Henry v. Twichell

• Decision Date: 28 March 1934
• Citation: 286 Mass. 106,189 N.E. 593
• Parties: HENRY et al. v. TWICHELL et al.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

286 Mass. 106

189 N.E. 593

HENRY et al.

v.TWICHELL et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

March 28, 1934.

Appeal from Superior Court, Suffolk County; Weed, Judge.

Suit by Hamilton M. Henry and others against Henry A. Twichell and others.From an interlocutory decree, overruling plaintiffs' objections to and confirming a master's report, and a final decree dismissing the bill, plaintiffs appeal.

Affirmed.A. L. Doggett and E. K. Bragg, both of Boston, for appellants.

T. C. O'Brien and J. E. Keefe, Jr., both of Boston, for appellees.

CROSBY, Justice.

This is a bill in equity, brought by certain members of certain local lodges or divisions, so called, of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers, against the members of the general committee of adjustment on the Boston and Maine system of said brotherhood, and against the Boston and Maine Railroad.The bill seeks to restore to the plaintiff's as engineers certain seniority rights, to which they allege they have been entitled, under an agreement entered into to take effect May 9, 1924, between said brotherhood and the Boston and Maine Railroad system, and under similar prior agreements.These rights, the plaintiffs contend, were impaired by an agreement entered into (as they allege, without authority) by the defendant Twichell, as chairman of said general committee of adjustment, with the Boston and Maine Railroad.The bill seeks, in the alternative, that the members of the general committee of adjustment be ordered to enter a decision on a protest filed in April, 1929, addressed to the general chairman of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers by the plaintiff Henry and two others as a committee of division 335 of said brotherhood.The case was referredto a master to find the facts and report the same to the court, together with such questions of law as any party may request.The plaintiffs filed certain objections to the master's report.An interlocutory decree was entered overruling the objections and confirming the report, and a final decree was entered dismissing the bill with costs.The plaintiffs appealed from both decrees.

The facts found by the master are as follows: For many years agreements relative to the rates of pay and working conditions have existed between the brotherhood of locomotive engineers (which will hereafter be referred to as the brotherhood) and the Boston and Maine system.The principle of awarding positions in the service in the order of seniority has been followed in these agreements.The agreement in force when the subject matter of this suit arose, entitled ‘Rules and Rates of Pay Applicable to Locomotive Engineers,’ which took effect May 9, 1924, and is hereinafter referred to as the schedule of 1924, contains certain provisions relative to seniority.It contains no provision as to the length of time it shall remain in force, and no provision as to its modification.However, there was in force at this time a provision of the Federal labor act relative to making changes in such an agreement.

Before 1925 the Boston and Maine Railroad was divided into several operating divisions, among which were the Portland, the Southern, and the Worcester, Nashua and Portland (hereinafter referred to as the W. N. & P.), each of which comprised a seniority district.The names of the engineers and firemen appeared on rosters in seniority order within their respective divisions, the engineers in the order of their promotion date, so called, which is the seniority date defined in the schedule of 1924.On or about August 15, 1925, the railroad corporation abolished the W. N. & P. division, and merged part of it with the Southern division and part of it with the Portland division.At that time the railroad corporation took up with the chairman of the general committee of adjustment of the brotherhood, and with the chairman of the committee having like duties representing the brotherhood of locomotive firemen and enginemen, the question of changing the seniority districts to correspond with the new operating districts.Following this proposal to merge the seniority districts the chairmen of the firemen's and engineers' committees called their committees together in joint sesion on August 26, 1925.The question immediately arose as to the order of seniority in which, in the event of merger, the W. N. & P. men should be placed on the rosters of the enlarged Southern and Portland divisions, After discussion and a consultation with the grand chief engineer of the brotherhood, a resolution was adopted calling for a vote on the question of merger of the districts on the entering service date basis, and was submitted to the men in the divisions involved.It failed of adoption.Later another ballot was submitted to the engineers of the districts involved for their vote on the question of merger on a promotion date basis.This method of merger also failed.

The railroad corporation on July 26, 1927, by letter to the defendant Twichell, chairman of the engineers' committee, and G. S. Henderson, chairman of the firemen's committee, notified the brotherhoods of engineers and firemen that the seniority districts would be merged to conform to the new Southern and Portland operating divisions to take effect September 1, 1927.As a result of this notice the defendant Twichell called together the general committee of adjustment of the brotherhood and Henderson called together the committee having like duties of the brotherhood of locomotive firemen and enginemen to sit in joint session.At the time of this meeting the constitution, statutes, and standing rules of the brotherhood were those adopted in June, 1924, but a new constitution with statutes and standing rules was adopted at the convention held in June and July, 1927, to take effect October 1, 1927.Section 33 of the 1924 standing rules was modified to read as follows: ‘Sec. 34.(a) No new business will be entertained by a General Committee of Adjustment unless sent under the seal of Divisions interested.(b) The general Committees of Adjustment shall have full power to settle all questions of seniority and rights to runs and jurisdiction of territory that are presented to them, and their decision shall be final unless, on an appeal to the membership, their decision is repealed by a majority vote.’‘(This law is effective July 12th, 1927.)’

The general committee of adjustment is the committee of the brotherhood having power to adjust grievances and make agreements with the railroad upon any railroad corporation system.In the standing rules of 1927 as to its powers are the following: ‘Sec. 36.(a) The right to make and interpret contracts, rules, rates and working conditions for Locomotive Engineers shall be vested in the regularly constituted Committees of the B. of L. E.’‘Sec. 37.Any action taken by a General Chairman or a General Committee of Adjustment on any system shall stand as law for all members and Divisions on said system until repealed by the General Committee, or in accordance with provision for appeals in Section 28, Standing Rules. * * *’ Rulings by the grand chief engineer dated October 10, 1927, as to the powers of such committees are as follows: ‘(8) That all questions affecting seniority rights or jurisdiction of territory belong to the General Committee of Adjustment or General Chairman if between meetings.Section 35, Page 101, Standing Rules. (9)That no protest involving seniority, which has stood without protest for a period of ninety days, can be entertained by the Division, or the General Committee of Adjustment.Statutes of Limitation, Page 103.Standing Rules.’The general committee of adjustment upon the Boston and Maine System is composed of members elected to that committee triennially by the local lodges, called divisions.Meetings of this committee were governed during the time the acts complained of occurred by the following provisions of the standing rules of 1927: ‘Sec. 9.It shall be the duty of the General Committee of Adjustment of each system to meet triennially * * * and adjust the differences of the system, if any exist.At any time between triennial sessions, should a majority of the Divisions on a system instruct the Chairman to convene the General Committee of Adjustment, he shall do so without delay.At all such meetings, as soon as each Division has presented its grievances * * * the Committeemay reduce to an Executive Committee, composed of not to exceed five members of the Board, elected by the Committee.In case of an emergency, the Chairman is empowered to convene the Committee when, in his judgment, it is absolutely necessary.’

The two committees of the engineers and of the firemen met together at Boston on August 23, 1927.The letter of July 26, 1927, from the Boston and Maine Railroad was read, and the committee worked on the plan of merger of seniority districts.Then the two committees (the engineers' committee purporting to act under the paragraph of the standing rules relating to reduction to an executive committee, set forth in paragraph 19 of the master's report) reduced to an augmented executive committee.This augmented executive committee met and adopted a plan which, on October 10, 1927, was sent by the defendant Twichell, as chairman of the general committee of adjustment of the engineers, and G. A. Henderson, as chairman of the like committee of the firemen, to A. H. Slader, assistant to the president of the Boston and Maine Railroad.The plan was adopted by the representatives of the railroad corporation, but conferences led to modifications of the plan which were adopted by the joint augmented committee on November 1, 1927.Soon after this meeting the plan was reduced to writing and a bulletin was sent to all the committeemen, chief engineers and secretaries of all lodges of the brotherhood on the railroad corporation, and on November 26, 1927, a notice was sent to the divisions that the merger between the...