
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994                   TAG: 9401200058
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

COURT RULES AGAINST MINE OWNER

The Supreme Court ruled in a Wyoming case Wednesday that coal mine operators cannot bypass federal agencies and go directly into court in trying to bar union employees from inspecting non-union mines.

The court, by a 9-0 vote, said federal courts cannot handle such a dispute until the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission conducts an administrative hearing.

Federal law "precludes district court jurisdiction over the pre-enforcement challenge made here," Justice Harry Blackmun wrote for the court. "Mine operators . . . are to complain to the commission and then to the court of appeals."

The decision was a victory for the Clinton administration and a defeat for the Thunder Basin Coal Co., a subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co. that operates a coal mine near Wright, Wyo.

Thunder Basin miners in 1987 voted against being represented in collective bargaining by the United Mine Workers of America. But in 1990, some miners designated a UMW organizer and another union worker as their non-employee safety representatives under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, meaning the two union employees would have access to the mine's operations, records and employees.

Thunder Basin objected, noting that federal labor law gives an employer the right to keep union organizers off its premises. The coal company said the Mine Safety and Health Administration was seeking, by threatening hefty fines, to make Thunder Basin abandon its legal rights.

When federal regulators insisted that the two union workers be accepted as miner safety representatives, Thunder Basin sued in federal court. The company's lawsuit said requiring it to recognize the two union workers violated federal labor law and its due-process rights.

A federal judge ruled for Thunder Basin, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling. The appeals court said the mine owner first had to take its argument through the Mine Safety and Health Administration's review process.

Congress intended to keep federal courts out of such disputes until administrative hearings were completed, the appeals court ruled.

Wednesday, the Supreme Court said the 10th Circuit court was right.

Administration lawyers argued that letting coal mine owners bypass administrative proceedings would disrupt enforcement of safety laws.

by CNB