Air Line Pilots Ass'n Intern. v. United Air Lines, 85 C 4765.

• Decision Date: 01 August 1985
• Docket Number: No. 85 C 4765.,85 C 4765.
• Citation: 614 F. Supp. 1020
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois
• Parties: AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL, Plaintiff, v. UNITED AIR LINES, INC., Defendant.

614 F. Supp. 1020

AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL, Plaintiff, v. UNITED AIR LINES, INC., Defendant.

No. 85 C 4765.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, E.D.

August 1, 1985.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael E. Abram, Jay P. Levy-Warren, Christopher N. Souris, Cohen, Weiss & Simon, New York City, Harold Katz, Michael B. Erp, Katz, Friedman, Schur & Eagle, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.

Joel H. Kaplan, Valerie J. Hoffman, Gary S. Kaplan, Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, Chicago, Ill., Stephen P. Sawyer, Kathleen K. Intini, N. Morrison Torrey, Robert P. Casey, United Air Lines, Inc., Elk Grove Township, Ill., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM ORDER

BUA, District Judge.

The above-captioned matter came before the Court for trial on the merits of plaintiff's complaint. The Court, having heard testimony June 17 through June 28, 1985, and having reviewed deposition designations, exhibits and memoranda submitted by the parties, does hereby enter the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This action was filed on May 16, 1985 by plaintiff Air Line Pilots Association, International ("ALPA") against defendant United Air Lines, Inc. ("United"). The complaint alleged that United had violated or was about to violate several provisions of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. ?? 151, et seq. ("the RLA"). These allegations related to alleged acts of United during the time that ALPA and United were in the process of collective bargaining negotiations for a new agreement to replace the parties' agreement negotiated in 1981 ("the 1981 Agreement"). The allegations also related to plans which United had announced it intended to carry out if there were a strike by the pilots. On May 17, 1985, at 12:01 a.m. (E.D.T.), United's pilots commenced a strike against United.

2. On May 17, ALPA filed motions for preliminary injunction and for expedited discovery. The Court granted ALPA's discovery motion, also requiring that ALPA submit to expedited discovery by United. The Court scheduled a hearing on ALPA's motion for preliminary injunction for June 10, 1985. Subsequently, the hearing was rescheduled to June 17, 1985.

3. On May 28, 1985, United filed a motion to strike ALPA's claim for injunctive relief. United asserted that ALPA was not entitled to injunctive relief under section 8 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. ? 108, because ALPA had failed to accept the proffer of arbitration by the National Mediation Board ("NMB") on April 16, 1985, after United had rejected the proffer. On June 7, 1985, the Court denied United's motion. See Memorandum Order, June 7, 1985, 610 F.Supp. 243.

4. On June 14, 1985, the United Air Lines Master Executive Council ("UAL-MEC") for the United pilots ratified a tentative agreement that had been reached between the negotiating committees for United and ALPA, thus ending the strike. The back-to-work agreement, which was ratified together with the basic economic agreement, provided in part:

The Association and the Company agree that neither will engage in or condone any activities which might constitute reprisals or recriminations as a result of the ALPA strike. The Company will withdraw all Letters of Charge and all disciplinary actions taken against pilots for strike-related activities and will not take any further action against ALPA or pilots for strike-related activities. ALPA agrees not to level fines or take other disciplinary action against nonstriking pilots. ALPA's claims regarding the "500" pilots, system rebid and salaries for pilots hired as "fleet qualified" will continue to be pursued by ALPA in Federal Court. The parties agree to a plenary trial commencing June 13, 1985. Should there be any appeals both parties will agree to an expedited appeal. The parties will drop all other strike related litigation or arbitration.

Pl.Ex. 43 at ? 14 (emphasis added).

A. The Parties

5. ALPA is an unincorporated labor organization and is the duly certified exclusive collective bargaining representative under the RLA, for the air line pilots employed by United. Stipulation of Uncontested Facts ("Stipulation") at ? 1. Henry A. Duffy is the President of ALPA.

6. Representation of United pilots is controlled by the UAL-MEC which consists of three elected members from each of the nine pilot domiciles. Tr. 1253. Roger Hall is the Chief Executive Officer of UAL-MEC. UAL-MEC's chief negotiator is William C. Brashear, and the Chairman of ALPA's United Pilots Strike Committee is Frederick C. Dubinsky.

7. United is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, having an office and place of business in the Township of Elk Grove, Cook County, Illinois. United is an air carrier as defined in the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended (49 U.S.C. ?? 1301-1542), holding certificates of public convenience and necessity issued pursuant to that Act, under which certificates it operates an airline system for the carriage by air of passengers, property and mail in domestic, overseas and foreign commerce. As such, United is a "carrier" as defined by 45 U.S.C. ? 181, and is subject to the provisions thereof. Stipulation at ? 2.

8. United's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Richard J. Ferris and its President is James J. Hartigan. United's chief negotiator is David Pringle, and James Guyette is Chairman of United's Operations Adjustment Task Force. Lloyd W. Barry is Senior Vice President of Flight Operations.

9. United's airline system is the largest domestic carrier in the United States. United serves more than 150 cities in the United States, including Chicago, and approximately 10 cities in 5 foreign countries and territories, and has operating routes extending over approximately 500,000 route miles. United has a fleet of over 300 aircraft owned and leased. Stipulation at ? s 3-4.

10. In its air transport operation, United employs over 48,000 persons. Among these are some 9,000 persons employed in the craft or class of flight attendants represented for the purpose of collective bargaining under the RLA by the Association of Flight Attendants ("AFA") and approximately 15,000 persons employed in various crafts and classes represented by District 141, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ("IAM"). United, AFA and IAM are currently parties to existing collective bargaining agreements. Stipulation at ? 4.

B. Events Preceding the Strike

11. For many years ALPA and United have been parties to successive collective bargaining agreements. The agreement in effect prior to the strike had been in effect since October 1981 and contained the following duration clause:

This Agreement shall continue in full force and effect until October 1, 1983 and shall renew itself without change each succeeding October 1 thereafter, unless written notice of intended change is served in accordance with Section 6, Title I, of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, by either party at least sixty (60) days prior to October 1, 1983 or any year thereafter upon written notice of either party thereto.

Pl.Ex. 1, Section 22 at ? C. The parties later extended the October 1, 1983 date to April 1, 1984 by agreement.

12. On January 30, 1984, United served an opening letter under Section 6 of the RLA upon ALPA. Tr. 948; Def.Ex. 146. In turn, ALPA served its own Section 6 Notice upon United stating its various proposals for modifications to the 1981 Agreement. Tr. 955; Def.Ex. 145. Issues signaled for negotiation included, inter alia, compensation for incumbents, new-hire rates and the method for assigning cockpit seats to pilots. Def.Exs. 145 and 146. These proposals are known as "Section 6 Openers" in that they commenced the process for amendment of the 1981 Agreement provided in Section 6 of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. ? 156.

13. Prior to the Airline Deregulation Act, P.L. 95-504, 92 Stat. 1705, the commercial airline industry was regulated as to its route structure, rates it could charge passengers, and the like. During the regulated era, United (and other trunk carriers) had little economic incentive to seek to contain pilot labor costs.

14. As negotiations progressed during 1984, it became clear to the parties that the most difficult issue before them was United's request that ALPA agree to a new, reduced pay scale to apply to pilots hired during the term of the potential new agreement. This pay scale issue has been referred to as the "new-hire pay scale." United's objective in its negotiations with ALPA was to secure what was, in United's judgment, a "cost competitive" agreement with ALPA. Tr. 442-43. United was concerned that its competitors, especially American Air Lines, benefitted from lower pilot costs. Tr. 946; 1012. Although United made an operating profit of more than $500 million in 1984 (Tr. 508), it had incurred operating losses for the previous five years. Tr. 1015; Def.Ex. 146.

15. In August 1984, mediators from the NMB entered the collective bargaining negotiations. Tr. 962.

1. Task Force Created

16. In the fall of 1984, United began to plan for the possibility of a strike by the pilots. United created a task force to develop a plan to operate in the event of a pilots' strike. The flight operations aspect of the planning was committed to the direction of Captain Lloyd Barry, who had become Senior Vice President of Flight Operations in March 1984. Tr. 234, 299, 380. Barry was assisted by Rakesh Gangwald, a systems analyst who was brought in to aid Barry in developing administrative business processes for flight operations. Tr. 376.

17. United's flight operations strike plan was called the "operations adjustment plan." Pl.Ex. 22; Tr. 301. United was aware that its operations adjustment plan might not create enough pressure to force ALPA to settle on United's terms prior to May 17. United believed that, if a strike took place, the plan would break the...