UNITED MINE WKRS., DIST. 4 v. Cyprus Emerald Res.

• Decision Date: 03 March 1988
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 87-1650.
• Citation: 681 F. Supp. 271
• Parties: UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 4, and Local Union 2258 United Mine Workers of America, Plaintiffs, v. CYPRUS EMERALD RESOURCES CORPORATION t/d/b/a Emerald Mines Company, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

681 F. Supp. 271

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 4, and Local Union 2258 United Mine Workers of America, Plaintiffs, v. CYPRUS EMERALD RESOURCES CORPORATION t/d/b/a Emerald Mines Company, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 87-1650.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

March 3, 1988.

James C. Kuhn, III, Melvin P. Stein, Pittsburgh, Pa., for plaintiffs.

Henry Ingram, Thomas C. Reed, Buchanan, Ingersoll, P.C., Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COHILL, Chief Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

Presently before us is defendant Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation's ("Cyprus") motion to dismiss this action on the grounds that (1) this court lacks jurisdiction; (2) the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; and (3) the applicable limitations period for this action has elapsed.

Cyprus installed a computer monitoring and control system ("computer system") at its mine in 1980. The computer system gathers and displays, on a computer screen, data concerning the operation of underground conveyor belts, fans, and carbon monoxide levels in the mine. The data are monitored, and useful information, such as reports of malfunctions, may be communicated to personnel elsewhere in the mine, who may then take appropriate action. The underlying dispute involves the allocation of the duty to monitor the computer, and communicate the data to underground workers.

There has been a series of arbitration awards leading up to this action. Plaintiff, United Mineworkers of America, District 4 and Local Union 2258 ("Union"), initially argued before Arbitrator Robert A. Creo in 1983 that the operation and monitoring of the computer system fell entirely within the duties reserved to bargaining unit employees under the Union's contract. The National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 1984, Article IA, Sections (a) & (b), provides that certain tasks are reserved to Union personnel:

Article IA — SCOPE AND COVERAGE

Section (a) Work Jurisdiction

The production of coal, including removal of overburden and coal waste, preparation, processing and cleaning of coal and transportation of coal (except by waterway or rail not owned by Employer), repair and maintenance work normally performed at the mine site or at a central shop of the Employer and maintenance of gob piles and mine roads, and work of the type customarily related to all of the above shall be performed by classified Employees of the Employer covered by and in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. Contracting, subcontracting, leasing and subleasing, and construction work, as defined herein, will be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

....

Section (b) Exemptions Clause

It is the intention of the Agreement to reserve to the Employers and except from this Agreement an adequate force of supervisory employees to effectively conduct the safe and efficient operation of the mines and at the same time, to provide against the abuse of such exemptions by excepting more such employees than are reasonably required for that purpose.

The language of the contract in force at the time of Arbitrator Creo's decision was virtually identical to the language of the 1984 contract in effect at the time this action was commenced (the most recent contract went into effect in January, 1988). See First Creo Arbitration Award, at 7 (Oct. 14, 1983).

Arbitrator Creo held that the Union contract did allocate to bargaining unit personnel the right to monitor the computer system for information about conditions in the mine, and to report the information to other employees working underground. First Creo Arbitration Award, at 12-13. Arbitrator Creo reasoned that:

There is no reason to presume computers can not assist bargaining unit personnel by direct involvement in the production of coal. In the present case, the computer monitoring must be properly viewed as another tool or piece of machinery involved in the output of coal.

This does not necessarily mean, however, that a job must be posted whose sole function is to monitor the computer console and communicate with underground personnel.

Id. at 12.

Subsequently, Cyprus installed an additional computer screen at the "Hoist House," where the Union "Hoist operator" could monitor the system with the aid of an audible alarm. In the event of a malfunction, the Hoist operator could alert the appropriate operators and cancel the alarm message on the screen. Management employees retained control of access to the computer through a keyboard located some distance from the Hoist House, and continued to receive data through a separate computer screen and printer. Second Creo Arbitration Award, at 2 (August 30, 1984).

The Union then petitioned to gain control of keyboard access and the printer, arguing that these were an integral part of the monitoring system, and should be under exclusive Union control. Arbitrator Creo disagreed, and offered the following clarification of his earlier award:

Although there is language in the Opinion of October 14, 1983 susceptible to the broad interpretation advocated by the Union, the Award is, however, limited to monitoring and communicating functions. The Arbitrator found an infringement in negotiated work jurisdiction when salaried personnel were exclusively monitoring the belt system and telephoning production personnel to advise them on malfunctions. The Arbitrator was persuaded and convinced that this was identical to a non-computer system such as electrical lights, video cameras or television screens. In terms of the purpose and end result, no significant difference between a computer based technology and a more traditional technology exist regarding monitoring functions. The Arbitrator finds that neither the keyboard nor the printouts are vital aspects of the monitoring function nor within UMWA jurisdiction. The system as presently constituted does not violate the work jurisdiction of the Union. The operating procedures now in effect are functioning as the eyes, ears and voice. Immediate access to the printout as memory is not such an integral aspect of the monitoring functions as to require an on-site printer. Access to the keyboard and programming is clearly technical in nature and beyond the scope of the original Award of October 14, 1983.

Second Creo Arbitration Award, at 3. Arbitrator Creo thus approved the dual-screen computer system.

The computer system continued to be a point of contention, however. The Union initiated further grievance procedures in 1985, alleging that management personnel were preempting the monitoring function allocated to bargaining unit personnel. Arbitrator Samuel S. Stone issued a decision on June 30, 1986. Arbitrator Stone made clear that Arbitrator Creo's reasoning encompassed the monitoring and communication of data from fans and carbon monoxide levels, in addition to the data from the belt system. Stone Arbitration Award, at 20 (June 30, 1986). Arbitrator Stone reasoned that:

It is the nature of the work performed and not the equipment used to perform the work which determines work jurisdiction. The monitoring work involved is work that replaces functions performed by classified i.e. Union Employees manually previously. The monitoring work is not technical or complex. The Employer can certainly reduce the number of classified Employees by employing computer capabilities; however, it cannot remove the underlying functions from the exclusive work jurisdiction of classified Employees. Classified Employees have exclusive work jurisdiction over the monitoring functions performed by them previously. The fact that an appropriate job title is not contained in the appropriate Appendix to the National Agreement is irrelevant.

Id. at 21. Arbitrator Stone emphasized this point and then explained that the line between the provinces of Union and non-Union personnel is not always clear:

There are certain monitoring functions which fall within the exclusive work jurisdiction of classified Employees and there are certain monitoring functions which do not. The key is whether the monitoring function is replacing a function performed by classified Employees previously. Certainly the Employer has the reserved management prerogative to monitor functions to effectively conduct the safe and efficient operation of the mine. However, when the Employer does so in such a fashion as to replace functions previously falling within the exclusive work jurisdiction of classified Employees, the Employer has violated the National Agreement. The line of demarcation for the aforesaid monitoring functions may not always be clear and the particular facts and circumstances of each case will have to be examined.

Id. at 22 (emphasis added). Based on the evidence before him, Arbitrator Stone found that Cyprus had violated the NBCWA

by allowing supervisory Employees to monitor belts, fans and carbon monoxide and communicate information concerning same. I will order the Employer to cease said violations. I have insufficient evidence to make a compensation award. More specifically, I have insufficient evidence as to who had a right to the work involved, as to whether any classified Employee was deprived of a work opportunity and as to the amount with a reasonable amount of certainty.

Id. at 23. Arbitrator Stone's award ordered Cyprus to "cease allowing supervisory Employees to monitor belts, fans and carbon monoxide and communicate information concerning same to the extent same replaces those functions performed by classified Employees previously." Id.

The dispute was subsequently revived before Arbitrator David T. Kennedy, when Cyprus decided to eliminate the Hoist Operator position on the second shift because there was no need for hoisting on that shift. The Union initiated a grievance procedure. Arbitrator Kennedy identified three issues before him:

1. Can the hoist operator job be eliminated?

2. Can the computer monitoring duties be assigned to other

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