Chicago River & Indiana R. Co. v. Brotherhood of Rail. T.
Decision Date | 05 March 1956 |
Docket Number | No. 11474.,11474. |
Citation | 229 F.2d 926 |
Parties | The CHICAGO RIVER AND INDIANA RAILROAD COMPANY et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD TRAINMEN et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
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Walter J. Cummings, Jr., Marvin A. Jersild, Chicago, Ill., Kenneth F. Burgess, Wayne M. Hoffman, William K. Bachelder, Chicago, Ill., Sidley, Austin, Burgess & Smith, Chicago, Ill., of counsel, for appellants.
Edward B. Henslee, William C. Wines, Martin K. Henslee, John J. Naughton, Chicago, Ill., for appellees.
Before FINNEGAN, LINDLEY and SCHNACKENBERG, Circuit Judges.
By amended complaint the Chicago River and Indiana Railroad Company1 and 27 other railroads prayed for an injunction to restrain the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen2 from calling a threatened strike against the River Road. Trainmen's counsel state that the purpose of said strike is to settle 21 grievances and claims through collective bargaining rather than by an award of the National Railroad Adjustment Board.3 The district court granted a restraining order which was later dissolved when the court decided that the Norris-LaGuardia act was applicable and, therefore, it lacked jurisdiction to grant the relief sought. It dismissed the cause. The court subsequently granted an injunction pending the determination of this appeal, which was taken from the judgment of dismissal.
The grievances of the employees involved are 19 claims for additional compensation, 1 claim for reinstatement to a higher position, and 1 claim for reinstatement to the employ of the River Road. Each of these claims was presented to the railroad superintendent who handles such cases. Each was appealed to the highest railroad officer designated to handle claims under § 3, First (i) of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 153, First (i), and was denied by him.
The amended complaint charges that this strike would halt the operations of all trains into and out of the Chicago Stockyards, force the River Road to lay off 1,100 employees, who would lose in excess of $12,000 a day in wages, cost the company thousands of dollars a day, and require the embargo of all shipments into and out of the Stockyards, causing irreparable damage to the 27 railroads (the other plaintiffs) and the 600 industries served. The Trainmen's answer alleges that they do not have sufficient information to form a belief as to the truth or falsity of these charges and, therefore, they deny the same. The amended complaint was dismissed without the taking of evidence.
The amended complaint and the answer show that the River Road, on July 15, 1954, submitted to the Board the claims in dispute and the Board has not yet rendered a decision on any of them.
The first contested issue herein, as stated by the Trainmen, is: "Does the Railway Labor Act prohibit a union from striking over claims and grievances, matters which are within the jurisdiction of the National Railroad Adjustment Board?" Plaintiffs say that it is mandatory under the Railway Labor Act that minor disputes4 be adjusted instead of being made the subject of a strike. They contend that such command must be enforced, even though the act itself does not provide enforcement machinery, and that an injunction is appropriate to this end. The Trainmen contend that the Railway Labor Act does not prohibit a union from striking over claims and grievances though such matters are within the jurisdiction of the Board. Their answer avers that the effect of the strike, if successful, would be settlement of said disputes through collective bargaining instead of by award of the Board.
1(a). The Railway Labor Act of 1926, as amended in 1934,5 expressly states its purposes,6 the first of which is "To avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier engaged therein;" and the fifth of which is "to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes growing out of grievances * * *."
The difference between disputes over grievances and disputes concerning the making of collective agreements is traditional in railway labor affairs. It has assumed large importance in the Railway Labor Act of 1934, substantively and procedurally. Elgin, J. & E. R. Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, at page 722, 65 S.Ct. 1282, at page 1289, 89 L.Ed. 1886. As to disputes over grievances, the act contemplates the existence of a collective agreement already concluded or, at any rate, a situation in which no effort is made to bring about a formal change in terms or to create a new one. Such a dispute relates either to the meaning or proper application of a particular provision with reference to a specific situation or to an omitted case. So-called minor disputes, involving grievances, the 1934 act sets apart from major disputes and provides for them very different treatment. The court said, 325 U.S. 724, 65 S.Ct. 1290:
The court then said, 325 U.S. 727, 65 S. Ct. 1291:
The procedure prior to 1934 was in fact and effect nothing more than one for voluntary arbitration. No dispute could be settled unless submitted by agreement of all parties. The Board was created to remove the settlement of grievances from this stagnating process and bring them within a general and inclusive plan of decision. The aim was not to dispense with agreement. It was to add decision where agreement fails and thus to safeguard the public as well as private interests against the harmful effects of the preexisting scheme. Elgin, J. & E. R. Co. v. Burley, supra, 325 U.S. 727, 65 S.Ct. 1292.
At a hearing before a senate committee on the bill for the 1934 amendments, the Railroad Brotherhoods' representative, Mr. Harrison, stated:
"" . 325 U. S. 728, note 24, 65 S.Ct. 1292.
As to major disputes, the act requires the parties to submit to the successive procedures designed to induce agreement. § 5, First (b). But compulsions go only to insure that those procedures are exhausted before resort can be had to self-help. That means, that as to disputes over the formation of collective agreements or efforts to secure or change them, the issue not being whether an existing agreement controls the controversy, the act recognizes the right of employees to strike, but postpones such action until the successive procedures set up by the act have been exhausted. No authority is empowered to decide this dispute, unless the parties agree...
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Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Chicago River Indiana Railroad Company
...applicable and that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant the relief requested. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed. 229 F.2d 926. A permanent injunc- tion was accordingly entered by the District Court and affirmed by the Seventh Circuit. We granted certiorari in order to......
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...Railway Labor Act issuance of the Injunction was right and proper. In this connection we refer to Chicago River & Indiana Railroad Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, 7 Cir., 229 F.2d 926. Here the dispute was over 19 pay claims and 2 claims for reinstatement. The parties conceded the ......