American Airlines, Inc. v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, Inter.

• Decision Date: 12 December 1958
• Citation: 169 F. Supp. 777
• Parties: AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Plaintiff, v. AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL, an unincorporated association representing the Air Line Pilots in the service of American Airlines, Inc.; Clarence N. Sayen, individually and as President of Air Line Pilots Association, International; Charles C. Spencer, Jr., as Regional Vice President-Region I of The Air Line Pilots Association, International; Paul G. Atkins, individually, as Chairman of the American Airlines Master Executive Council of The Air Line Pilots Association, International, and as a member of Local Executive Council No. 22 of The Air Line Pilots Association, International; Wray A. Gillette and Daniel L. Hawley, individually, as members of the American Airlines Master Executive Council and as members of Local Executive Council No. 22; Richard F. McElhaney and Byron S. Cramblet, individually and as members of Local Executive Council No. 22; and Paul G. Atkins, Wray A. Gillette, Daniel L. Hawley, Richard F. McElhaney and Byron S. Cramblet, as representatives of a class, namely, all of the Air Line Pilots in the service of American Airlines, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

169 F. Supp. 777

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Plaintiff, v. AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL, an unincorporated association representing the Air Line Pilots in the service of American Airlines, Inc.; Clarence N. Sayen, individually and as President of Air Line Pilots Association, International; Charles C. Spencer, Jr., as Regional Vice President-Region I of The Air Line Pilots Association, International; Paul G. Atkins, individually, as Chairman of the American Airlines Master Executive Council of The Air Line Pilots Association, International, and as a member of Local Executive Council No. 22 of The Air Line Pilots Association, International; Wray A. Gillette and Daniel L. Hawley, individually, as members of the American Airlines Master Executive Council and as members of Local Executive Council No. 22; Richard F. McElhaney and Byron S. Cramblet, individually and as members of Local Executive Council No. 22; and Paul G. Atkins, Wray A. Gillette, Daniel L. Hawley, Richard F. McElhaney and Byron S. Cramblet, as representatives of a class, namely, all of the Air Line Pilots in the service of American Airlines, Inc., Defendants.

United States District Court S. D. New York.

December 12, 1958.

Debevoise, Plimpton & McLean, New York City, for plaintiff, Samuel E. Gates, Robert B. von Mehren, Louis H. Kurrelmeyer, New York City, of counsel.

Cohen & Weiss, New York City, for defendants, Henry Weiss, Donald S. Winograd, New York City, of counsel.

FREDERICK van PELT BRYAN, District Judge.

The plaintiff here is a major domestic air line operating nation-wide as a common carrier by air under certificates of the Civil Aeronautics Board. The principal defendant, The Air Line Pilots Association, International, is a labor organization representing all of the air line pilots in plaintiff's service. Also named as defendants are various officers, agents and representatives of the defendant Union, its committees and local, not all of whom have been served.

Plaintiff seeks (1) an injunction restraining the defendant Union and all of its members from striking or causing any strikes or work stoppages against the plaintiff until the provisions of the Railway Labor Act as amended (45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq.)¹ have been fully complied with, and for such additional 30 day cooling-off periods as the Act provides; (2) judgment declaring that the defendants' acts in conditioning any new collective bargaining agreement between plaintiff and its pilots upon the manning of turboprop and jet aircraft at all flight stations by a qualified pilot are illegal and contrary to the requirements of the Railway Labor Act, and that plaintiff is under no obligation to bargain with its pilots as to such subject matter; and (3) judgment in damages against the defendants in the sum of $540,000 alleged to arise from threats made by the defendants to strike against the plaintiff, and for any additional damages which may arise as a result of an actual strike, upon the ground that such strike is illegal and wholly unjustified.

This action was precipitated by a strike call to all the plaintiff's pilots issued by the defendant Union on November 22 which was scheduled to start at 11:59 p. m. on November 25. However, the controversy between the plaintiff Airline and its pilots which led to the strike call is of long standing and commenced in June 1957 shortly prior to the scheduled expiration on August 24, 1957 of a collective bargaining agreement between the parties. Since that time there have been extensive proceedings between the Company and the Union under the Railway Labor Act, including numerous and protracted conferences, mediation by the National Mediation Board, proffer and refusal of arbitration, a report and recommendations by a Presidential Emergency Board. There were further negotiations and steps taken before the Mediation Board subsequent to the report of the Emergency Board. Despite all these efforts no agreement has been reached by the parties.

The controversies involved a new collective bargaining agreement covering rates of pay, rules and working conditions to replace that which expired on August 24, 1957 during the course of the Railway Labor Act proceedings. But the principal bone of contention on which efforts to effect an agreement foundered was the so-called piston-turbine issue. This involved basically the question of whether there should first be agreement on propeller aircraft (referred to as pistons) which the Company was then flying exclusively, and then on turbo-prop and jet aircraft (referred to as turbines) which it was acquiring in the relatively near future, or whether the agreement should include both types of equipment. I will discuss the details of this controversy later.

Plaintiff has moved for a preliminary injunction to restrain the strike of its pilots which was originally called for November 25, 1958, pending the hearing and determination of the action.

On November 24, 1958 the plaintiff applied to me for an order bringing on this motion and temporarily restraining the strike pending the hearing of its motion. Counsel for the defendant Union, having anticipated that such an application would be made, requested an opportunity to be heard thereon. Such opportunity was duly afforded. After argument before me by counsel for the Airlines and counsel for the defendant Union, which lasted several hours, I signed the order temporarily restraining the strike which had been called, until November 28, the return day of the motion for a preliminary injunction. On November 28 the temporary restraining order was extended pending the hearing of the motion, and after two days of argument on December 1 and 2 it was further extended pending the submission of additional affidavits and briefs by the parties and the determination of the motion.

There were substantial and difficult questions posed in the case, some of which were of first impression. Important public interests were involved, and there was manifest danger of irreparable injury and large economic loss both to the traveling public and to the plaintiff. The controversy had persisted for some eighteen months and it did not appear that any measurable harm could result to defendants if the strike were delayed for a short additional period. It was for these reasons that I determined to maintain the status quo pending resolution of questions posed by the motion for a preliminary injunction. See United States v. United Mine Workers of America, 330 U.S. 258, 67 S.Ct. 677, 91 L.Ed. 884.

The plaintiff contends that whereas it has consistently attempted to bargain in good faith with the defendant Union and has followed the steps and procedures required by the Railway Labor Act, the defendant Union has refused to bargain with it in good faith and has not complied with the Act as it was required to do. Plaintiff therefore urges that the strike which was called for November 25, 1958 was illegal, and, indeed, forbidden, under the Railway Labor Act, and that an injunction should issue out of this court restraining such strike until the Union has fully complied with the Act's requirements.

The defendant Union, on the other hand, contends that it has in good faith complied with the provisions of the Act, that it has in fact fully exhausted the procedures and remedies thereunder, and that in view of the deadlock which existed between itself and the plaintiff, the strike which it called was legal and proper. Moreover, it urges that there is nothing in the Railway Labor Act or otherwise which requires employees to refrain from striking while the procedures prescribed by the Act are being followed and that it had the right to strike regardless of whether it had complied with the Act or not. It urges further that in any event, and regardless of the circumstances, this court is without jurisdiction under the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq., to enjoin a peaceful strike.

At the outset of the hearings before me the Union raised certain objections to jurisdiction over its person and certain technical objections to the issuance of the temporary restraining order. These objections were fully dealt with during the course of the lengthy argument before me and were overruled. They do not merit discussion here.

The Union also raised an objection to the maintenance of this action against it in this district on the ground of improper venue and moved to dismiss the complaint on this ground. This question remains to be disposed of before going to the main issues between the parties.

Defendant Union is an unincorporated association with its principal office in Chicago, Illinois. However, it has offices at 60 East 42nd Street, New York. Its regional vice president, Spencer, is in charge of such offices and makes his headquarters there. There are regular employees in the office and the Union's business is regularly transacted there. Meetings of the pilots are held and negotiations are conducted in these offices. Without going into further details it is apparent that the Union is present and doing business in this district and its representatives are acting for employees here. The Union raises no real issue as to this.

The Union contends, however, that, since it is an unincorporated association, venue may properly be laid against it under 28 U.S.C. § 1391 only in the judicial district where it "resides", that the place of such residence is the place where its principal office and place of business is, which is concededly in Chicago, Illinois, and that therefore venue may be properly laid against it only in the District of Illinois and not here.

Jurisdiction here is founded upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337 and 2201, basically because of federal questions affecting commerce arising under the Railway Labor Act.

28 U.S.C. § 1391, dealing with venue generally, provides:

"(b) A civil action wherein jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship may be brought only in the

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