The legality of designating a union representative as the miners` walkaround representative at a non-unionized mine
Reflecting the need for miner participation in maintaining safe conditions in the nation`s mines, current federal law gives miners at each mining operation the right to appoint a representative to accompany federal inspectors on periodic mine inspections. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (Mine Act) grants the miners the right to choose this {open_quotes}walkaround{close_quotes} representative, and provides that the walkaround representative shall be given an opportunity to accompany a federal agent during an inspection of a mine for the purposes of aiding the inspection. The issue of the propriety of a non-employee union walkaround representative at a non-union mine was recently addressed in Kerr-McGee Coal Corp. v. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission (Kerr-McGee) and Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission (Thunder Basin). This Note is devoted to a discussion of Kerr-McGee and Thunder Basin. However, it is important to first briefly review the provision of the federal statutes that give rise to the controversy. The Note then explains how the statutes were interpreted by the Kerr-McGee and Thunder Basin courts. A reading of the two decisions makes it apparent that any group of employees of a non-unionized mine are free to select a non-employee union agent as their walkaround representative. Finally, the Note discusses the ramifications of the conclusions reached in Kerr-McGee and Thunder Basin on the future duties and behavior of mine operators, organized labor, and those designated as walkaround representatives.
- OSTI ID:
- 376881
- Journal Information:
- West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 98, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Sum 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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