Grand Trunk Western Railroad v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n

765 F. Supp. 398, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8216, 1991 WL 105511
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJune 10, 1991
DocketNo. 89-71454
StatusPublished

This text of 765 F. Supp. 398 (Grand Trunk Western Railroad v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grand Trunk Western Railroad v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n, 765 F. Supp. 398, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8216, 1991 WL 105511 (E.D. Mich. 1991).

Opinion

GADOLA, District Judge.

FACTS AND ALLEGATIONS

Defendants list thirty-four (34) disputed material facts. Defendants’ response brief at 2-24. Although the court will not specifically address the materiality of each factual issue disputed by the defendant, the more prominent factual disputes will be covered below.

Grand Trunk, the plaintiff in this matter, initiated negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with the four defendant labor organizations on 4 April 1988. Grand Trunk had indicated that it intended to bargain on its own rather than as part of a national, multi-employer group of railroads. Between April of 1988 and 22 February 1989, plaintiff and defendants met a number of times to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. The four defendant unions bargained with plaintiff as a coalition.

Each union’s negotiator participated with the understanding of the others that approval of his actions by his superiors in the union was a prerequisite to the consummation of an agreement. If each union agreed to any proposed bargaining agreement, the agreement would then be submitted to the members of each union for ratification consideration. At that point, “[i]f any of the groups did not ratify, then none of the agreement would apply.” Barrett Dep. at 131.

Plaintiff alleges that “[a]t the end of these negotiations, the parties concluded a new agreement on February 22, 1989 (“the Agreement”), which was initialled by the General Chairmen present to signify that they had reached a meeting of the minds with Grand Trunk.” Plaintiff’s brief at 2. Plaintiff further alleges that

[wjhile the [negotiates] stated they would have to run the Agreement by their international officers (with the exception of the IBF & 0, which had sent an international officer to the February 22 meeting), they also stated that the international officers had already approved the basic terms of a prior February 2 draft agreement and that they expected the final Agreement, which was an improvement over the February 2 proposal for their members, to be approved.

Plaintiff’s brief at 2. Plaintiff also alleges that the negotiators for the Carmen, Sheet Metal Workers International Association (“SMWIA”), and Boilermakers “indicated that they had already conferred with their international offices and were prepared to negotiate and conclude an agreement with Grand Trunk. II Bouchard Dep. at 82, 84-85, 93-95.” Plaintiff’s brief at 12.

At the conclusion of the 22 February 1989 bargaining session, each of the negotiators initialed the agreement. Plaintiff alleges that “[defendants recognize that the initialling of an agreement constitutes an acknowledgement that there is a meeting of the minds of the parties at the bargain[400]*400ing table.” Plaintiff’s brief at 13. The international officers of the Carmen, SMWIA, and Boilermakers disapproved of the agreement. The plaintiff contends that the disapproval was in bad faith and made to frustrate further negotiations.

The plaintiff alleges that the international officers of the Carmen, SMWIA, and Boilermakers

insisted that negotiations be re-opened on all issues addressed in the Agreement. They objected to every essential provision of the Agreement, even ones that their own negotiators had proposed and that Grand Truck had accepted; they stated that the Agreement was unacceptable because the members of the IBF & 0, with whom they had been negotiating all along as part of the coalition, would receive the same rate of pay as their members; and they demanded that Grand Truck negotiate new and complex issues that had previously been withdrawn by mutual agreement or had never been raided in the negotiations.

Plaintiffs brief at 3.

The defendants Carmen, SMWIA, and Boilermakers dispute each of these allegations. With respect to plaintiffs allegation that the negotiators expected the final agreement to be approved, defendants allege that the Carmen negotiator “stated that he did not ‘recall making an opinion one way or the other’ to Bouchard regarding what he expected from the Carmen’s international officers. Grant Depo. 263.” Defendant response brief at 7. With respect to plaintiff’s allegation that the negotiators had conferred with their international offices and were prepared to conclude an agreement, defendants allege that

Neither Sheet Metal Workers negotiator Hicks nor Boilermakers negotiator Reynolds indicated to Grand Trunk prior to the February bargaining sessions “that they had already conferred with their international offices and were prepared to negotiate and conclude an agreement with Grand Trunk.” (Plaintiff’s brief p. 12) or “that the international officers had already reviewed and approved the February 2nd proposal {Id. p. 14). Both Hicks and Reynolds specifically deny having make any statement to the carriers’ negotiates to that effect. Hicks Supplemental Declaration; Reynolds Supplemental Declaration. Hicks testified that he did not tell Bouchard that he “thought it was likely that [they] would reach an agreement,” only that they “could try to come to an understanding, not an agreement.” By the term “understanding”, Hicks meant “something to send to the International to see what they thought.” Hicks Depo. 173.

Defendants’ response brief at 7-8.

Defendants further contend that “[t]he plaintiff had misrepresented what the respective defendants understood the effects of initialling an agreement to be.” Defendants’ response brief at 8. Defendants allege that “when negotiations were completed on February 22, Grant did not feel that an agreement had been finalized, as plaintiff suggests (Plaintiff’s brief p. 14); Grant felt that an agreement had been reached to forward the tentative agreement that had been reached on to the various international unions for their approval. Grant Depo. 260-261. Defendants’ response brief at 9.

With respect to the SMWIA negotiator Hicks, the defendants allege that he

testified that he considered an initialled agreement to be of no more worth than an initialled check and that he initialled the agreement as a step in the process of obtaining the approval of his superior, Don Buchanan. In Hicks’ words, if he had known the International was going to approve the agreement, “I would have signed it. Why would I have had to initial it?” Hicks Depo. 29-30, 153. Hicks testified that the union negotiators initialled the agreement because Bou-chard “pressed for it all evening along (sic). We initialed the agreement so we could take it and give to the International and see what they thought and come back with whatever it was. And if there was rough spots on it, that we would negotiate again, open it up and renegotiate that part.” Hicks Depo. 150. To Hicks, the initialing simply meant that he [401]*401was going to submit the document to the International union for its approval. Id.

Defendants’ response brief at 10-11.

The list of factual disputes goes on and on. The court will not and need not address the materiality of each alleged factual dispute. The factual disputes covered above, however, are sufficient for an analysis of the respective motions.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

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Bluebook (online)
765 F. Supp. 398, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8216, 1991 WL 105511, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grand-trunk-western-railroad-v-sheet-metal-workers-international-assn-mied-1991.