In re UMWA Employee Ben. Plans Litigation

• Decision Date: 03 February 1992
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 88-969,Misc. No. 91-386.,Multidistrict Litigation No. 886,88-3716,89-2833 and 91-3241
• Citation: 782 F. Supp. 658
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
• Parties: In re UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS LITIGATION. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1974 PENSION TRUST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The PITTSTON COMPANY, et al., Defendants. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1950 BENEFIT PLAN AND TRUST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PITTSBURG & MIDWAY COAL MINING CO., Defendant. John Allen PIERCE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1950 BENEFIT PLAN AND TRUST, et al., Defendants. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1974 PENSION TRUST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. RAWL SALES & PROCESSING CO., Defendant.

782 F. Supp. 658

In re UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS LITIGATION.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1974 PENSION TRUST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The PITTSTON COMPANY, et al., Defendants.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1950 BENEFIT PLAN AND TRUST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PITTSBURG & MIDWAY COAL MINING CO., Defendant.

John Allen PIERCE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1950 BENEFIT PLAN AND TRUST, et al., Defendants.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA 1974 PENSION TRUST, et al., Plaintiffs, v. RAWL SALES & PROCESSING CO., Defendant.

Multidistrict Litigation No. 886, Civ. A. Nos. 88-969, 88-3716, 89-2833 and 91-3241, Misc. No. 91-386.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

January 31, 1992.

As Amended February 3, 1992.

Julia Penny Clark, Washington, D.C., for the Trusts.

Thomas Gies, Crowell & Moring, Washington, D.C., for Pittsburg & Midway.

John Martin Wood, Reed Smith, Shaw & McClay, Washington, D.C., for Pittston.

John Mooney, Beins, Axelrod, Osborne & Mooney, Washington, D.C., for Pierce.

David H. Battaglia, Greg Robertson (Richmond Office), Hunton & Williams, Washington, D.C., for Rawls.

Stanley Lechner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Washington, D.C., for BCOA.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

THOMAS F. HOGAN, District Judge.

Before the Court are cross-motions for summary judgment in Civil Action Nos. 88-969 (Pittston), 88-3716 (Pittsburg & Midway (P & M)), 89-2833 (Pierce), and Civil Action No. 91-3241 (Rawl).¹ The three cases brought by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension and Benefit Trusts (the Pittston, P & M, and Rawl cases) are actions to collect delinquent contributions and are brought pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq. (ERISA) and § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 185(a) (LMRA).² The case brought by the UMWA and some of its individual members (the Pierce case) is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the Trusts from interfering with the collective bargaining agreement entered into between the UMWA and Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. in 1988 (the 1988 UMWA/P & M Agreement). It is also brought pursuant to ERISA and LMRA. Similarly, in the Pittston case, Pittston has filed a counterclaim seeking a declaratory judgment that the collective bargaining agreement, entered into between the UMWA and all of the Pittston Coal Group Companies (collectively referred to as PCG) in 1990 (the 1990 UMWA/PCG Agreement) is a valid and enforceable agreement. Rawl has filed a similar counterclaim with respect to the collective bargaining agreements entered into between the UMWA and Sprouse Creek Processing Company, Inc., Rocky Hollow Coal Company, Inc., Big Bottom Coal Company, Inc., Tall Timber Coal Company, and P.M. Charles Coal Company (collectively referred to as the Rawl Companies) in 1984 (the 1984 UMWA/Rawl Agreements).³ Having considered the cross motions and supporting memoranda and exhibits, the Court shall grant summary judgment for the Trusts in all four cases for the reasons that follow.

I. BACKGROUND: THE EVERGREEN CLAUSE

Although the causes of action in the four cases at issue are technically distinct, each involves the interpretation of the "evergreen clause" or "continuing contributions clause," which is found in the language of the UMWA 1950 Benefit Plan and Trust (the 1950 Benefit Trust), the UMWA 1950 Pension Trust (the 1950 Pension Trust), the UMWA 1974 Pension Trust (the 1974 Pension Trust), and the 1974 Benefit Plan and Trust (the 1974 Benefit Trust).⁴ The terms of these Trusts were negotiated by the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association (BCOA) and the UMWA in 1978. According to the Trusts and the BCOA, who is acting as amicus curiae in these cases, the evergreen clause was intended to provide for the long-term financing of pensions and health benefits for elderly miners who retired from the coal industry.⁵ Thus, allegedly to ensure that the obligation to contribute would apply equally to all participating employers, the BCOA and the UMWA placed the evergreen clause into the trust documents, which are incorporated by reference into the collective bargaining agreements of every employer that elects to participate in the Trusts, including employers who are not members of the BCOA.

The language of the evergreen clause is the same in each Trust except that the name of the Trust is different in each one. For example, the evergreen clause as first written in the 1950 Benefit Trust provides:

Any employer who employed any Participant eligible for coverage under, or who receives or received benefits under, the 1950 Benefit Plan and Trust, or any Employer who was or is required to make, or who has made or makes contributions to the 1950 Benefit Plan and Trust, is obligated and required to comply with the terms and conditions of the 1950 Benefit Trust, as amended from time to time, including, but not limited to, making the contributions required under the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 1978, as amended from time to time, and any successor agreements thereto, including, but not limited to, the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 1984.

1950 Benefit Trust, Article XII (emphasis added). The most recent National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement (NBCWA) was entered into in 1988 and specifies the amounts to be contributed by employers participating in the 1950 and 1974 Trusts.

The thrust of the Trusts' claim is that the defendant employers obligated themselves to the continuing contributions required by the NBCWA when they either: (1) became signatories to one of the NBCWAs since 1978, which incorporated the Trusts by reference, or (2) entered into individual collective bargaining agreements with the UMWA that were "me-too" agreements patterned after the NBCWA and also incorporating the Trusts by reference. The Pittston and Rawl cases are an example of the former, while the P & M case is an example of the latter.⁶

In Pittston, the 1950 and 1974 Trusts were incorporated into the 1984 NBCWA, to which the PCG companies were signatories.⁷ Article XX of this agreement covers health and retirement benefits and provides that:

The United Mine Workers of America 1950 Pension Trust ("1950 Pension Trust") is incorporated by reference and made a part of this Agreement. The terms of the 1950 Fund have heretofore been amended by substituting the terms of the 1950 Pension Trust and of the United Mine Workers of America 1950 Pension Plan ("1950 Pension Plan"). The 1950 Pension Plan is incorporated by reference and made a part of this Agreement. The pensions to be paid from the 1950 Pension Trust are as set forth in the 1950 Pension Plan.

The United Mine Workers of America 1950 Benefit Plan and Trust ("1950 Benefit Trust") is incorporated by reference and made a part of this Agreement. The 1950 Benefit Trust provides health and other benefits, not including pension benefits, and the terms and conditions under which those benefits will be provided are as set forth in the plan under the 1950 Benefit Trust.

1984 NBCWA, Article XX, Section (b) (emphasis added). Using similar language, the 1984 NBCWA incorporated the 1974 Trusts in Article XX, Section (c). Like the PCG Companies, the Rawl companies were signatories to an NBCWA that incorporated the 1950 and 1974 Trusts by reference. The last NBCWA that they were signatories to, however, was the 1981 NBCWA, which expired in 1984.⁸ It contained language identical to that in Article XX of the 1984 NBCWA.

In the P & M case, P & M, as a non-BCOA company, entered into a separate agreement with the UMWA known as the North River Energy Company Coal Wage Agreement of 1984 (1984 North River Agreement). That agreement contained language identical to the language quoted above from the 1984 NBCWA. It too incorporated the 1950 and 1974 Trusts and provided that the terms and conditions of those Trusts were as set forth in the Trusts themselves. See 1984 North River Agreement, Article XX, Sections (b) and (c).

The thrust of the defendant employers' arguments is that federal labor law and policy does not permit interference with the rights of employers and unions to negotiate collective bargaining agreements. Additionally, they argue that the Trusts are collaterally or judicially estopped from attempting to enforce the evergreen clause based on: (1) a recent district court decision in two related cases in this district and (2) the Trusts' apparent inconsistent position with respect to cases in which it has sought withdrawal liability from employers who are not contributing to the Trusts.

II. DISCUSSION: ARGUMENTS AND ANALYSIS

The issues raised in the cross motions for summary judgment fall into three basic categories: (1) the proper interpretation of the language of the Trusts and the collective bargaining agreements, (2) the applicability of federal labor policy, and (3) the applicability of collateral or judicial estoppel.

A. Language Interpretation

1. Plain Language

The defendant employers argue that the 1984 collective bargaining agreements (in the Pittston and P & M cases) and the 1981 agreement (in the Rawl case) specifically limited their obligations to contribute to the Trusts to the duration of those collective bargaining agreements. The 1981 and 1984 NBCWAs and the 1984 North River Agreement provided in a number of places that contributions were to be made "during the life of this Agreement." For instance, in the section covering contributions by employers, the agreements provided that "during the life of this Agreement, for the periods of time indicated below, each signatory Employer engaged in the production of coal shall contribute to the Trusts referred to in this Article the amounts specified below...." 1981 NBCWA, Article XX, Section (d); 1984 NBCWA, Article XX, Section (d); 1984 North River Agreement, Article XX, Section (d). Later, in what is known as the "guarantee...