The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 68/No. 29           August 10, 2004  
 
 
NLRB holds hearing on union vote at Utah mine
(front page)
 
BY RÓGER CALERO
AND JOEL BRITTON
 
PRICE, Utah—“C.W. Mining is an employer that is part of the Kingston Order Entities with 173 businesses,” said Richard Rosenblatt, attorney for the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) on behalf of miners at the Co-Op mine near Huntington, fighting for representation by the UMWA.

“The evidence will show that many members who work in the mine are either children or grandchildren of supervisors, or children or grandchildren of the founding members of the Order,” continued Rosenblatt. The attorney was presenting his opening statement at a fact-finding hearing of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held here July 20-21 in the Carbon County court complex.

Therefore, Rosenblatt argued, these family members have “a conflict of loyalty,” and “lack a community of interest with outsiders” in the bargaining unit and must be “excluded” from the right to vote in a union election that the NLRB has mandated be held.

The hearing followed a decision by the government agency at the end of June that C.W. Mining had illegally fired the 75 miners last September for union activity. It ordered the company to offer unconditional reinstatement to all the dismissed employees, and decided to conduct a union representation election.

The Co-Op miners have been fighting for a union in order to better organize to press for safety on the job, and to get better wages and working conditions. Most production workers at Co-Op were paid between $5.25 and $7 an hour, while wages for underground coal miners in the United States average at least $17 an hour.

The UMWA had filed a representation petition with the NLRB regional office in Denver, Colorado, in May, on behalf of the Co-Op coal miners after the large majority of the 75 dismissed miners signed up for the union. The UMWA took advantage of a legally required window in the so-called contract between C.W. Mining and the company “union,” the International Association of United Workers Union (IAUWU), that the Co-Op miners have been working under.

NLRB officer Nancy Brandt heard arguments and received evidence from attorney Carl Kingston for the Co-Op bosses and Mark Hansen for the IAUWU, as well as Rosenblatt for the UMWA. The lawyers were given an August 4 deadline for submitting briefs to the NLRB regional director in Denver, who is expected to rule on who will be included in the bargaining unit at the Co-Op mine, and therefore would be eligible to vote in the representation election.

At the heart of the issues before the NLRB is whether members of the Kingston family employed at the mine should be allowed to vote.

The company submitted a list of approximately 100 Kingstons and others who are listed on the company’s payroll as part-time or seasonal help. Some on the company’s list also work full time alongside approximately four dozen miners who are mostly immigrants from Mexico.

Rosenblatt presented evidence and called on witnesses to support the UMWA argument that the relatives of the Kingston family employed in the mine derive benefits none of the other miners do and their direct connection to the owners of the mine represents a conflict of interest.  
 
Former clan member testifies
Among the witnesses called by the UMWA were Ronald Barton, a criminal investigator for the Utah attorney general, who had put together a genealogy of the Kingston family, and LuAnn Kingston Cooper, who left the polygamous clan in 2000 to escape from an incestuous marriage. Their testimonies established that about 95 percent of the nonimmigrant C.W. Mining employees are related to the Kingstons. This reinforced the UMWA’s argument on the overlap between most of those listed as employees on the company’s payroll and stockholders and owners of the mine, as well as owners and managers of other Kingston-owned businesses.

The Kingston clan, also known as the Latter Day Church of Christ, and associated with the Davis County Co-operative, is estimated to include 1,200 members. The family has amassed a $150 million business operation that includes pawn shops, restaurant supply stores, dairies, and mines throughout six western states. The Co-Op mine is reportedly one of its most profitable businesses.

In her testimony, LuAnn Kingston Cooper described the “service statements” and “card system” used instead of paychecks to compensate members of the clan employed in Kingston businesses. Under this setup, Cooper testified, most clan members are restricted to using their debit-type cards at Kingston-owned businesses. Cooper said she began working at the clan’s main office in the 1990s at the age of 12. She also explained how at meetings every other Friday of the Davis County Co-op group they were instructed to “be polite” but not to fraternize with the “outsiders,” referring to non-members of the clan, after working hours.

Cooper described how members of the family get assigned to work in the mine. “They were told to go,” she said. She cited as an example Robert Petersen, a young member of the clan who was told to work at Co-Op, started working there, but didn’t like it and was not given a choice to work in any of the other Kingtson businesses, according to Cooper. “They wouldn’t let him work anywhere else,” Cooper said. Petersen ended up cutting his ties with the family, she stated.

The company and company union attorneys presented witnesses who claimed that Kingston family members employed at the mine are hired like everyone else and are subject to the same policies and pay scales as other employees.

Evidence submitted by the UMWA to counter this argument included job applications filled out by Kingston clan members that were taken from the Co-Op personnel files, after being subpoenaed for the hearing. Every application had only the name of the individual and an address on it.  
 
Bogus arguments by company ‘union’
“We are here to provide additional support for the status of workers and members of the union,” said Mark Hansen, the attorney representing the so-called IAUWU. Joining Hansen were Neven Bratt, who said he is the vice-president of the “international union,” and Chris Grundvig, who described himself as the president of the IAUWU “local” at the Co-Op mine.

Grundvig claimed that the company outfit has more than 100 members—including supervisors, managerial, office, and clerical employees.

During cross-examination by Rosenblatt, Bratt testified that the other two officers of the IAUWU are Ronald and Vicky Mattingly. The current address listed for the IAUWU is the home of the couple. In answering the UMWA lawyer, Bratt said that the IAUWU officers had been elected at a convention held at Mattingly’s home. He also admitted that the “international” has only one “local,” the one at Co-Op.

Among the scores of relatives of the mine owners and founders of the Davis County Cooperative mentioned by Barton and Cooper during their testimony, were Chris Grundvig, Bratt, and attorney Hansen, who Cooper testified is a cousin of C.W. Mining attorney Carl Kingston.

Throughout much of the hearing, Hansen and Carl Kingston teamed up against Rosenblatt, raising one objection after another to his questions of witnesses. In virtually every case, the NLRB hearing officer allowed the UMWA attorney to proceed.

Soon after the hearing began, Hansen quit pretending there was a distinction between the pro-boss outfit and the company, and even asked for a recess in order to consult with Carl Kingston before continuing.

The NLRB regional director in Denver will rule on which of the Co-Op workers can vote in the union election. Those voting will reportedly have the option to choose to be represented by the UMWA, the company’s IAUWU, or no union at all.

From the beginning of their fight for a union at Co-Op, miners have said the company outfit never represented them when they were victimized by the bosses.

At the hearing Rosenblatt said the UMWA reserved the right to challenge in the courts the legitimacy of the company union, which was recognized by the NLRB more than 20 years ago.

Bob Butero, organizing director of Region IV of the UMWA, told reporters that a decision could come two to three weeks after the August 4 deadline for attorneys from both sides to submit their briefs.
 
 
Related articles:
Utah coal miners fight for job safety  
 
 
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