Farrell v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters

888 F.2d 459
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 30, 1989
DocketNo. 89-1133
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 888 F.2d 459 (Farrell v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Farrell v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 888 F.2d 459 (6th Cir. 1989).

Opinion

HIGGINS, District Judge.

This is an appeal from a decision of the District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan denying appellants’ request for an injunction under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.).

The appellants are flight attendants for Northwest Airlines, based in Detroit, Michigan, and Memphis, Tennessee. All of them had originally worked for Republic Airlines. Their services were retained when Republic was merged into Northwest in 1986.

Before the merger, employees of Republic had been represented in labor negotiations by the Association of Flight Attendants. Pre-merger employees of Northwest were represented by the appellee, International Brotherhood of Teamsters. After the merger, Northwest recognized the Teamsters as the collective bargaining representative for the merged unit. The AFA did not quietly accept this decision, and a certification campaign resulted. In order to win over the former Republic employees, the Teamsters offered to create new locals in Memphis and Detroit. (Teamsters activity in those cities had previously been directed by the Local in Minneapolis.) The Teamsters pledged that the proposed new locals would enjoy the usual right of electing representatives to a contract negotiations committee and sundry other union committees. The Teamsters also agreed to waive the new members’ dues requirement pending final approval of a contract between post-merger Northwest Airlines and the union. The Teamsters prevailed in the certification election.

But contract talks between the Teamsters and Northwest bogged down, whereupon the Teamsters allegedly reneged on their pledge to the appellants by demanding dues from them. The union filed an action in the Eastern District of New York to collect the dues, but it was dismissed, the judge finding that the dues had indeed been waived. Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., No. 87-CIV-1625 (E.D.N.Y., Aug. 7, 1987).

Appellants filed the present action in the Eastern District of Michigan on November 1, 1988, to enforce their rights to conduct their union affairs through local unions with properly elected local officials. Under the provisions of LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1), the complaint sought an injunction to compel the Teamsters to form locals for the appellants’ use and schedule local elections. The complaint also asserted pendent state common law claims based on contract alleged to arise under the Teamsters’ constitution.

[461]*461On November 21, 1988, in the wake of the appellants’ filing, the Teamsters chartered new local 2757 in Detroit to serve Northwest employees in both Detroit and Memphis. On the same day, the Teamsters placed the new local under a trusteeship, which, of course, precluded any election of local officers.

The district court, after fruitless attempts to get the parties to agree on a timetable for electing local officers, entered an order dated December 21, 1988, dismissing the action, having previously indicated that the formation of a new local had mooted the prayer for that relief, that ordering an election was not warranted because the appellants had made no showing of irreparable harm, and that under the LMRDA the court lacked the power to terminate the trusteeship.

Appellants contend that the conduct of the Teamsters deprives them of their rights under Title I of the LMRDA (often called the “Member’s Bill of Rights.”) At the heart of this contention is the following portion of the LMRDA, codified at 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(1):

§ 411. Bill of rights; constitution and bylaws of labor organizations
(a)(1) Equal rights
Every member of a labor organization shall have equal rights and privileges within such organization to nominate candidates, to vote in elections or referendums of the labor organization, to attend membership meetings, and to participate in the deliberations and voting upon the business of such meetings, subject to reasonable rules and regulations in such organization’s constitution and bylaws.

The principal difficulty confronting the appellants is that in the present action a trusteeship was imposed by the national union. Principles governing the establishment and maintenance of trusteeships are set forth in Title III of the LMRDA, codified at 29 U.S.C. § 461 et seq.

The principal issue before the Court is this: may the appellants who maintain that the parent union is violating their Title I rights by means of trusteeship sue to protect those rights without addressing the question of the trusteeship’s validity?

The appellants seem to be arguing the affirmative. Although their brief disparages the trusteeship as an “unlawful” stra-tegem to cut off the district court’s remedial powers, their counsel admitted at oral argument that the issue of validity vel non as to the trusteeship was not decided by the district court and is not before this Court now. Appellants’ theory is that § 411(a)(1) creates an independent remedy for such grievances as are alleged, obviating any procedures under Title III.

This Court disagrees. Such a rule would reduce to surplusage those positions of Title III which provide a specific remedy for improper establishment of trusteeships, especially 29 U.S.C. § 464(a), which states:

§ 464. Civil action for enforcement
(a) Complaint; investigation; commencement of action by Secretary, member or subordinate body of labor organization; jurisdiction
Upon the written complaint of any member or subordinate body of a labor organization alleging that such organization has violated the provisions of this subchapter (except section 461 of this title) the Secretary shall investigate the complaint and if the Secretary finds probable cause to believe that such violation has occurred and has not been remedied he shall, without disclosing the identity of the complainant, bring a civil action in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the labor organization for such relief (including injunctions) as may be appropriate. Any member or subordinate body of a labor organization affected by any violation of this subchapter (except section 461 of this title) may bring a civil action in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the labor organization for such relief (including injunctions) as may be appropriate.

The statute further provides, in 29 U.S.C. § 464(c), that a trusteeship receives a presumption of validity for eighteen months, “except upon clear and convincing proof [462]*462that the trusteeship was not established or maintained in good faith for a purpose allowable” under the Act.

Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n v. Lynn, 488 U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 639, 102 L.Ed.2d 700 (1989), relied on by the appellants, is not contra.

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