ten minutes.

As previously stated, "man-trips" are for the transportation of underground workers to or near their places of work. They are operated by, and at the expense of, the company. At the Jewell Valley Mine, all underground workers use the man-trips to travel from the main portal to their places of work; at Jewell Ridge, approximately 72 men enter the mine at places other than the main portal and catch the man-trips at some man-trip station inside the mine, or walk all the way to their places of work. Their lamps are brought to them by their section foremen....