United Mine Workers of America Health & Retirement Funds et al. v. Robinson et al. (455 U.S. 562)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 8, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 455 U.S. 562 · 102 S. Ct. 1226
- Decided
- March 8, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. This case involves a discrimination between two classes of widows of coal miners who died prior to December 6, 1974— those whose husbands were receiving pensions when they died and those whose husbands were still working although they were eligible for pensions. The 1974 collective-bargaining agreement between the United Mine Workers of America and the Bituminous Coal Operators’ Association, Inc., increased the health benefits for widows in the former class but made no increase for those in the latter class. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that this discrimination was arbitrary and therefore violated § 302(c)(5) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (LMRA). 205 U. S. App. D. C. 330, 640 F. 2d 416 (1981). We granted certiorari to decide whether § 302(c)(5) authorizes federal courts to review for reasonableness the provisions of a collective-bargaining agreement allocating health benefits among potential beneficiaries of an employee benefit trust fund. 454 U. S. 814. HM A description of the origin of the discrimination may explain why the Court of Appeals considered it arbitrary. The 1950 collective-bargaining agreement between the union and the operators established a fund to provide pension, health, and other benefits for certain miners and their dependents. That agreement…
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