Lucas v. Bechtel Corp.
| Citation | 800 F.2d 839 |
| Decision Date | 19 September 1986 |
| Docket Number | IBEW,No. 85-1593,AFL-CIO,No. 640,640,85-1593 |
| Parties | 123 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2762, 55 USLW 2246, 105 Lab.Cas. P 12,109, 1986-2 Trade Cases 67,290 Charles H. LUCAS and Homer Bigbey, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated; and Local Union, an unincorporated local organization, Plaintiffs/Appellants. v. BECHTEL CORPORATION; Bechtel Power Corporation; Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Building and Construction Trades Department (); International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers; et al., Defendants/Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit) |
Michael P. Lehmann, Furth, Fahrner, Bluemle & Mason, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs/appellants.
Mark I. Harrison, Harrison & Lerch, P.C., Phoenix, Ariz., and James P. Hargarten, Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, San Francisco, Cal., for defendants/appellees.
On appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Before CHAMBERS, FARRIS, and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges.
Lucas and Bigbey, union electricians who worked on a construction project known as the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (Palo Verde), and Local Union 640 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Local 640) appeal from the judgment in favor of Bechtel Corporation (Bechtel), Bechtel Power Corporation (BPC), and several union defendants, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International (IBEW) and the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO (BCTD).
Lucas and Bigbey challenge the summary judgment granted by the district court with regard to their claim that the defendants violated the Sherman Act by conspiring and attempting to monopolize the design and construction of nuclear power plants. That summary judgment was predicated on a finding that these individual union electricians were not proper parties to assert the claim.
All plaintiffs challenge the directed verdict issued by the district court in favor of the defendants on the remaining labor claims at the conclusion of plaintiffs' presentation of its case-in-chief. 1 At issue are third-party beneficiary claims of Local 640 and some of its members under an agreement between Bechtel and the IBEW and questions concerning the IBEW International President's (President's) constitutional authority to execute multi-craft agreements without consent of local unions.
Bechtel is a national construction and engineering firm which hires union labor This suit involves the IBEW International's constitution and three contracts: the Amended Specialty Agreement, the Inside Agreement, and the Stabilization Agreement. The Amended Specialty Agreement of 1969 between the IBEW and Bechtel is the successor of a 1958 national agreement. The Amended Specialty Agreement, which is subject to modification "at any time by mutual consent," makes certain terms of local collective bargaining agreements applicable to Bechtel projects undertaken within a local union's jurisdiction.
on a project-by-project basis pursuant to collective bargaining agreements, which historically have been with international, rather than local, unions. The BCTD is comprised of the IBEW and sixteen affiliated national and international construction trade unions, representing over four million workers. The IBEW, an international labor organization and an AFL-CIO affiliate, is comprised of approximately 1500 local unions, including Local 640 of Phoenix, Arizona, and approximately one million individual members.
The local collective bargaining agreement applicable in Local 640's jurisdiction is the 1975-76 Inside Agreement, which sets out wages and other working conditions and requires signatory employers to contribute to Local 640 trust funds. The Inside Agreement was negotiated and entered into by the local chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Although the Amended Specialty Agreement would make the Inside Agreement applicable to Bechtel, Bechtel was not a signatory to the Inside Agreement, and has never negotiated an agreement with Local 640.
The Stabilization Agreement of 1976 is the multi-craft project agreement negotiated by the BCTD on behalf of its affiliates to apply to work done at Palo Verde by various craftsmen. This agreement was signed by Bechtel, the BCTD, and its seventeen affiliates, including the IBEW. The agreement establishes wages, hours, and other working conditions at Palo Verde and declares that the agreement controls over any other conflicting union agreement. The travel and subsistence allowance received by Local 640's members under the Stabilization Agreement was less than they would have received under the Inside Agreement.
Article IV, Sec. 3(12) of the IBEW constitution empowers the President to enter into agreements with other labor organizations, employer associations, or companies doing interstate business to cover the entire IBEW jurisdiction. 2 Article IV, Sec. 3(13) of the IBEW constitution prohibits the President from entering into agreements which affect wages and other employment conditions when existing local agreements cover such employment without giving notice to and receiving consent from the local(s) affected. 3
In 1973, Arizona Public Service Company (APS) awarded the construction contract for Palo Verde to Bechtel contingent upon Bechtel's negotiation of a satisfactory multi-craft project agreement. If no project agreement were signed, APS had the option of awarding the contract to a non-union contractor. 4 The Stabilization Agreement was executed on May 17, 1976. Thereafter Lucas and Bigbey, and electricians from more than 300 IBEW locals worked at Palo Verde.
On June 8, 1976, Local 640 objected to the authority of the International President to execute such an agreement. It then filed a grievance pursuant to the Inside Agreement, and the NECA Joint Conference Committee found Bechtel guilty of violating that agreement. Bechtel did not participate, but instead prosecuted its grievances pursuant to the procedure under the Stabilization Agreement. The joint labor-management arbitral body specified by that agreement determined that the Stabilization Agreement is a valid collective bargaining agreement.
As a result, in 1977 Lucas and Bigbey filed a class action on behalf of all electricians subject to the jurisdiction of Local 640 against Bechtel and BPC. 5 The prior history of this complex litigation is summarized in the Appendix to this opinion. Briefly, Lucas and Bigbey claimed Bechtel and the union defendants violated the antitrust laws by conspiring to restrain trade in the labor market in order to monopolize the power plant construction market. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on this contention, holding that Lucas and Bigbey lacked standing to bring this claim. Local 640 joined Lucas and Bigbey in bringing several claims under section 301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185 (1982), for breach of contract by Bechtel and by the IBEW, and asked damages, declaratory relief, and enforcement of the NECA arbitral award.
Prior to trial, all parties filed cross motions for summary judgment on the labor law claims. Those motions were denied and this matter proceeded to trial. Following presentation of plaintiffs' case-in-chief, which consumed five trial days and included testimony of Lucas, Bigbey, and representatives of Local 640 and Bechtel, both the union defendants and Bechtel moved for a directed verdict. Both motions were granted.
The district court concluded that the IBEW had actual as well as apparent authority to enter into the Stabilization Agreement. Further, the court concluded that the IBEW's interpretation of its constitution as allowing the President to enter into long term multi-craft project agreements was not unreasonable or made in bad faith as a matter of law. The court held that Local 640 had not produced substantial evidence to support its claims. Finally, the district court concluded, as an independent ground to find for Bechtel, that the actions, representations, and past bargaining practices of the IBEW led Bechtel reasonably to believe the IBEW had authority to enter into the Stabilization Agreement and Bechtel justifiably relied on that belief; thus, no reasonable jury could find Bechtel liable.
The district court's judgment on the antitrust claims was based on the lack of standing of the plaintiffs, Lucas and Bigbey. 6 The court held that they could not prove they suffered a direct injury resulting from a lessening of competition in the target area, the market for the design and construction of nuclear power plants. Lucas and Bigbey claim that Ostrofe v. H.S. Crocker Co., 740 F.2d 739 (9th Cir.1984), cert. dismissed, 469 U.S. 1200, 105 S.Ct. 1155, 84 L.Ed.2d 309 (1985), controls and requires us to reverse the summary judgment. Bechtel contends that Associated General Contractors of California, Inc. v. California State Council of Carpenters, 459 U.S. 519, 103 S.Ct. 897, 74 L.Ed.2d 723 (1983), supports the propriety of the summary judgment.
We review summary judgments de novo. Golden v. Faust, 766 F.2d 1339, 1340 (9th Cir.1985). Summary procedures in antitrust litigation should be used sparingly, at least where motive and intent are important factors, Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 473, 82 S.Ct. 486, 491, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962), and the "moving party is subject to a 'particularly rigorous' burden in antitrust cases." Aydin Corp. v. Loral Corp., 718 F.2d 897, 902 (9th Cir.1983) (quoting Mutual Fund Investors, Inc. v. Putnam Management Co., 553 F.2d 620, 624 (9th Cir.1977)). Nevertheless, we will not squander judicial resources by "requiring that anyone who files an antitrust complaint setting forth a valid cause of action...
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