Brotherhood of Locomotive Eng. v. National Mediation Bd.

• Decision Date: 26 April 1968
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 2060-66.
• Parties: BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, Plaintiff, v. NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

284 F. Supp. 344

BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, Plaintiff, v. NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 2060-66.

United States District Court District of Columbia.

April 26, 1968.

Barclay D. McMillen, Washington, D. C., Harold A. Ross, Ross & Kraushaar, Cleveland, Ohio, for plaintiff.

Francis M. Shea, Richard T. Conway, David W. Miller, Washington, D. C., James R. Wolfe, Chicago, Ill., for carrier defendants.

Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Rauh & Silard, Isaac N. Groner, Cole & Groner, Washington, D. C., for defendant, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.

Paul A. Sweeney, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for defendant National Mediation Bd.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

SIRICA, District Judge.

On the basis of the pleadings and affidavits on file, the Court hereby makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Each of the defendants Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, Southern Pacific Company, Great Northern Railway Company, Illinois Central Railroad Company, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company, and St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company is a "carrier" as defined in Section 1, subd. First of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 151, subd. First).

2. The plaintiff Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (hereinafter called the "BLE"), and the defendant Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (hereinafter called the "BLF&E") are unincorporated labor organizations which represent certain employees of the carrier defendants and of various other carriers for purposes of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.).

3. The defendant National Mediation Board (hereinafter called the "NMB") is an agency of the federal government which has certain duties, powers, and functions under the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 154).

4. In the railroad industry, the representation of employees by labor organizations is and for many years has been on the basis of crafts or classes of employees.

5. There are and for many years have been two crafts or classes of engine service employees, that is, employees whose basic duties are confined to service in the cabs of locomotives: locomotive engineers and locomotive firemen.

6. The BLE is and for many years has been the duly designated and authorized representative of the craft or class of locomotive engineers on each of the carrier defendants and on most of the other railroads in the United States. On each carrier where that is true, it is undisputed that under the Railway Labor Act the BLE is the exclusive representative of all of the carrier's employees within the craft or class of locomotive engineers and is the only organization authorized to serve upon the carrier under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 156) notices of proposals to change the rates of pay, rules, or working conditions applicable to the craft or class of locomotive engineers, to confer, negotiate, or bargain with the carrier about such proposals, and to enter into agreements with the carrier about the rates of pay, rules, and working conditions applicable to the craft or class of locomotive engineers.

7. The BLF&E is and for many years has been the duly designated and authorized representative of the craft or class of locomotive firemen on each of the carrier defendants and on most of the other railroads in the United States. On each carrier where that is true, it is undisputed that under the Railway Labor Act the BLF&E is the exclusive representative of all of the carrier's employees within the craft or class of locomotive firemen and is the only organization authorized to serve upon the carrier under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 156) notices of proposals to change the rates of pay, rules, or working conditions applicable to the craft or class of locomotive firemen, to confer, negotiate, or bargain with the carrier about such proposals, and to enter into agreements with the carrier about the rates of pay, rules, and working conditions applicable to the craft or class of locomotive firemen.

8. There is no existing separate craft or class of employees, for purposes of the Railway Labor Act, designated or known as "engine service employees" or "locomotive enginemen." The term "engine service employees" is commonly understood in the railroad industry to refer to both locomotive engineers and locomotive firemen.

9. Locomotive engineers generally are needed and used on all locomotives operated by a carrier. Prior to the effectuation of the Award by Arbitration Board No. 282, agreements between the carriers and the BLF&E generally required that a locomotive fireman be used on each locomotive operated by a carrier. That Award, which was issued on November 26, 1963, pursuant to Public Law 88-108 (77 Stat. 132), generally authorized the carriers to eliminate up to ninety percent of locomotive fireman positions on locomotives in freight and yard service.

10. For many years, the carriers' needs for additional locomotive engineers had been met primarily, although not exclusively, by the promotion of qualified locomotive firemen to the craft or class of locomotive engineers. When a locomotive engineer is no longer needed as such, because of fluctuations in the carrier's business or other reasons, he may be demoted, according to his seniority, to the craft or class of locomotive firemen. The collective bargaining agreements between each carrier and the BLE and the collective bargaining agreements between that carrier and the BLF&E contain substantially identical provisions concerning the promotion of qualified locomotive firemen to locomotive engineers and the demotion of unneeded locomotive engineers to locomotive firemen. Those provisions were adopted by the Director General of Railroads in 1919, when the railroads were being operated by the Federal Government, and have been retained, with some modifications, ever since. They do not specify the training required before a locomotive fireman may be qualified for promotion to locomotive engineer or a locomotive engineer may be hired by a carrier.

11. A locomotive fireman who has been promoted to the craft or class of locomotive engineers thereafter is represented by the BLE (except on those few railroads on which the craft or class of locomotive engineers is represented by the BLF&E) for as long as he remains a member of that craft or class; he is no longer represented by the BLF&E and the rates of pay, rules, and working conditions established by the carrier with the BLE, rather than the rates of pay, rules, and working conditions established by the carrier with the BLF&E, are applicable to such individual. When a locomotive engineer has been demoted to the craft or class of locomotive firemen, thereafter he is represented by the BLF &E (except on those few railroads on which locomotive firemen are represented by the BLE) for as long as he remains a member of that craft or class; he is no longer represented by the BLE; and the rates of pay, rules, and working conditions established by the carrier with the BLF&E, rather than the rates of pay, rules and working conditions established by the carrier with the BLE, are applicable to such individual.

12. Prior to the effectuation of the Award by Arbitration Board No. 282 (Finding of Fact 9, above), the needs of the carriers for additional locomotive engineers generally could be fully satisfied through the promotion of qualified locomotive firemen and the hiring of persons otherwise qualified to become locomotive engineers. There was no necessity for a program to train apprentices to become locomotive engineers, and none of the carriers had such a program. As the number of locomotive firemen employed by the carriers, and thus the number of locomotive firemen qualified for promotion to locomotive engineers, has been reduced following effectuation of the Award by Arbitration Board No. 282, the defendant Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company has found it necessary to provide an additional source for obtaining locomotive engineers. Other carrier defendants and other railroads foresee a similar need within the near future.

13. In order to meet its needs for locomotive engineers, the defendant Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company determined it to be necessary, in April 1966, to establish a program for the training of apprentices to become locomotive engineers. On April 28, 1966, that carrier and the BLE entered into an agreement establishing the rate of pay applicable to such apprentices. While the Louisville & Nashville continues to promote qualified and available locomotive firemen to positions as locomotive engineers, part of its need for additional locomotive engineers is now being met by hiring apprentices who have successfully completed the apprentice training program and qualified to become locomotive engineers. The BLE has been recognized by the Louisville & Nashville as the designated and authorized bargaining representative of the apprentices, and the BLF&E has not applied to the NMB for an investigation to determine whether someone other than the BLE should be certified as the designated and authorized representative of such apprentices.

14. The defendant Great Northern Railway Company and the BLE entered into an agreement concerning the future training of apprentices to become locomotive engineers on September 13, 1967. Apart from the Louisville & Nashville and the Great Northern, none of the carrier defendants has yet established a program for training apprentices to become locomotive engineers. In some instances, the establishment of such a program has been delayed by the dispute between the BLE and the BLF&E as to which organization is entitled to represent apprentices training to become locomotive engineers, but some of the carrier defendants and other railroads believe that the establishment of such an apprentice training program within the relatively near...