Opinion ID: 779444
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: berwind corporation's history and its involvement in the coal industry

Text: 19 Berwind Corporation was originally incorporated in 1915 as The Berwind-White Coal Mining Company. Berwind-White signed the 1950 NBCWA and the 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956 and 1958 amendments thereto. The company mined coal until 1962, when it permanently ceased coal mining operations. It never employed any UMWA-represented coal miners in any capacity after it closed its last mine in 1962. 20 However, in 1963, Berwind-White became the 98% shareholder of Reitz Coal Company. It later acquired the remaining 2% of the outstanding shares thus making Reitz Coal Company its wholly owned subsidiary. Reitz Coal Company was a signatory to the 1950 NBCWA when Berwind-White acquired it. 7 21 In 1967, Berwind-White changed its name to Berwind Corporation. In 1978, Berwind formed a partnership with Scallop Coal Corp., affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Corp., in which each partner had a 50% interest. The partnership, known as Reitz Coal Associates, was formed for the purpose of marketing coal produced by Reitz Coal Company, which was still a subsidiary of Berwind. 22 In 1983, Reitz Coal Associates changed its name to Devon Coal Associates. That same year, Reitz Coal Company leased its coal mining assets and coal reserves to the Midlothian Company, which in turn subleased them to Devon Coal Associates. Devon Coal Associates operated the mines owned by Reitz Coal Company and assumed Reitz Coal Company's obligations under the 1981 NBCWA. 23 In July 1983, Berwind transferred its 50% interest in the Devon Coal Associates partnership to Old Devon, Incorporated; a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berwind. Reitz Coal Company also changed its name to Reitz Corporation and the Devon Coal Associates partnership changed its name to Reitz Coal Company. 24 In May 1992, Old Devon, Inc., purchased the remaining 50% interest in the partnership now known as Reitz Coal Company. As a result, the partnership ceased to exist by operation of law and all of the partnership's assets and liabilities vested in Old Devon, Inc. 25 On June 19, 1992, Old Devon, Inc., changed its name to Reitz Coal Co. This new Reitz Coal Co. remained a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berwind. On December 31, 1993, the original Reitz, i.e., Reitz Corp., was dissolved. 26 Although the constant name changes and shifting corporate structures create a rather ephemeral corporate lineage, one fact remains essential for our analysis: from 1963 until today, Berwind has owned at least 98% of the entity originally known as Reitz Coal Co.; an entity which signed the 1974, 1978 and 1981 NBCWAs. In September of 1984, the UMWA declared a strike against the entity originally known as Reitz Coal Co. It was unable to reach an agreement with the UMWA on a successor contract to the 1981 NBCWA and its mines never reopened. It never mined coal after 1984, either with or without UMWA miners, and it never again employed UMWA members in any other capacity. Today, Berwind is a closely-held, family corporation which has investments in a wide variety of businesses, a number of which are unrelated to mining coal. However, Berwind remains in the coal industry as some of its subsidiaries lease land to coal mining companies and others purchase coal and prepare it for resale. Thus, Berwind is in business for purposes of the Coal Act. 26 U.S.C. § 9701(c)(7). In addition, Berwind admits that it still owns the now defunct Reitz Corp. and that Berwind and Reitz are related persons as defined in the Coal Act. 26 U.S.C. § 9701(c)(2).