Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

237 F. Supp. 343, 58 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2017, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7622
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 24, 1964
DocketNo. 64 C 2048
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 237 F. Supp. 343 (Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 237 F. Supp. 343, 58 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2017, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7622 (N.D. Ill. 1964).

Opinion

PERRY, District Judge.

This cause, arising under the Railway Labor Act, comes on to be heard upon complaint and answer, a hearing in open court having been had upon motion for preliminary injunction after the granting of a restraining order.

Inasmuch as both parties have been permitted to present exhaustive evidence and argument of the law which the court has heard and considered, the court is [345]*345of the opinion that any additional evidence would be cumulative and repetitious.

Therefore, the court on its own motion chooses to make final disposition of the cause at this time instead of ruling upon the motion for preliminary injunction now and then at a later time hearing possibly the same evidence and argument upon a motion for a permanent injunction. The importance of the ease to the general public and the efficient use of judicial processes demand such a course of action.

The court makes findings of fact and states conclusions of law as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT AS TO COUNT I

1. Each of plaintiffs is a common carrier by railroad engaged in Interstate Commerce; and each of the plaintiffs is a “carrier” as that term is defined in Section 1 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.A. § 151). (Tr. 341)

2. Defendants International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Association of Machinists, and Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (hereinafter referred to as defendant unions) are voluntary, unincorporated associations and labor organizations. The individual defendants are officers or agents of the defendant unions, and sued individually and as representatives of the officers and members of the defendant unions. The employees of plaintiffs who are members of the defendant unions (hereinafter referred to as class defendants) are so numerous as to make it impracticable to bring them before the Court, but the individual defendants fairly and adequately represent such class defendants for the purposes of these proceedings. (Tr. 341)

3. This is a suit to enjoin a strike of the plaintiffs’ employees who are members of the defendant unions, which was called by the officers of said unions on December 8, 1964, to become effective at 6 a. m. on Tuesday, December 15, 1964, and which was postponed following the entry of a temporary restraining order by this Court on December 14, 1964, until after January 1, 1965. (Tr. 61-69; DX 13)

4. The purpose of the threatened strike was and is to compel the plaintiffs to bargain and to negotiate with each of the individual defendant unions and to enter into an agreement with each of said unions concerning the wages and rates of pay of plaintiffs’ employees who are members of such respective unions. (Tr. 156-170)

5. Plaintiffs conduct approximately 90 percent of all common carrier railroad operations in the United States. Their properties and operations are integral parts of the nation’s transportation system and connect with and operate in conjunction with other surface and air transportation systems. The strike which plaintiffs seek to enjoin would curtail or prevent such operations; would interfere with the movement of freight and passengers throughout the nation, contrary to public interest and national welfare; would deprive employees of the plaintiff of their employment during the duration of said strike; and would result in substantial and irreparable damage and injury to the plaintiffs. (Tr. 341)

6. The shop employees of each of the plaintiffs, including the class defendants and the employees of the plaintiffs who are members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, the Brotherhood Railway Carmen of America, and the International Brotherhood of Firemen, Oilers, Helpers, Round House and Railway Shop Laborers (which are also unincorporated associations and labor unions) are represented for purposes of collective bargaining under the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.A. § 151, et seq.) as a single bargaining unit by the Railway Employes’ Department, AFL-CIO and its constituent System Federations. (Tr. 334, 544-547; DX 31; PX 10; PX 126-149; PX 170)

7. The Railway Employes’ Department, chartered by the American Federation of Labor in 1908, is a collective bargaining entity of which the six labor [346]*346organizations named supra are affiliated components. (Tr. 341, 521-522, 716; PX 12, p. 9) The officers of the Department are a President, Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Council. (PX 12, p. 12; DX 23, p. 12) The chief executive officer or a designated alternate of each of the affiliated organizations comprise the Executive Council of the Department, which is its governing body. (PX 12, pp. 12, 14; Tr. 714) On all matters relating to collective bargaining and the negotiation and making of agreements with the plaintiffs concerning the wages and rates of pay of plaintiffs’ shop employees, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers has two Executive Council votes. (PX 12, pp. 11, 12; Tr. 744-745)

8. The System Federations of the Railway Employes’ Department are subordinate components of the Department chartered by the Department to represent the Department on one or more individual railroad systems. (Tr. 522-523, 755-756, 758-759; PX 12, p. 34) The governing body of a System Federation is its Executive Board, which consists of the General Chairman of each of the affiliated unions. (Tr. 746-747) System agreements, containing the stipulated and agreed rates of pay of plaintiffs’ shop employees, are executed for the System Federations by such General Chairmen in their capacities as members of the System Executive Boards. (Tr. 753-759, 785; PX 12, p. 34)

9. The National Mediation Board, pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.A. § 152), has found and certified that the Railway Employes’ Department, or one or more of its subordinate component System Federations, or one or more of its affiliated component unions operating through or functioning thi*ough such System Federations, Railway Employes’ Department, are the duly designated and authorized representatives, for the purposes of the Railway Labor Act, of the shop employees of the plaintiffs who are members of such affiliated unions (Tr. 547; DX 31), and has interpreted such certifications to require the plaintiffs to bargain and make agreements, pursuant to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, with such System Federations, Railway Employes’ Department, and to require the representative authority existing in the individual component affiliated unions to be exercised only through such System Federations, Railway Employes’ Department (DX 10). Representation rights among shop employees of the plaintiffs established through carrier recognition and not covered by certifications of the National Mediation Board are identical with those established through such certifications. (Tr. 544-545)

10. The Constitution and By-Laws of the Railway Employes’ Department provide for the handling of concerted wage- and agreement negotiations with the-plaintiffs by the Department (PX 12, pp.. 21-22), and further provide that

“No organization having once agreed to a concerted program shall have the right to withdraw from said program.” (PX 12, p. 22)
“Committees, party to a concerted program under the provisions of this Article, shall have full power to conduct negotiations to a conclusion.” (PX 12, p. 22)

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237 F. Supp. 343, 58 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2017, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/akron-canton-youngstown-railroad-v-international-brotherhood-of-ilnd-1964.