Dooley v. Highway Truckdrivers & Helpers, Local 107, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers

192 F. Supp. 198, 47 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2642, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3765
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedFebruary 24, 1961
DocketCiv. A. No. 2157
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 192 F. Supp. 198 (Dooley v. Highway Truckdrivers & Helpers, Local 107, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dooley v. Highway Truckdrivers & Helpers, Local 107, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers, 192 F. Supp. 198, 47 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2642, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3765 (D. Del. 1961).

Opinion

STEEL, District Judge.

Defendant has moved to dissolve the temporary injunction previously issued under § 10 (Í) of the Labor Management Act of 1947, as amended.1 The opinion granting the injunction, Dooley v. Highway Truckdrivers, Local 107, D.C.Del. 1960, 182 F.Supp. 297, sets forth the factual background of the controversy.2

Defendant argues anew that the controversy does not involve a jurisdictional dispute between defendant and the members of Locals 639 and 660 who were assigned the truckdriving jobs by Safeway because Locals 639 and 660 were not contesting for the jobs either as against Safeway or against defendant whose members had previously done the work. Defendant argues that it is a prerequisite to a jurisdictional dispute that there be strife between the competing unions and between the unions and the company, and that the Supreme Court case of N. L. R. B. v. Radio & Television Broadcast Eng’rs Union, Local 1212, 364 U.S. 573, 81 S.Ct. 330, 334, 5 L.Ed.2d 302, supports this view. In that case the Court said, "[A] jurisdictional dispute under § 8(b) (4) (D) * * * is a dispute between two or more groups of employees over which is entitled to do certain work for an employer” and referred to “a quarrel between two [labor] groups * * * » 3

The emphasis which defendant places upon Radio & Television Broadcast Eng’rs, supra, is not justified. The question before it was not whether the controversy was covered by § 8(b) (4) (D) 4 It was concerned solely with proper functioning of the Board under § 10 (k).5 Moreover, it is by no means certain that a “dispute” or “quarrel” which the Supreme Court spoke of does not, as a legal concept, exist between the defendant and Locals 639 and 660.

Section 8(b) (4) (D) makes it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization to induce a work stoppage where an effect is “forcing or requiring any employer to assign particular work to employees in a particular labor organization * * * rather than to employees in another labor organization * * *• ”. The defendant asserts that the “particular work” sought by it is the driving of Safeway trucks as performed under its collective bargaining agreement with Safeway which expired on December 31, 1960, namely, trucking to and from Wilmington with vehicles based in Wilmington. If defendant is right in its narrow concept of the “particular work” in controversy, then clearly 8(b) (4) (D) was not violated since Safeway has not assigned any trucking in vehicles based in Wilmington to Locals 639 or 660. On the other hand, the Regional Director and Safeway claim that the “particular work” which defendant seeks should be broadly defined as the driving of Safeway trucks to and from Wilmington regardless of where the trucks are based. If this analysis is correct, it is equally [200]*200clear that there has been a violation of 8(b) (4) (D) since trucking- to and from Wilmington in vehicles based outside of Wilmington has been assigned to the members of Locals 639 and 660. Picketing by defendant to force Safeway to assign that “particular work” would come squarely within the Act’s prohibitions.

Ultimately the question of whether the dispute is embraced within' § 8(b) (4) (D) will have to be settled. But that is not the present duty of the Court. At this juncture the Court is merely called upon to determine whether the Regional Director had reasonable cause to believe that § 8(b) (4) (D) was violated.6 7A reasonable determination is the antithesis of one which is arbitrary, illogical or irrational. So judged, the Court is satisfied that the Regional Director, with his expertise in matters of this kind, could reasonably conclude that the “particular work” in controversy is the driving of trucks to and from Wilmington regardless of where the trucks are based, thus making defendant’s activities a direct violation of § 8(b) (4) (D).

As its second point, the union asserts that although the § 10 (k) hearing took place a year ago, no final determination has been made by the Board. This delay, defendant. argues, requires a dissolution of the injunction under the cautionary views expressed in Douds v. Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers Int’l Ass’n, 3 Cir., 1957, 245 F.2d 223 against the continuation of an injunction for an undue length of time while a § 10(k) determination by the Board is awaited. But despite what was said in Douds, the Court did not vacate the injunction or remand the action so that the district court could consider its dissolution even though the 10 (k) dispute had not been determined 9 months after it had been heard. And in United Broth, of Carpenters, etc., 10 Cir., 1948, 170 F.2d 863, 869, the failure of the Board for 10 months to determine a § 10 (k) proceeding did not impel the Court to vacate the injunction, but simply caused it to remand the case so that the district court could consider modifying or dissolving the injunction in the light of all the circumstances.

In the present case the Board made a 10 (k) determination adverse to the defendant. In re Highway Truckdrivers & Helpers, Local 107 and Safeway Stores, Inc., 129 N.L.R.B. No. 2 (1960).7 This was on September 1, 1960, about 6 months after the 10 (k) hearing took place, and well within the time limits dealt with in the Douds and United Brotherhood of Carpenters cases. The subsequent delay stems from the Supreme Court’s decision in N. L. R. B. v. Radio & Television Broadcast Eng’rs Union, Local 1212, supra. There it was held that a Board determination, comparable in scope to that made by the Board in the instant case, did not satisfy the requirements of § 10 (k) and hence could not serve as the basis for a cease and desist order under § 10(c).8 Confronted with this decision, Safeway petitioned the Board to reopen the 10 (k) proceeding, to set aside its decision, and to make a final determination in accordance with the principles expressed in the Radio & Television Broadcast case. On February 2, 1961 the Board granted the petition. Because of this, defendant finds itself without a 10 (k) determination of the controversy which the Board heard 12 months ago.

At the time when the Board made its initial decision the Courts of Appeals were divided on the type of determination required by § 10 (k). N. L. R. B. v. Local 450, Int’l Union of Operating Eng’rs, 5 Cir., 1960, 275 F.2d 408 had held that the Board only needed to determine whether a union charged with [201]*201a § 8(b) (4) (D) violation was entitled to the work in dispute either by an order or certification of the Board, or under a collective bargaining agreement. On the other hand, N. L. R. B. v. United Ass’n of Journeymen, 3 Cir., 1957, 242 F.2d 722, N. L. R. B. v. United Broth. of Carpenters, 7 Cir., 1958, 261 F.2d 166, and N. L. R. B. v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 F. Supp. 198, 47 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2642, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dooley-v-highway-truckdrivers-helpers-local-107-international-ded-1961.