I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1367 

To amend title 11 of the United States Code to protecting the labor rights 

of current and former employees of coal industry employers that are 

debtors under such title. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Mr. BOUCHER (for himself, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. RAHALL, and Mr. STRICKLAND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 11 of the United States Code to protecting 

the labor rights of current and former employees of 

coal industry employers that are debtors under such title. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS; SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The workers who mine American coal have 

6 fueled nearly 2 centuries of industrial development, 

7 and are crucial to the Nation’s economic well-being. 

8 (2) The Federal Government has had a central 

9 role with regard to both the coal industry and the 
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1 health and welfare of coal miners. Both the Con2 gress and the executive branch have frequently inter3 vened in the coal industry to protect the interests of 

4 both coal miners and the industry itself. For exam5 ple— 

6 (A) the Congress enacted legislation— 

7 (i) regulating the coal industry to pro8 tect the health and safety of coal miners; 

9 and 

10 (ii) guaranteeing health care for coal 

11 miners and their families, and providing 

12 benefits to victims of black lung disease; 

13 and 

14 (B) the Executive Branch has seized the 

15 Nation’s coal mines for the purpose of negoti16 ating a collective bargaining agreement on the 

17 mine owners’ behalf, has otherwise frequently 

18 intervened in collective bargaining in the coal 

19 industry, and has created numerous panels and 

20 commissions to study problems and issues 

21 unique to coal mining communities and the coal 

22 Industry. 

23 (3) Because coal is an abundant domestic re24 source, a strong coal industry serves to reduce 

25 American dependence upon foreign oil and is vital 
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1 both to commerce and to the defense of the United 

2 States. 

3 (4) As the result of the abuse of the provisions 

4 of bankruptcy law, certain coal industry employers 

5 have been able to gain unfair advantages over their 

6 competitors, primarily at the expense of their em7 ployees. 

8 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.— It is the sense of 

9 the Congress that the abuse of the provisions of bank10 ruptcy law by certain coal industry employers is damaging 

11 to the economic health of the United States, as well as 

12 to the employees who are directly harmed by such legal 

13 abuses. 

14 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 11 OF THE UNITED STATES 

15 CODE. 

16 Title 11 of the United States Code is amended— 

17 (1) in section 101 by inserting after paragraph 

18 (5) the following: 

19 ‘‘(5A) COAL INDUSTRY EMPLOYER.—The term 

20 ‘coal industry employer’ means an employer in the 

21 coal industry, and all members of the employer’s 

22 controlled group of corporations and all trades and 

23 businesses under common control (within the mean24 ing of sections 52(a) and 52(b) of the Internal Rev25 enue Code of 1986). 
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1 ‘‘(5B) COVERED FACILITY OF A COAL INDUS2 TRY EMPLOYER.—The term ‘covered facility of a 

3 coal industry employer’ means any facility owned or 

4 operated by a coal industry employer that is involved 

5 in the production, processing, or transportation of 

6 coal.’’; 

7 (2) in section 363 by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(p) Notwithstanding subsection (f), a covered facil10 ity of a debtor that is coal industry employer that is sold 

11 by the trustee shall remain subject to the labor rights of 

12 the current and former employees of the debtor. For pur13 poses of this subsection, the term ‘labor rights’ means— 

14 ‘‘(1) if the employees at a covered facility of a 

15 coal industry employer to be sold are covered under 

16 the terms of a current collective bargaining agree17 ment (other than an agreement that has been re18 jected pursuant to the terms of sections 365 or 

19 1113), the obligations of the debtor arising under 

20 that agreement or under the National Labor Rela21 tions Act; or 

22 ‘‘(2) if the employees at a covered facility of a 

23 coal industry employer to be sold are represented by 

24 a labor organization but are not covered under the 

25 terms of an current collective bargaining agreement, 
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1 the obligations of the debtor arising under the Na2 tional Labor Relations Act. 

3 Furthermore, in the case of the sale of a covered facility 

4 of a coal industry employer at which employees are rep5 resented by a labor organization, such labor organization 

6 shall be conclusively presumed to enjoy majority support 

7 for a period of 1 year from the date of such sale, or such 

8 longer period as required by applicable nonbankruptcy 

9 law.’’; 

10 (3) in section 1113 by adding at the end the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(g)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

13 section, no application for the rejection of a collective bar14 gaining agreement between a coal industry employer relat15 ing to a covered facility of such coal industry employer 

16 shall be approved unless the following additional condi17 tions are met: 

18 ‘‘(A) The information provided pursuant to sub19 section (b)(1)(B) has been personally verified by the 

20 principal officers (including the principal executive 

21 officer and principal financial officer) of the debtor 

22 under penalty of perjury. 

23 ‘‘(B) As soon as practicable after the filing of 

24 an application under this section, the Secretary of 

25 Labor shall submit a list of five disinterested indi-
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1 viduals who are qualified and willing to serve as 

2 trustees in the case. The United States trustee shall 

3 appoint one of such individuals to serve as trustee 

4 in the case. 

5 ‘‘(C) The court finds that the executive man6 agement of the debtor has not received any wage in7 creases or bonuses during the period that the case 

8 is pending under this title, or within the year pre9 ceding the filing of the petition, or that any such 

10 wage increases or bonuses have been disgorged and 

11 refunded to the debtor. 

12 ‘‘(D) The court finds that the proposal made 

13 pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A)— 

14 ‘‘(i) does not purport to relieve the debtor, 

15 or the purchaser of a covered facility of a coal 

16 industry employer, from any obligations other17 wise arising under the National Labor Relations 

18 Act; 

19 ‘‘(ii) provides that the purchaser of any fa20 cility owned by the debtor is to be considered a 

21 ‘successor’ under the National Labor Relations 

22 Act; 

23 ‘‘(iii) does not abridge labor rights, as de24 fined in section 363(p); and 
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1 ‘‘(iv) provides that existing employees re2 tain all noneconomic employment rights pro3 vided under the terms of the collective bar4 gaining agreement (including the right to not 

5 be terminated without cause and any recall 

6 rights following a layoff), both with regard to 

7 the debtor and the purchaser of a covered facil8 ity of a coal industry employer. 

9 ‘‘(2) Any obligations arising under the terms of a col10 lective bargaining agreement prior to the entry of relief 

11 under this section shall be secured by a lien on all of the 

12 assets of the debtor.’’; and 

13 (4) in section 1114 by adding the following at 

14 the end: 

15 ‘‘(m) If the court enters an order approving an appli16 cation for the modification of retiree benefits owed by a 

17 coal industry employer relating to a covered facility of 

18 such coal industry employer, all members of the debtor’s 

19 controlled group of corporations and all trades and busi20 nesses under common control (within the meaning of sec21 tions 52(a) and 52(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

22 1986) shall be jointly and severally liable for all damages 

23 arising as the result of the entry of such order, and all 

24 such claims shall be entitled to priority pursuant to section 

25 507(a)(1).’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION OF AMEND2 MENTS. 

3 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

4 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

5 shall apply with respect to cases commenced under title 

6 11 of the United States Code before, on, or after such 

7 date. 

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