Fulk v. United Transp. Union, 98-1836

• Citation: 160 F.3d 405
• Decision Date: 12 February 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-1836,98-1836
• Parties: 159 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2861, 136 Lab.Cas. P 10,299 Jesse FULK and Donald Cearlock, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 405

160 F.3d 405

159 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2861, 136 Lab.Cas. P 10,299

Jesse FULK and Donald Cearlock, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 98-1836.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Oct. 27, 1998.

Decided Nov. 12, 1998.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied Feb. 12, 1999.

James P. Baker (argued), Springfield, IL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

William K. Cavanaugh, Cavanaugh & O'Hara, Springfield, IL, Kevin C. Brodar (argued), Cleveland, OH, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before CUMMINGS, CUDAHY and FLAUM, Circuit Judges.

CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge.

This case presents the question of whether the United Transportation Union (the "Union") violated its own constitution when it required, in addition to overall majority approval, that a majority of each district approve a proposed buyout plan in order for members in that district to participate. Plaintiffs Jesse Fulk and Donald Cearlock were employees of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad (the "Railroad") and members of the Union. Since their district failed to approve the buyout plan, the plaintiffs did not receive the payments that members from districts which approved the plan received. After unsuccessfully seeking internal union remedies, ¹ plaintiffs sued the Union, alleging the voting procedure used was inherently discriminatory in violation of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 411(a), and contrary to the Union's constitution in violation of § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185, which provides a cause of action in such cases.

This is the third time this case has appeared before this Court. The first time, we reversed the district court's denial of summary judgment on the LMRDA claim, holding the voting procedure not to be inherently discriminatory. Fulk v. United Transportation Union, 81 F.3d 733 (7th Cir.1996). The second appeal concerned the district court's grant of summary judgment on the § 301 claim. We held the district court took an overly restrictive view of its discretion in whether to require exhaustion of union procedures before hearing the merits and remanded to the district court for further consideration. Fulk v. United Transportation Union, 108 F.3d 113 (7th Cir.1997). The district court then considered the merits of the plaintiffs' § 301 claim and granted summary judgment to the Union, holding that the voting procedure did not violate the Union's constitution. Fulk v. United Transportation Union, 995 F.Supp. 937 (C.D.Ill.1998). Plaintiffs appeal. We affirm.

Background

As we explained in the previous two appeals, Fulk, 81 F.3d at 734-735, Fulk, 108 F.3d at 114-115, the Union represents certain workers employed by the Railroad. These workers are grouped by the Railroad into several geographic districts, known as "seniority districts." Plaintiffs were members of the Springfield [Illinois] District. The Union membership was also divided into several, considerably larger, geographical units, known as "General Committees of Adjustment" (GCAs), which in turn embraced several seniority districts.

This dispute arose when the Union brought up a proposed modification of its agreements with the Railroad for membership vote. The "crew consist agreement," covering conductors, brakemen and yardmen, governs the size of the crew used to operate each train. The original agreement, adopted in 1984, allowed the Railroad to reduce the crew size from two brakemen and a conductor to one brakeman and one conductor as workers retired or otherwise left the Railroad's employ. The Railroad agreed at that time to share the resulting cost savings with the workers. Whenever a train ran with only two crew members, the Railroad paid $53.25 into a "productivity fund," which was credited to the workers. A separate productivity fund was maintained for each seniority district. The amount paid into each fund depended on the number of trains in that particular district which had been operated with two-member crews.

The modifications disputed here were negotiated in 1991. The two modifications were: First, the "crew consist agreement" was to be changed to allow the Railroad to operate with one-person crews when the size of the work force within a particular seniority district permitted. Second, the productivity funds were to be eliminated. In their place, the Railroad would make a one-time payment in December 1991 of $20,000 to each employee and an additional payment of $40,000 to each employee upon death, retirement or termination of employment.

The union leadership decided to implement different voting procedures for each of the two proposals. The reduction in crew size was put to an aggregate vote of all members of a particular GCA. Votes were tallied within each craft (conductor, brakeman and yardman). Acceptance of the proposal by a majority of each craft's workers was required to pass the new crew consist agreement.

The union leadership took a different approach to the productivity fund buyout. The buyout was put to an independent vote in each seniority district, with the result in each district determining the fate of that district's productivity fund. The Union justified the district-by-district voting procedure by the fact that the value of the funds varied from district to district, as did the relative proportion of older workers to younger workers. Within each district, a majority of each craft was again required to approve the proposal.

In plaintiffs' GCA, the modification to the crew consist agreement was approved by nearly two-thirds of those voting in each craft. In the Springfield district, however, the productivity fund buyout proposal failed to carry a majority among brakemen. Hence plaintiffs were unable to participate in the productivity fund buyout. They complain that the district-by-district voting procedure for the productivity fund buyout violated the Union's constitution.

Analysis

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as the district court and viewing the record and all reasonable inferences to be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Independent Construction Equipment Builders Union v. Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, 83 F.3d 930, 932 (7th Cir.1996).

This case concerns a dispute about the meaning of a union constitution. We defer to a union's interpretation of its own constitution so long as the interpretation is not unreasonable. Maher v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 15 F.3d 711, 714 (7th Cir.1994). "[A] union's interpretation of its own constitution, by-laws, and other promulgations is entitled to judicial deference; we must be able to call the interpretation unreasonable, perhaps even 'patently unreasonable,' before we can set it aside." Air Wisconsin Pilots Protection Committee v. Sanderson, 909 F.2d 213, 218 (7th Cir.1990). This deference to a union's reasonable interpretation of its own constitution is predicated on a federal policy of noninterference in internal union affairs. Local 657, United Brotherhood of Carpenters v. Sidell, 552 F.2d 1250 (7th Cir.1977). Our question then in interpreting the Union's constitution is whether the Union's construction of its own constitution is a reasonable one.

At issue in this case is the interpretation of Article 85 of the Union's constitution. It reads:

The General Chairperson must poll the entire membership holding seniority and working in the craft involved on the property by mail referendum ballot prior to signing any system agreements and be governed...