Donovan v. NATIONAL TRANSIENT DIV., ETC., Civ. A. No. 79-2074.
| Citation | 542 F. Supp. 957 |
| Decision Date | 15 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 79-2074. |
| Parties | Raymond J. DONOVAN, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. NATIONAL TRANSIENT DIVISION, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS, IRON SHIP BUILDERS, BLACKSMITHS, FORGERS AND HELPERS, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
Jim J. Marquez, U. S. Atty., Vernon E. Lewis, Asst. U. S. Atty., D. Kan., Kansas City, Kan., for plaintiff.
John J. Blake, Steve A. Bukaty, Joseph W. Moreland, Blake & Uhlig, Kansas City, Kan., for defendants.
This is an action brought by the Secretary of Labor under the Labor-Management Reporting & Disclosure Act, 29 U.S.C. § 401 et seq. hereinafter "LMRDA" for a judgment directing defendant International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, AFL-CIO, CLC hereinafter "International" to insure that defendant National Transient Division hereinafter "NTD" of the International conducts an election of officers under plaintiff's supervision and files and maintains records with the Secretary. A trial to the Court was held on this matter on June 6, 7 and 8, 1982. Following submissions and arguments by the parties, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.
Defendant NTD is one of five divisions of the International as established by the International constitution. Unlike the other four divisions, NTD has no local organizations. Rather, NTD was established for the purpose of giving status to those members who, by the transient nature of their jobs, have no fixed place of employment, and who, thus, are not able to carry membership in a local lodge or participate in its activities.
The NTD is administered by a national director and eight district representatives who report directly to the national director. These officials are appointed by the International president to serve at his pleasure. The district representatives supervise the activities of the NTD in their respective regions nationwide except for those areas covered by the Nine Western States Field Construction Agreement. These officials, together with other NTD members, negotiate a collective bargaining agreement known as the NTD Articles of Agreement for the benefit of the NTD membership. This agreement covers such matters as labor disputes, grievances, hours and other terms or conditions of employment. The NTD Agreement is not a complete collective bargaining agreement in itself, as it relies upon the International and local agreements for wage compensation and other employee benefits.
The NTD consists of approximately eight thousand members, nation-wide, who travel throughout the United States and other countries working on the construction of steel tanks and related structures. NTD members perform highly skilled and specialized boilermaker crafts. Testimony throughout the trial was consistent that these workers are highly-motivated, efficient craftsmen who take pride in their work. Hired and trained directly by the NTD employers, members travel from job to job with their individual employers. Maintaining traveling crews specialized in the industry allows the NTD contractor to accurately predict his costs because he knows the skills and abilities of his employees and he does not have to certify members on each job. At trial, the plea of the contractors was not to change the efficient operation of the union.
On May 31, 1978, some members of NTD protested to the International president about the failure of NTD to elect its own officers. When the International president's response failed to satisfy them, the members appealed their grievance to the International Executive Council. Failing to get a final decision from the International within three months, the complainants filed a complaint with the Labor Department. The Secretary filed this action on March 29, 1979.
The Court has previously ruled upon the matter of jurisdiction in its Memorandum and Order on the motion for summary judgment. Defendants have presented no new arguments in support of their contention that the Court does not have jurisdiction over this action; therefore, the Court finds that jurisdiction is proper.
The issues before the Court are whether defendant NTD is a "labor organization" within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. § 402(i) and (j), and whether it is a local labor organization as used in 29 U.S.C. § 481. Section 402, Title 29, United States Code, provides, in part:
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Donovan v. National Transient Div., Intern. Broth. of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers
...481(e) by failing to ensure that NTD members had the opportunity to nominate and vote for candidates. After trial, the district court, 542 F.Supp. 957, held that NTD is a labor organization within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. Sec. 402(i) and 402(j) and therefore must comply with the reporting a......
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