Adelsman v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 13 December 1963
• Docket Number: No. 38865,38865
• Citation: 125 N.W.2d 444,267 Minn. 116
• Parties: Roger ADELSMAN et al., Respondents, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Relator, Frank T. Starkey, Commissioner of Department of Employment Security, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 444

125 N.W.2d 444

267 Minn. 116

Roger ADELSMAN et al., Respondents, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Relator Frank T. Starkey, Commissioner of Department of Employment Security, Respondent.

No. 38865.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Dec. 13, 1963.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Upon proof of facts of eligibility due to unemployment, compensation follows unless there is proof of disqualification.

2. Where disqualification is claimed, the employer has the burden of proving the requisite facts to bring the employee within the statutory deprivation of benefits.

3. To bring an employee within the disqualification of Minn.St. 268.09, subd. 1(6), two essential facts must be established, namely, (1) that the employee has left or partially or totally lost his employment because of a strike or other labor dispute, and, if so, (2) that such strike or other labor dispute is in progress at the establishment in which he is or was employed.

4. Where the findings of the commissioner of the Department of Employment Security that unemployment was not due to a strike or labor dispute are sustained by the evidence, it is unnecessary to determine whether a strike claimed by the employer to have caused the unemployment was within the establishment in which the claimants were employed.

5. Our scope of review in a matter of this kind is limited.

6. The evidence in this case has been examined and it is Held that the findings of the commissioner of the Department of Employment Security that claimants were not unemployed as the result of a strike or labor dispute in progress in the establishment in which they were employed are sufficiently sustained by the evidence.

Dorsey, Owen, Marquart, Windhorst & West, Henry Halladay and John D. Levine, Minneapolis, for relator.

Lindquist, Magnuson & Glennon and Richard E. Wetherall, Minneapolis, Peterson, Bell & Converse and Erwin A. Peterson, St. Paul, Walter F. Mondale, Atty. Gen., Joseph A. Coduti, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for respondents.

KNUTSON, Chief Justice.

Certiorari to review a decision of the commissioner of the Department of Employment Security awarding benefits to some 270 employees of relator.

The claim of relator is that all claimants were disqualified from benefits because their unemployment was due to a strike or labor dispute in progress at the establishment in which they were employed within the meaning of Minn.St. 268.09, subd. 1(6).

Many of the findings of the appeal tribunal, which were substantially adopted and affirmed by the commissioner, are not in dispute. So far as they are necessary to an understanding of the issues governing this decision, they will be adopted if unchallenged.

Employer, Northwest Airlines, Inc., is a certificated common carrier of passengers, mail, and cargo by air. Its entire transportation system covers approximately 18,000 route miles and serves about 35 cities in the continental United States and about 7 cities in the Orient and Hawaii. As a common carrier by air, employer is subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Federal Aviation Agency. ¹ The employment relations between employer and its employees are regulated by the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151, and following sections, except § 153, which is not applicable to common carriers by air.

Employer's principal general offices are located in St. Paul, where most of its operations are controlled and directed. The largest base of operations is located at Wold Chamberlain Airfield in Minneapolis.

Flight crews based at employer's main base of operations in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area operate employer's planes over the following main flight routes: From Minneapolis to New York City, then to Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Miami, and return to Minneapolis. From Minneapolis to Milwaukee, then to Chicago, Miami, and return to Minneapolis. From Mineapolis to Seattle and return to Minneapolis.

Employer's second largest base of operations is at Seattle, Washington, where it has its western flight region administrative offices, airplane hangars, maintenance and repair shops, service stations, and other installations. Stationed at the Seattle base are a manager and assistant manager of base operations, personnel supervisor, manager of the western flight region, and other supervisory personnel and employees of various classifications, making up a total of about 800 employees.

Flight crews based at employer's second largest base at Seattle operate employer's airplanes over the following main routes: From Seattle to Chicago, New York, and return to Seattle, bypassing the Twin Cities. From Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska; then to Tokyo, Japan; Taipeh, Formosa; Manila, Philippine Islands; Hongkong, China; Seoul, Korea; and return to Seattle. From Seattle to Honolulu, and return to Seattle. From Seattle to Portland, Oregon, then to Honolulu, and return to Seattle.

The western flight region's jurisdiction with respect to employees whose services are localized extends eastward from Seattle to Billings, Montana. However, its jurisdiction over flight crews based at Seattle continues from Seattle to the destination of the airplanes flown and the return to Seattle.

Employer operates other important airplane bases located in New York City, Chicago, Miami, Portland, Spokane, Anchorage, Tokyo, and Honolulu.

The employer operates airplanes out of its base of operations in New York City over the following main flight routes: From New York City to Minneapolis; then to Edmonton, Canada; Anchorage, Alaska; and return to New York City. From New York City to Chicago, Seattle, Portland, and return to New York City. From New York City to Miami, return to New York City, then to Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, and return to New York City.

In addition to its main flight routes, employer operates planes over various shortdistance, feeder routes to and from stations on the main routes. Employer also operates a number of way stations along its main flight routes, where its long-distance planes stop and pick up passengers, many of whom are brought to such stations by feeder planes from other points. These way stations are staffed by service, maintenance, and ticket sales personnel.

Employer has several collective-bargaining agreements with a number of unions. Agreements representing the flight engineers, instructors, production planners, service engineers, technical manual writers and service analysts, plant protection men, mechanics and related personnel, and supervisors of mechanical personnel, and an agreement covering flight kitchen personnel have been entered with International Association of Machinists, Northwest District Lodge No. 143, referred to as IAM.

It also has collective-bargaining agreements with the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA), representing airline pilots and copilots; with Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO (TWUA), representing airline navigators; with Airline Stewards and Stewardesses Association, International (ALSSAI), representing flight pursers, flight service attendants, and stewardesses; with Air Line Dispatchers Association, representing dispatchers; with Air Line Communication Employees Association, Unaffiliated (ALCEAU), representing airline radio operators and airline teletype operators; with Air Line Agents Association, International (ALAAI), representing Link Trainer operators; with Society of Airline Meteorologists (SALM), representing meteorologists; and with Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, representing clerical, office, fleet, and passenger service employees.

For some time prior to July 1959 employer had been using planes designated as Douglas DC--4, DC--6, DC--7, and Boeing Strato-Cruiser airplanes, all of which are piston-driven, propeller-type aircraft. The DC--4 planes were used on short-range flights, both in the continental United States and in the Orient. The DC--6s and DC--7s were used on long-range, transcontinental and transpacific flights. The Strato-Cruisers were used on long-distance transcontinental flights. In March 1959, employer acquired 5 new Lockheed--188 Turbo-jet Electra planes, and in July 1959 it acquired 5 additional L--188 Electra planes. The L--188 Electras were based at Minneapolis and were used principally on flights to Chicago, New York, Miami, and return to Minneapolis, and on flights from Minneapolis to Seattle and return. In February 1961, employer had 18 L--188 Electra planes. The Electra is a large, fast, long-distance, propeller-type airplane, distinguished from the DC planes by the fact that it is known as a turbo-jet. It is operated by a turbine-type engine.

Prior to the acquisition of the Electra planes, all airplane repair work, including engine overhaul jobs, was performed at employer's own shops and by its own employees.

The appeal tribunal found that on or about March 17, 1960, one of employer's L--188 Electras was lost in an accident and sometime during the latter part of April 1960 employer leased from the Lockheed company 5 of the Boeing Strato-Cruisers which it had previously traded in as part of the payment on the 10 L--188 Electra planes.

On July 1, 1960, employer had in operation the following planes: 12 DC--4s; 23 DC--6s; 17 DC--7s; 5 B--377 Strato-Cruisers; and 9 L--188 Electras, or a total of 66 planes. On May 11, 1960, employer received delivery of the first of its Douglas DC--8 planes, which is a straight jet airplane, and on July 1, August 5, and September 22 it received delivery of 3 additional DC--8 planes, making a total of 4 of such straight jet planes then on hand. These planes were all assigned to employer's base of operations at Seattle and were put in revenue service on July 12, July 29, and August 31, 1960. The plane received on September 22, 1960, was first given the necessary shakedown cruises and then used temporarily for training flights. The fifth DC--8...