Harrington v. Herman, Civ.A. 00CV11028-RGS.
| Decision Date | 10 April 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 00CV11028-RGS.,Civ.A. 00CV11028-RGS. |
| Citation | 138 F.Supp.2d 232 |
| Parties | Thomas HARRINGTON et al., v. Alexis M. HERMAN, Secretary of Labor, and U.S. Department of Labor |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Michael A. Feinberg, Feinberg, Charnas & Birmingham, Boston, MA, for plaintiffs.
Anita Johnson, United States Attorney's Office, Boston, MA, for Alexis M. Herman, defendant.
Alan Hyde, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, NJ, for Association for Union Democracy Inc, interested party.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
On May 25, 2000, Thomas Harrington, Richard S. Neville, Thomas Fordham, Francis J. Ferguson, John A. Biggins, Mark J. Durkin, and Joseph D. Flemming, III, members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, AFL — CIO (UBCJA), and the New England Regional Council of Carpenters (Regional Council), filed this petition against Alexis M. Herman, in her capacity as Secretary of Labor,1 and the U.S. Department of Labor, seeking judicial review of the Secretary's decision declining to institute legal action against the Regional Council. The petitioners maintain that because the Regional Council is a de facto "local" union, the indirect election of its officers violates Title IV of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 481-483.
On September 21, 1999, petitioners requested that the Secretary seek an order mandating the direct election of Regional Council officers by the secret ballot of the general membership.2 The Regional Council was created in 1996 as the central governing body for UBCJA local unions in New England. Under § 14 of the Regional Council's Bylaws, local unions within its jurisdiction elect one delegate to the Council for every 200 enrolled members. The delegates then elect the officers of the Regional Council who serve four year terms.3
The petitioners argued that while the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 481(d), authorizes an "intermediate" union organization to elect its officers indirectly, the Regional Council does not qualify as an intermediate body because it has usurped virtually all of the powers of its local unions.4 Petitioners point to the fact that the Regional Council negotiates all collective bargaining agreements, employs all union business representatives and organizers,5 sets hiring procedures, approves local stewards, handles union grievances and arbitrations, collects the lion's share of union dues, and manages the union trust funds. Petitioners maintain that the aggrandizement of the Regional Council's powers at the expense of its local unions has transformed the latter into empty shell appendages. Consequently, the Regional Council, in petitioners' view, should be treated as a local union governed by § 481(b), which requires "[e]very local labor organization [to] elect its officers not less often than once every three years by secret ballot among the members in good standing."6
After an investigation, the Secretary, on April 7, 2000, issued a Statement of Reasons rejecting the petitioners' request. Petitioners then filed this case pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §§ 702, 704, seeking review of the Secretary's decision.7 As the Supreme Court made clear in Dunlop v. Bachowski, 421 U.S. 560, 571-573, 95 S.Ct. 1851, 44 L.Ed.2d 377 (1975),8 a district court's power in this regard is very limited.
[S]ince the [LMRDA] relies upon the special knowledge and discretion of the Secretary for the determination of both the probable violation and the probable effect, clearly the reviewing court is not authorized to substitute its judgment for the decision of the Secretary not to bring suit; ... therefore, to enable the reviewing court intelligently to review the Secretary's determination, the Secretary must provide the court and the complaining witness with copies of a statement of reasons supporting his determination.... The necessity that the reviewing court refrain from substitution of its judgment for that of the Secretary thus helps define the permissible scope of review. Except in what must be the rare case, the court's review should be confined to examination of the `reasons' statement, and the determination whether the statement, without more, evinces that the Secretary's decision is so irrational as to constitute the decision arbitrary and capricious. Thus, review may not extend to cognizance or trial of a complaining members challenges to the factual bases for the Secretary's conclusion either that no violations occurred or that they did not affect the outcome of the election. The full trappings of adversary trial-type hearings would be defiant of congressional objectives not to permit individuals to block or delay resolution of post-election disputes, but rather `to settle as quickly as practicable the cloud on the incumbents' titles to office'; and `to protect unions from frivolous litigation and unnecessary interference with their elections.' `If ... the Court concludes ... there is a rational and defensible basis (stated in the reasons statement) for (the Secretary's) determination, then that should be an end of this matter, for it is not the function of the Court to determine whether or not the case should be brought or what its outcome would be.'
The Secretary's Statement of Reasons is as follows.
The complainant, Thomas Harrington, a member in good standing of New England Regional Council of Carpenters [Regional Council], United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, AFL — CIO, filed a timely complaint alleging that the Regional Council fails to elect its officers in compliance with Title IV of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. §§ 482, et seq. (the "Act"). For the following reasons, the complaint is dismissed.
The complainant alleges that since the Regional Council assumed functions traditionally performed by the locals of the Carpenters, The Regional Council is now acting as a "local" labor organization and must therefore directly elect its officers to remain in compliance with section 401(b) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 481(b). Section 401(b) of the Act states, "Every local labor organization shall elect its officers not less often than once every three years by secret ballot among the members in good standing." The Regional Council considers itself an intermediate body, and elects its officers via delegates elected by the members of locals pursuant to section 401(d) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 481(d). Section 401(d) states that, "Officers of intermediate bodies, such as general committees, system boards, joint boards, or joint councils, shall be elected not less often than once every four years by secret ballot among the members in good standing or by labor organization officers representative of such members who have been elected by secret ballot."
The Regional Council was created by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners [International] on July 1, 1996. The bylaws of the Regional Council do appear to invest it with some of the powers and functions the locals traditionally possessed. However, the Department is unable to conclude that for this reason the Regional Council is no longer an intermediate body entitled to elect its officers in accordance with either of the two choices prescribed by Congress for intermediate bodies in section 401(d) of the Act.
Congress' purpose in ordering unions to conduct free and fair periodic elections was "to insure that the officials who wield [power] are responsive to the desires of the men and women whom they represent". S.Rep. No. 187, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. 19-20. In section 401(d) of the Act, Congress indicated that with respect to intermediate bodies the above purpose could be achieved either directly by a secret ballot vote among all of the members of the intermediate body or indirectly by delegates who themselves were elected directly by secret ballot vote among all the members they represent. Furthermore, that same report indicates that Congress recognized that intermediate bodies had varying degrees of governing power. It states, "The bill recognizes that in some unions intermediate bodies exercise responsible governing power and specifies that the members of such bodies as systems boards in the railroad industry be elected by secret ballot of the members of the union or union officers elected by the members by a secret ballot." Id. (emphasis added). Thus, Congress understood that intermediate bodies could exercise "governing power" and still be permitted to elect officers via delegate as long as these delegates were selected by secret ballot. There is no basis in the...
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...of Reasons. Harrington sued under the LMRDA. On motion by the Secretary, the district court dismissed his suit. See Harrington v. Herman, 138 F.Supp.2d 232 (D.Mass. 2001). Because the Statement of Reasons is insufficient to permit meaningful judicial review, we reverse the district court, v......
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...having been remanded by the First Circuit for reconsideration of an earlier decision upholding the Secretary. See Harrington v. Herman, 138 F.Supp.2d 232 (D.Mass.2001).2 As suggested, the first round went badly for the plaintiff and the district court. On May 25, 2000, Thomas Harrington (th......
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Harrington v. Chao
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...having been remanded by the First Circuit for reconsideration of an earlier decision upholding the Secretary. See Harrington v. Herman, 138 F. Supp. 2d 232 (D. Mass. 2001).2 As suggested, the first round went badly for the plaintiff and the district court. On May 25, 2000, Thomas Harrington......