Murphree v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen

1946 OK 302, 173 P.2d 926, 197 Okla. 627, 1946 Okla. LEXIS 630, 19 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2304
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 29, 1946
DocketNo. 31956
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1946 OK 302 (Murphree v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphree v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, 1946 OK 302, 173 P.2d 926, 197 Okla. 627, 1946 Okla. LEXIS 630, 19 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2304 (Okla. 1946).

Opinion

RILEY, J.

This is an action commenced by plaintiff in error, herein referred to as plaintiff, against the defendant in error, herein referred to as defendant, growing out of the settlement of certain complaints or grievances of the employees of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Company and its Trustees in Bankruptcy.

In 1919 plaintiff was an employee of the Railway Company as yardman at Francis, a station about ten miles north of Ada. Before moving to Francis, he was a member in good standing of Local Lodge No. 619 Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, located at Sapulpa, Okla. About the time he moved to Francis, Local Lodge No. 928 of said Brotherhood was organized at' Francis and plaintiff became a charter member of that lodge. He remained a member in good standing of the Brotherhood until the lodge at Francis was discontinued, about July, 1932. His dues were paid until October 1, 1932. From 1919 until 1931, plaintiff was employed as a switch-man or yardman at the Francis yard. Some time in 1931 the Railway Company began conducting all of its switching operations at Francis and certain other yards in its system, by roadmen, that is, men operating its trains. This resulted in a furlough of plaintiff and five or six other yardmen stationed at Francis. Plaintiff and other yardmen complained, contending that switching operations in the Francis yard, by employees who operated trains, was a violation by the Railway Company of its contract with the Brotherhood and that their furlough was in violation of said contract. The employees who operated the trains, who were required to do the switching, also complained, contending that the transaction was also a violation of the contract with the union in that they were required to conduct switching operations at wages paid train operators, which were lower than wages paid yardmen.

Plaintiff and others similarly situated presented their grievances to the local lodge at Francis. Just how far negotiations were carried there with reference to the complaints presented through the Francis Lodge does not appear. Apparently the furlough of all the yardmen resulted in the dissolution of the Francis Lodge, which occurred about July, 1932.

Following the dissolution of the local lodge, plaintiff, who was then unemployed, could not obtain work on other roads or elsewhere on the Frisco system because his seniority was at the Francis [629]*629yard. He ceased to pay his dues in the Brotherhood and did not transfer his membership to another lodge.

J. M. Kurn and John G. Lonsdale were appointed Trustees in Bankruptcy for the Railway Company and took charge of its property November 1, 1932.

W. I. Lahue, one of the yardmen stationed at Francis, upon dissolution of the lodge at that point, transferred his membership in the Brotherhood to Sa-pulpa Lodge No. 619, located at Sapulpa, Okla. September 27, 1937, Lahue filed with the local lodge at Sapulpa a new complaint, or a renewal of the old complaint, apparently on his own behalf and on behalf of other members of the Brotherhood affected by the switching operations at Francis.

In substance, the complaint set forth the conditions existing since 1931 at Francis, which he charged were an open violation of the contract between the Brotherhood and the Railway Company in that in 1931 the company discontinued the yard engines at Francis and had ever since required roadmen to perform the duties of yardmen, when the contract provided that work done in the limits of the yard should be manned by yardmen from the seniority list and that where two classes of service are performed in the same day, the higher rate of pay should be paid so that the roadmen performing yard work should receive yardmen pay, which is higher than that of a roadman; that as a result, the yardmen at Francis were deprived of their jobs, in violation of the contract, and roadmen had been required to perform the work at less pay. He asserted that he should be compensated for loss of time, etc.

In support of his claim, Lahue cited a similar condition on the Texas & Pacific Railway Company at Baird, Tex., where a complaint of a similar nature had gone to the National Railroad Adjustment Board, resulting in a decision requiring the restoration of the yardmen to their former positions and payment for their loss of time.

This protest, or claim, and possibly others from other yards on the Frisco system, led to negotiations between representatives of the Brotherhood and the Trustees, extending over a period of about 18 months. In April, 1939, a settlement was effected between the Brotherhood and the Trustees of the Railway Company whereby the Trustees agreed to pay on the various claims a total of about $113,000. The agreement was evidenced by a series of separate written contracts covering the several yards affected.

By the settlement contract involving the Francis yard, three yardmen were paid. They were W. I. Lahue, C. B. Newson, and O. B. Ramkin. The standing of the Francis switchmen’s roster for 1935 included the three above named and four others, including plaintiff. Nothing was included in the settlement for plaintiff. In determining the names of the men to be paid and the. amount each should receive, the Railway officers requested the negotiating officers of the Brotherhood to furnish the names of those to be paid and the amount to which each was entitled out of the total $113,000. The Brotherhood representatives furnished the information but plaintiff’s name was not included. Payment was to be made, and was made, by the Trustees directly to the several claimants.

Apparently plaintiff knew nothing of the settlement until about December, 1939. When he learned thereof, he caused inquiry to be made, but was apparently unable to learn the details or terms of the settlement.

On December 22, 1942, plaintiff instituted this action in the district court of Creek county against the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, wherein he seeks recovery in the sum of $7,000. In this petition he alleges that he is a resident of Pontotoc county, Okla., and that defendant is an association engaged in transacting business in Oklahoma for gain, having its principal headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. He alleged his mem[630]*630bership in the Brotherhood during the years 1919 to 1931, inclusive, and his employment by the Railway Company as switcher at Francis during said years; that under the constitution and by-laws of the Brotherhood, said Brotherhood was to act as bargaining agent of the employees of said Railway Company; that the defendant had entered into a contract with said Railway Company wherein it was agreed that all switching operations in the Francis yard, and others, should be conducted by what are known as yardmen and that plaintiff was classified as yardman employed in the Francis yard.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1946 OK 302, 173 P.2d 926, 197 Okla. 627, 1946 Okla. LEXIS 630, 19 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphree-v-brotherhood-of-railroad-trainmen-okla-1946.