Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen

196 F. Supp. 158, 48 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2682, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3823
District Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided June 21, 1961·No. No. 61 C 854·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

PERRY, District Judge.

This matter coming on to be heard on the Verified Complaint and the Answers and Amendments thereto filed by defendants, and the Court having set the matter for hearing, having heard the evidence and the arguments of counsel, and being fully advised in the premises, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Findings of Fact

1. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked by the plaintiff under the Constitution and laws of the United States, including the Judicial Code (28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331 and 1337), the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq.) and the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.). The amount involved in this controversy exceeds the sum of $10,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs.

2. Plaintiff is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of Illinois and Indiana. Its general office and principal place of business are located at 208 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois. It is a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce by railroad, is a “carrier” within the meaning of that term as defined in the Railway Labor Act, and is subject to the provisions of that Act and of the Interstate Commerce Act.

3. Plaintiff owns and operates a railroad system in interstate and intrastate commerce which serves the industrial concentration of metropolitan Chicago, Illinois, where it has many miles of tracks. It has a substantial investment in railroad facilities, cars, and locomotives. It employs approximately 5,000 persons.

4. Plaintiff’s railroad system is an integral part of the nationwide railway systems of the United States, and connects and interchanges freight with thirty-three common carriers by rail which enter the City of Chicago. Plaintiff renders important railroad service to thousands of shippers annually, and serves 600 or more industries for which the plaintiff provides terminal and switching facilities in the metropolitan Chicago area. Among these are the United States Steel Corporation, which owns the plaintiff.

5. The defendant Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (hereinafter called the BRT) is an unincorporated association with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. It is a labor organization, national in scope, and is subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The BRT is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for the class of approximately 1200 employees of plaintiff in service as Switchmen, Road Brakemen, Switch Tenders, Car Retarder Operators, and Yardmasters.

6. The defendant Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (hereinafter called the BLFE) is an unincorporated association with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. It is a labor organization, national in scope, and is subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The BLFE is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for the class of approximately 400 firemen employed by the plaintiff.

7. The defendant Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen (hereinafter called the ORCB) is an unincorporated association with headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is a labor organization, national in scope, and is subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The ORCB is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for the class of approximately 55 road conductors of the plaintiff.

8. The individual defendants are joined as parties to this suit in their individual capacity, in their capacities as representatives of the aforesaid classes of employees of plaintiff, and in their capacities as members and as representatives of their respective labor organizations and the membership of such organizations. These individuals have a joint and common interest with, and can and do fairly and adequately represent said classes and members of defendants BRT, ORCB, and BLFE, employed by plaintiff, who are defendants in this action. These [161]*161individuals are also officials of, and can and do fairly and adequately represent their respective defendant labor organizations and the memberships of such organizations.

9. The majority of the members of the BRT, ORCB, and BLFE, employed by plaintiff, and the majority of the aforesaid classes of employees of the plaintiff represented by said organizations, have an interest which is joint and common, and there are common questions of law and fact affecting their rights and the relief sought. They are too numerous to be made individual defendants herein and it is impracticable to bring them all before this Court.

10. The dispute between the parties concerns private non-contributory pensions supplemental to Railroad Retirement Act benefits. At the present time no pension plan is in effect covering retiring members of defendants BRT, ORCB, and BLFE now employed by plaintiff and retiring employees of the classes of employees of the plaintiff represented by the labor organizations; provided, however, that members of the BLFE who are working as engineers and who might now retire would obtain the benefits of the Pension Plan presently applicable to engineers. The most recent Plan (II-B) which heretofore covered members of said defendants and the classes of employees of plaintiff represented by said labor organizations expired by its terms October 31, 1959. The first non-contributory pension plan between the defendants, BRT, ORCB, and BLFE was for a 21-year period which expired October 31, 1957. That Plan, like the non-contributory Pension Plan which expired October 31, 1959, was included in the collective bargaining agreements between the plaintiff and each of the defendants BRT, ORCB, and BLFE on behalf of the respective class or craft of the plaintiff’s employees represented by such labor organization. Such employees who retired during Plan II-B have continuously received and are now receiving Plan benefits with this exception: in a few instances increases received by employees under the Railroad Retirement Act have resulted in the elimination of all benefits received under Plan II-B. Since October, 1959, plaintiff has repeatedly offered and continues to offer voluntarily to extend Plan II-B for one, two, or three years, at defendants’ election, to all persons presently employed by plaintiff who are represented by defendants BRT, ORCB, and BLFE, and for all persons formerly employed by plaintiff and formerly represented by said defendants who have retired since October 31, 1959. Such voluntary extension of existing Plans for prescribed periods has been accepted by all other labor organizations representing persons employed by plaintiff, 13 organizations in all. Defendants BRT, ORCB, and BLFE have rejected extension of pension coverage for such periods, but offered to make short extensions thereof.

11. Defendants BRT, ORCB, and BLFE now seek pension benefits different from and in addition to those available under Plan II-B. On October 1,1959, pursuant to Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act, said defendants each served notice on the plaintiff proposing to add the following provision to the collective agreements then existing between the parties:

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Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, 196 F. Supp. 158, 48 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2682, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3823 (N.D. Ill. 1961).

196 F. Supp. 158 (Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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