Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Missouri Pacific Railroad

230 F. Supp. 197, 56 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2353, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7711
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMay 28, 1964
DocketNo. 64 C 190(2)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 230 F. Supp. 197 (Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Missouri Pacific Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Missouri Pacific Railroad, 230 F. Supp. 197, 56 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2353, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7711 (E.D. Mo. 1964).

Opinion

MEREDITH, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment and on defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for which a temporary restraining order was issued on May 11, 1964, and by agreement of the parties extended to May 29, 1964. There are no material facts in dispute so far as necessary to our disposition of this .case. The following embraces our findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The immediate history of the present proceeding commences with the award of Arbitration Board No. 282, which was established by Joint Resolution of Congress, Public Law No. 88-108, approved August 28, 1963 (see pocketpart 45 U.S.C.A. § 157), to provide for the compulsory arbitration of the long-existing nationwide dispute between the railroads and the labor organizations. For clarity and convenience the specific award of Arbitration Board No. 282, which was filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on November 26, 1963, will hereafter be referred to as Award 282. On December 6, 1963, a petition to impeach Award 282 was filed there. On January 8, 1964, the said district court rendered an opinion upholding the validity of the award in every respect and entered its judgment on January 10th dismissing the petitions for impeachment. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co., D.C., 225 F.Supp. 11. Judgment was entered February 28, 1964, in the District Court of the District of Columbia on the mandate of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, such court having affirmed the decision of the District Court on February 20, 1964, D.C.Cir., 331 F.2d 1020. Certiorari was denied on April 27, 1964, by the United States Supreme Court, 84 S.Ct. 1181.

The two principal issues determined by Award 282 involved the firemen and the crew consists. We are not here concerned with the firemen dispute. The portion of Award 282 with which we are primarily concerned is its provision for local special boards of adjustment for adjudicating disputes as to proposed changes of crew consists. It provided methods by which jobs might be eliminated while at the same time protected employees, as of the effective date of the award, so that they retained their employment and could not be separated from employment by the potential reduction of jobs in crew consist changes, but only by retirement, discharge for cause or by natural attrition.

Four awards have been made by special boards of adjustment. Plaintiff seeks an adjudication that these four awards are null and void. The facts with respect to each of these awards are substantially the same and their immaterial differences do not dictate contrary conclusions. Hence, we will recite the facts as to only one award, but our conclusions will be applicable to all four.

On January 25, 1964, the defendants herein, relying on Section A-3 of Article III of the 282 Award served notices specifying certain proposed changes by their respective carriers in the number [199]*199of train service employees to be used in certain classes of service. The notices suggested a time and place for a conference to discuss the proposed changes. Plaintiff declined to participate by letters dated February 3rd and 4th, stating that the notices were illegal and improper because Award 282 in their view, had not become effective. On February 14, 1964, the defendants herein advised the plaintiff of their intention to submit the dispute to Special Boards of Adjustment to be established in accordance with Section III, Part B of Award 282. The plaintiff, in response, reiterated its previous position to the effect that the convening of a Special Board of Adjustment was unauthorized and premature and declined to participate in the formation of a Special Board.

Following the decision on February 20, 1964, of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, affirming the decision of the district court, which had upheld Award 282, telegrams were sent by the defendants to the plaintiff on February 27, 1964, offering to withhold their requests to National Mediation Board, provided by Award 282’s Article III, Part B, Paragraph B(2) (b), for the appointment of members of the Special Boards of Adjustment. On the following day, February 28, the date of entry by the District Court of the District of Columbia of final judgment on the mandate of the Court of Appeals, plaintiff advised that it would not participate in any way in proceedings under Award 282 since in its view that Award was not enforceable without the entry of final judgment. On February 29, 1964, defendants, acting under Article III, Part B, Paragraph B(2) (b), of Award 282, requested the National Mediation Board to appoint an employee member and a neutral member of Special Boards of Adjustment for the properties involved. On March 5 and 6, 1964, plaintiff advised defendants that, without waiving its previous position of the prematurity and illegality of the notices, plaintiff was willing to meet and negotiate if defendants would advise which specific job assignments they desired to discuss. In reply thereto, defendants stated they were willing to negotiate, but were not willing to delay any further the convening of the Board.

On March 9,1964, the National Mediation Board appointed David R. Douglas of Oklahoma City as the neutral member in each case. The National Mediation Board also appointed A. F. Smith, General Chairman of the plaintiff Brotherhood, as the employee member of three Special Boards of Adjustment, and appointed J. L. Purdum, General Chairman of the plaintiff Brotherhood, as the employee member of the fourth Special Board of Adjustment. Defendants had previously named their respective representatives to the Special Boards. Subsequently, Mr. Douglas refused his appointment as neutral member of the Special Boards and on March 24, 1964, the National Mediation Board appointed Dudley Whiting of Detroit, Michigan, aa the neutral member of the Special Boards. Mr. Whiting scheduled the first meetings of these Special Boards of Adjustment for March 31, 1964. Representatives of the defendants and of the plaintiff appeared at this meeting and the plaintiff’s representative contended formally that the Local Board had been established prematurely since no negotiations had been conducted applying the guidelines of Award 282 and because defendants’ notices were on a systemwide basis, and should be recessed indefinitely. On the following day the Local Board denied the request for a recess. Thereupon, the plaintiff’s representative advised that it would not participate further in the hearing. The hearing was continued in the absence of the organization representative and evidence was submitted on behalf of the carrier and the award, concurred in by the neutral and the carrier members, was entered by the Local Board on May 6, 1964. This will hereafter be referred to as the Local Award.

Defendants notified plaintiff that they would put into effect at 12:01 p. m., on [200]*200May 11, 1964, each of the Local Awards. On that date plaintiff sought and this Court granted, on the plaintiff’s posting of a $50,000 bond, an order temporarily restraining defendants from putting these Local Awards into effect.

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Bluebook (online)
230 F. Supp. 197, 56 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2353, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brotherhood-of-railroad-trainmen-v-missouri-pacific-railroad-moed-1964.