Can anyone on here tell me if international union of operating engineers have in their rule books that they cover coal mines? They are picking a job against another contractor. I think that the UNITED MINE WORKERS are not aware of this, for those of you that do not know UMWA have a construction division and they dont go out chasing highway jobs or building trades projects. MINE WORKERS RUN THE SAME KIND OF MACHINERY day in and day out. I think that because they are out of work or slow right now and that they see 35-40 pieces of machinery building a new mine they automatically believe it should be theirs.
It sounds like they might be upset because a sub-contractor is doing the work and not the mining company, so then they think the work belongs to them. Half the time the rules change as you go, or they just make up new rules in tough times.
jurisdiction and who has the right ..in a dispute on manning and labour ..more often than not gets resolved at the labour board (court of sorts)..unless ..both union's get together on site and resolve the issue themselves ..
What i would like to know is if anyone can produce an operating engineers by-law book which states that they have authority in a coal mine wether its union or non union all i have seen is they claim sand and gravel operations rock quarries and material yards they dont list coal mines wonder why? Would it be because the is United Mine Workers of America which has their own construction division for contractors. If anyone should be picking it should be UMWA Here is something a large union company I know does alot of highway and heavy construction work and are signatory to the operating engineers different locals depending upon location of the job. However at a coal mine sites their guys are under the UMWA and one of there guys helped me once, I asked him about working in the coal mine site how he did that belonging to the operators union he showed me his UMWA construction card. Bottom line if a company has a contract with the operating engineers union for only heavy highway construction and one for building trades and their is no listing in the contract or in their rule book showing where they cover coal mines in their rule books i belive that the company (contractor) can seek help from other sources union or non union than having to use operating engineers and it does not matter if its a union or non union mine sites UMWA lets their contractors work at union and non union mine sites doing construction.
As far as I know jurisdiction is settled between the mine owner and the union that they have a contract with. Union rules have nothing to do with what they have jurisdiction over. If the mine owner has a contract with the UMW to build the site then that is who has jurisdiction. Likewise if the contract is with the operating engineers. From actual experience though I have seen when multiple unions were on a construction site they would argue about who should be doing some specific task. I have witnessed the carpenters union claim they should be operating the crawler cranes instead of the operating engineers on a nuclear power project. The lawsuit tied up the job until the contractors and the project went broke.
As johnC said Union can only try to claim what they want. Owner or contractor who signs the agreement with a union is giving jurisdiction out. Unions can sue each other in court and it usually takes years. JMHO Small pie and everyone wants a piece now!
It all comes down to who ownership awards the equipment to. I have worked at companies where the ownership would award everything on site to operators. Right down to truck driving. Of course there are other companies that will use the "tool of the trade" name, and award skid steers, forklifts and other support equipment to laborers. All comes down to how you award the contract and to which union you award it to.
No. Because I don't know know you, or what your intentions are. No offense.