Mason-Rust v. Building Material, Construction, Ice & Coal Drivers, Helpers, Warehousemen & Yardmen

324 F. Supp. 839, 77 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3045, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13938
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMarch 31, 1971
DocketNo. 68 C 380(A)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 324 F. Supp. 839 (Mason-Rust v. Building Material, Construction, Ice & Coal Drivers, Helpers, Warehousemen & Yardmen) 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
Mason-Rust v. Building Material, Construction, Ice & Coal Drivers, Helpers, Warehousemen & Yardmen, 324 F. Supp. 839, 77 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3045, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13938 (E.D. Mo. 1971).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HARPER, Senior District Judge.

This cause was tried to the court without a jury. The plaintiff is a joint venture composed of The Rust Engineering Company, a Delaware corporation, and The Mason & Hanger-Silas Mason Company, Inc., a West Virginia corporation. Defendant, Building Material, Construction Ice and Coal Drivers, Helpers, Warehousemen and Yardmen Local Union No. 682 (Local 682 or the Union) is a labor organization within the meaning of 29 U.S.C.A. § 152. This court has jurisdiction under Sections 301 and 303 of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 185 and 187.

Mason-Rust received a contract with the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, to perform construction work at the Gateway Army Ammunitions Plant at St. Louis, Missouri, to reactivate and convert the plant for the production of artillery shells. Mason-Rust employed members of defendant Union and operated with defendant pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement covering the period beginning May 1, 1966, and terminating April 30, 1969.

Mason-Rust has brought this action for damages allegedly sustained because of unfair labor practice in violation of the collective bargaining agreement and 29 U.S.C.A. § 158 occurring in August, 1968, during the course of work at the Gateway Army Ammunitions Plant (Gateway). Defendant Local 682 contends that the activity complained of was engaged in by virtue of and under a contractual right to do so.

The threshold issue in this case is defendant’s contention that plaintiff is not the real party in interest and has not suffered any actual damages, and therefore is not entitled to bring this action. This action is based upon the fact that plaintiff’s contract with the Army Corps of Engineers was a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract and that the plaintiff has been reimbursed for all items of damage here claimed. Plaintiff has admitted that any damages recovered will be turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers in accordance with Article 5 (f) of the contract between Mason-Rust and the Army Corps of Engineers. This exact question was recently answered by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Mason-Rust v. Laborers Local No. 42, Laborers International Union of North America, AFL-CIO, 435 F.2d 939, in which the plaintiff, a cost-plus-fixed-fee contractor, was allowed to recover damages resulting from a jurisdictional strike which had been reimbursed by the Army.

Mason-Rust can maintain this action under 29 U.S.C.A. § 187 allowing a party “injured in his business or property” to “recover the damages by him sustained and the cost of the suit.” Mason-Rust, supra.

Plaintiff's contract with the Corps was effective September, 1967, and provided with respect to equipment supplied to plaintiff that “Title to all property furnished by the Government shall remain in the Government” (Article 14 (e)), and that “Upon the completion of [841]*841this contract, or at such earlier dates as may be fixed by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor * * * shall deliver or make such other disposal of such Government Property as may be directed by the Contracting Officer.” Article 14 (i)).

On September 25, 1967, principal representatives of plaintiff and the Corps formulated plans for starting construction in preparation for a pre-job conference with building trade unions, including working out a Corps-required safety program involving maintenance of first aid facilities and an on-site ambulance. At the pre-job conference on October 5, 1967, defendant’s business agent Stahl noted that an ambulance would be maintained on site and inquired as to who would drive the ambulance. Plaintiff’s representative stated that Teamsters would drive the ambulance.

In late October or early November, 1967, plaintiff and defendant entered into a collective bargaining agreement which contained a job security provision as follows:

“Section 10,01. The terms and provisions of this Article have been negotiated and agreed upon by and between the parties for the purpose of providing covered employees with the maximum job security and steady employment warranted by the employer’s business, and for the additional purpose of providing against the diminution of this Union’s established wage scales and working conditions which may result if persons outside of the bargaining unit here involved or outside of other similar bargaining units are free to do like work for less.
“Section 10.02. The Employer shall not direct, require or knowingly permit any of its employees who are not included within the bargaining unit covered by this agreement to do or perform any of the work which is done or performed by those within this bargaining unit. Nor shall owners, Employers, those having a proprietary interest in the business, or persons outside of this bargaining unit, be directed, required or knowingly permitted to do or perform any of said work.
“Section 10.03. The Employer agrees to refrain from knowingly employing the services of any person who does not observe the wages, hours and conditions of employment established by this collective bargaining agreement on work covered by this Agreement.”

On November 20, 1967, plaintiff issued Safety Issuance #6 which covered the operation and manning of the on-site ambulance during working hours and the circumstances when outside ambulance service would be available. Following the distribution of Issuance #6, defendant’s principal officer, Walla, had several conversations with plaintiff’s representative, Higgins, about the operation of the site ambulance. Walla testified that his primary concern was that plaintiff was going to use an outside ambulance service employing Teamster members other than members of defendant Local 682. Walla also testified that Higgins and Walla agreed that the ambulance maintained on the site would be driven only by member-employees of Local 682. On December 29, 1967, Project Manager Higgins determined that plaintiff would operate the site ambulance and man it with members of defendant Local 682 during the regular work week and whenever six or more construction trade employees were working at the site.

On August 7, 1968, resident Corps representative notified Project Manager Higgins that the ambulance which had been requisitioned for use on the job site was to be turned over to the Army for operation at Gateway by Chrysler Corporation. On August 9, 1968, the transfer was complete. On August 7, 1968, plaintiff advised defendant’s business agent Stahl of the discontinuance of the operation of the site ambulance by Mason-Rust and the transfer by Corps. Stahl advised plaintiff’s representative [842]*842Leithauser that he did not know if he could agree to the transfer but would check with Walla who was then out of town.

On August 14, 1968, defendant president Walla, Stahl, job steward Bommarito, and member-truck foreman, Jim Walla, met with representatives of plaintiff to discuss two written grievances presented by Jim Walla and Bommarito, and one oral grievance presented by president Walla, all of which basically demanded that plaintiff see to it that the site ambulance be driven by members of Local 682. Walla also demanded that the two filing written grievances be paid for time lost as a result of the transfer.

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Bluebook (online)
324 F. Supp. 839, 77 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3045, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13938, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mason-rust-v-building-material-construction-ice-coal-drivers-helpers-moed-1971.