Airlines Stewards & S. Ass'n, Loc. 550 v. Caribbean Atl. A., Inc.
Decision Date | 08 July 1969 |
Docket Number | No. 7272.,7272. |
Citation | 412 F.2d 289 |
Parties | The AIRLINES STEWARDS AND STEWARDESSES ASSOCIATION, LOCAL 550, TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. CARIBBEAN ATLANTIC AIRLINES, INC., Defendant, Appellant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Juan R. Torruella, Hato Rey, P. R., with whom Wilson F. Colberg, San Juan, P. R., and Pieras & Torruella, Hato Rey, P. R., were on brief, for appellant.
Alan E. Greenfield, Miami, Fla., with whom Sr. Francisco Aponte, Perez, Santurce, P. R., and Kovner, Mannheimer, Greenfield & Cutler, Miami, Fla., were on brief, for appellee.
Before ALDRICH, Chief Judge, McENTEE and COFFIN, Circuit Judges.
This appeal involves a dispute between appellant airline company and appellee union over the assignment of "open time" flights. Such flights occur whenever a regularly-scheduled crew member is absent. These flights are covered by standby stewardesses on a seniority basis pursuant to the provision of paragraph 4.G. of the Flight Stewardesses Scheduling Policy Manual which states that:
The union contends that prior to September 9, 1968, the company offered open time flights on an individual basis. After that date, however, the company began offering open time flights on a group basis, i.e., a stewardess would have to take all the flights in a group or none at all.1
The union, alleging a unilateral change of working conditions, filed a complaint, seeking a temporary restraining order on September 11, 1968. After a hearing, a temporary restraining order and subsequently a permanent injunction were issued by the district court, 294 F.Supp. 630.
The company brings this appeal seeking reversal and vacation of the injunction. The threshold, and primary, question before us is that of the district court's jurisdiction. In order to answer this question we look to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.2
The Railway Labor Act divides disputes into two broad categories — so-called minor disputes over which the National Railroad Adjustment Board has exclusive jurisdiction,3 and "major" disputes which are covered by § 6 of the Act.
The difference between major and minor disputes is easily stated: "* * * `major' disputes relate to the formation of new agreements or modification of existing agreements; `minor' disputes relate to the interpretation or application of existing agreements." Southern Ry. Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire & Eng., 127 U.S.App.D.C. 371, 384 F.2d 323, 327 (1967). See also, Elgin J. & E. Ry. Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, 65 S.Ct. 1282, 89 L.Ed. 1886 (1945).
In the case before us, as in most cases, the court's task is to distinguish between disagreements over the meaning or coverage of the contract, and unilateral attempts to change the contract. In this regard the following discussion by the court in Southern Ry. Co., supra, is instructive:
384 F.2d at 327.
In short, in order for there to be a finding that a dispute is "major", there must be a showing that the company's defense constitutes a "substantial and clearly apparent change." See International Ass'n of Machinists v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 224 F.Supp. 48 (S.D.Fla.1963).
In the present case the company sought to justify its conduct by invoking paragraph 4.G. of the flight scheduling manual, supra, which states that "Such open time flights shall be offered. * * *" Emphasis added. In the company's view the district court's action was tantamount to a rewriting of paragraph 4.G. to read "Each open time flight shall be offered. * * *" Emphasis added.
Based on the literal language of paragraph 4.G. the company's argument is not without merit. But the district court looked to past practice in holding that there...
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...a unilateral amendment to the contract without compliance with RLA procedures. See Airlines Stewards & Stewardesses Ass'n v. Caribbean Atlantic Airlines, Inc., 412 F.2d 289, 291 (1st Cir.1969). 11 The precise language in Carbone which may be considered somewhat misleading is found at 645 F.......
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...the claim that the contract permits the disputed action is not obviously insubstantial, Airline Stewards Association v. Caribbean Atlantic Airlines, Inc., 412 F.2d 289, 291 (1st Cir. 1969); Southern Railway Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen, 127 U.S.App.D.C. 371, 384 F.2d......
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