American Railway & Airway Supervisors Ass'n v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

551 F. Supp. 688, 113 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3330, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18309
CourtSpecial Court under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act
DecidedNovember 30, 1982
DocketCiv. A. No. 82-24
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 551 F. Supp. 688 (American Railway & Airway Supervisors Ass'n v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Special Court under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Railway & Airway Supervisors Ass'n v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, 551 F. Supp. 688, 113 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3330, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18309 (reglrailreorgct 1982).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

GASCH, Presiding Judge:

This case is before the Court on the petition of various non-operating railroad craft unions for review of an arbitrator’s award-made on October 10,1982 by Neutral Referee Francis X. Quinn pursuant to Section 508 of the Rail Passenger Service Act (RPSA) as amended by the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 (NRSA), Pub.L.No. 97-35 (August 13,1981), 45 U.S.C. § 588. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Section 1152 of NRSA. Oral argument was heard on November 22, 1982. For the reasons stated below, the unions’ petition for review and enforcement is hereby dismissed.

BACKGROUND

The petitioners in this case are railroad labor organizations representing certain crafts and classes of non-operating employees currently employed by the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in Pennsylvania. Each of these organizations has members who are subject to possible transfer to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) on January 1, 1983. SEPTA is a “commuter authority” as defined in Section 1135(a)(3) of NRSA and is currently in the process of assuming Conrail’s commuter rail operations in Pennsylvania.

This litigation has been brought by the unions to challenge an arbitrator’s award made pursuant to Section 508(d) of the RPSA. In New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, et al., (NJT), 550 F.Supp. 1327 (1982), this Court recently addressed and upheld another arbitrator’s award issued pursuant to this section. In that memorandum we fully discussed the statutes and procedures which must be followed during the process by which commuter obligations are transferred from Conrail to the various commuter authorities. These topics are briefly discussed once again.

In the past, Conrail has provided commuter service to the area under a subsidy arrangement with SEPTA as provided by Section 304 of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973. Section 1136 of NRSA provides for the termination of Conrail’s commuter obligations on January 1, 1983. As of that date, SEPTA will become the operator of these lines. Before SEPTA can fully assume this massive operation, it must comply with the transfer scheme as envisioned by Congress in Sections 508 through 510 of the RPSA. These sections prescribe the methods by which Conrail employees are to be absorbed by Conrail’s successors. Aside from the NJT case, these sections have been the subject of extensive litigation in the Special Court. See Railway [690]*690Labor Executives’ Association v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA I), 534 F.Supp. 832, cert. denied, -U.S.-, 102 S.Ct. 2271, 73 L.Ed.2d 1285 (1982); Railway Labor Executives’ Association v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA II), 534 F.Supp. 852 (1982); International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA III), 539 F.Supp. 1222 (1982); Railway Labor Executives’ Association v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA IV), 547 F.Supp. 884 (1982).

Sections 508, 509, and 510 of the RPSA were enacted by Congress to provide a methodology for this transfer of commuter service. The initial step in the employee transfer process is covered by Section 508 which is entitled “Transfer of Employees.” In order to begin the process the parties are required to enter into an implementing agreement. Section 508, in subsections (c)(1) through (c)(7), sets forth the elements which are to be included in the final agreement. • These subsections cover such variables as the number of employees to be transferred, the specific employees to be transferred, the procedures by which employees may elect to accept jobs, the procedure for acceptance of these employees and the procedure for determining seniority. All the parties to this litigation agree that the Section 508 process is merely a preliminary step in the transfer process. Its main purpose is to create a roster from which Conrail employees may move over to the new commuter authority.

Collective bargaining is to take place pursuant to subsections (a) through (h) of Section 510. This section is unique because it provides for the ultimate abrogation of existing Conrail collective bargaining agreements. Section 510(a)(1) contemplates that the unions and management will enter into new collective bargaining agreements with respect to pay, rules, and working conditions after the implementing agreements have been negotiated under Section 508. Section 510(h) requires that any disputes which arise during this new collective bargaining phase of the transfer be resolved in accordance with that section.

Pursuant to Section 508(a), representatives of SEPTA, Conrail and the non-operating unions commenced negotiations in an attempt to reach an implementing agreement to govern the transfer of Conrail’s employees. Despite three months of negotiations, the parties failed to reach an agreement. The parties were also unable to select a neutral referee pursuant to Section 508(d)(1). Accordingly, on September 14, 1982 the National Mediation Board appointed Dr. Quinn to conduct the arbitration of this dispute. The proceedings before Dr. Quinn commenced on September 22 and, after consideration of extensive written presentations and two oral arguments, he issued his award on October 10.

This award adopted the implementing agreement entered into in New York State between the labor organizations and Metro-North Commuter Rail Division, with two important modifications. Dr. Quinn stated that SEPTA should advertise its proposed positions rather than the Conrail job descriptions as the unions and Conrail had urged him to do. In addition, he determined that all current Conrail employees who wished to apply for jobs with SEPTA must authorize the transfer of a copy of his Conrail employment records and must pass reasonable job related screening tests. At a meeting between the parties held on October 10, language was added to the award at the request of the unions providing that the SEPTA job bulletins should identify the Conrail craft or class eligible to bid for a particular position.

Pursuant to the Quinn award, the number of SEPTA positions advertised will be equal to the number of positions in commuter service within the SEPTA region as of October 1, 1982. SEPTA will post its positions on December 1,1982. Transfer of employees will be effective as of January 1, 1983, pending the outcome of the Section 510 collective bargaining process.

In this case, the Court is confronted with a challenge to the arbitrator’s award by the unions. In their petition for review the [691]*691unions claim that Dr. Quinn exceeded his jurisdiction in making this award. They claim that he has allowed SEPTA to change existing crafts and classes — -something which this Court explicitly stated in NJT to be beyond a neutral referee’s jurisdiction under Section 508. They also contend that the portion of Quinn’s award which allows the administration of job-related testing and transfer of employment records is beyond his jurisdiction because it infringes on the Section 510 collective bargaining process. Finally, although it was not actually discussed during oral argument, the unions believe that if this award is valid, SEPTA is not fully complying with its terms. DISCUSSION

A. The Standard of Review

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Related

United Transportation Union v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
555 F. Supp. 1382 (Special Court under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act, 1983)
AMERICAN RY., ETC. v. Southeastern Pa. Transp.
551 F. Supp. 688 (Special Court under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
551 F. Supp. 688, 113 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3330, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-railway-airway-supervisors-assn-v-southeastern-pennsylvania-reglrailreorgct-1982.