In re Ionosphere Clubs, Inc.

Citation108 BR 901
Decision Date29 November 1989
Docket NumberBankruptcy No. 89 B 10448 (BRL),Adv. No. 89-5532A.,89 B 10449 (BRL)
PartiesIn re IONOSPHERE CLUBS, INC. and Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Debtors. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE WORKERS, AFL-CIO ("IAM"), et al., Defendants.
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Courts. Second Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of New York

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Siff, Rosen & Parker, P.C., New York City (Mark S. Landman, William G. Ballaine, Amy Gallent, of counsel), for plaintiff.

Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C., New York City (Sheldon Engelhard, Larry Cary, Hanan B. Kolko, Ivan D. Smith, of counsel), Guerrieri, Edmond & James, Washington, D.C., for IAM.

Cohen, Weiss and Simon, New York City (Peter Herman, Richard N. Gilberg, of counsel), for ALPA and Henry A. Duffy.

O'Donnell & Schwartz, New York City (Malcolm A. Goldstein, Asher W. Schwartz, of counsel), for TWU, Local 553.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

BURTON R. LIFLAND, Chief Judge.

Based upon the lengthy record as presented at the hearings which were commenced back in March 1989 continuing until April 5, when a settlement agreement was placed on the record, and then recommenced in July, 1989 and concluded on October 4, 1989, the testimony of over 75 witnesses adduced at the hearings which produced approximately 4,000 pages of transcript, and after reviewing hundreds of pages of exhibits, hours of videotapes, the pleadings, the credibility of the witnesses including the numerous witness/members of the general public unaffiliated with the parties to this dispute, the probity of the testimony and based upon all the submissions of the parties; this Court makes the following Findings Of Facts And Conclusions Of Law in accordance with Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (the "Federal Rules") made applicable herein pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 7052.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT
A. THE PARTIES

1. Plaintiff Eastern Air Lines, Inc. ("Eastern") is a major U.S. commercial passenger airline. Eastern employed approximately 30,000 people on March 3, 1989 and served numerous U.S. and foreign cities.

2. Defendant International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO ("IAM") is an unincorporated association organized for the purposes or objectives of a labor organization. Its principal office is located at 1300 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. Defendant IAM is organized in various divisions, has offices in various locations throughout the United States, and does business in the States of New York, Georgia and Florida. Prior to the strike, the IAM was the collective bargaining representative for approximately 9,000 mechanics, ground service personnel, and other employees of Eastern. (Amended Complaint ¶ 3; IAM Amended Answer ¶ 3; April 4 Tr.1 157, 202.)

3. Defendants District Lodge 100 ("District Lodge") and Local Lodge 1018 ("Local Lodge 1018") of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO are unincorporated associations affiliated with the IAM. Their principal places of business are 3026 N.W. 79th Avenue, Miami, Florida, and 2369 Louis Kossuth Avenue, Ronkonkoma, New York, respectively. (Amended Complaint ¶ 4; IAM Amended Answer ¶ 4; August 8 Tr. 1815).

4. Defendant Local Lodge 1690 ("Local Lodge 1690") of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO is an unincorporated association affiliated with the IAM. Its principal place of business is 4362 Thurmond Road, Forest Park, Georgia 30050. (Amended Complaint ¶ 5; IAM Amended Answer ¶ 5; August 8 Tr. 1815.)

5. The following defendants are officers or representatives of defendant IAM: C.E. Bryan, President and General Chairman; Leroy Washington, General Chairman, IAM District 100; Peter Voccola, IAM LaGuardia Airport, Acting Chief Shop Steward; A. James Gaetaniello, President, IAM Local Lodge 1018; Robert D. Taylor, General Chairman, IAM District 100; Charles Pica, General Chairman, IAM District 100; Tom Hall, IAM LaGuardia Airport Shop Steward; Julius Scott, IAM LaGuardia Airport Shop Steward, Bruce Sobczak, IAM LaGuardia Airport Shop Steward; James Dunn, IAM Shop Steward; Edward Santini, IAM LaGuardia Airport Chief Shop Steward; Angel Garcia, IAM LaGuardia Airport Shop Steward; and John Ciglar, IAM LaGuardia Airport Shop Steward. (Amended Complaint ¶ 6, IAM Amended Answer ¶ 6; August 8 Tr. 1815).

6. Defendant Air Line Pilots Association, International ("ALPA") is an unincorporated association organized for the purposes or objectives of a labor organization. Its principal office is located at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Defendant ALPA is organized in various divisions, has offices in various locations throughout the United States and does business in the State of New York. ALPA is the collective bargaining representative for the Eastern pilots. (Amended Complaint ¶ 7; August 8 Tr. 1815.)

7. Defendant ALPA's Master Executive Council ("MEC") for the Eastern pilots is ALPA's agent responsible for conducting labor relations on behalf of the Eastern pilots represented by ALPA. (August 8 Tr. 1915). The Eastern MEC is composed of the 17 representatives from the six Local Executive Councils ("LEC") and a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary-Treasurer. Eastern MEC's principal office is 201 Madeira Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida. (ALPA Answer ¶ 8; August 8 Tr. 1815).

8. Defendant ALPA is further organized into various councils. (ALPA Answer ¶ 9). Eastern's ALPA-represented pilots are organized into seven councils at Eastern's pilot base cities of which the pertinent base cities are Atlanta (Council 7), Miami (Council 18) and New York City (Council 51). Each council is composed of all ALPA-represented Eastern pilots based in that city. Each council elects a LEC, consisting of three representatives, one for each pilot status (i.e., a captain representative, a first officer representative and a second officer representative). (August 8 Tr. 1815.) ALPA has also organized smaller units, called blocks, to facilitate communication with its members (August 23 Tr. 2666, 2673-2674), and the staffing of picket lines. (August 30 Tr. 2965-2966).

9. The national headquarters of ALPA maintains close communications with its councils and offers advice and support to them. The national headquarters, through its national strike committee, instructs its councils on appropriate conduct during a strike (August 15 Tr. 2119), has developed guidelines in the form of a strike manual to govern this behavior (August 15 Tr. 2120; PX 43; ALPA A), receives copies of the daily faxes sent out by the Eastern MEC (August 15 Tr. 2126-2127) and provides supplies necessary to conduct strike activities, such as picket signs. (August 17 Tr. 2430.) The councils, in turn, provide the national headquarters with information on aircraft movement collected by their observers. (August 21 Tr. 2596.)

10. The following defendants presently are or at relevant times were officers or representatives of defendant ALPA; Henry A. Duffy is President of ALPA; John J. Bavis, Jr. was Chairman of Eastern MEC; Daniel J. Vician is Vice-Chairman of Eastern MEC; Raymond H.S. Wright is Secretary/Treasurer of Eastern MEC; Ronald Cole is Chairman of the Media Relations Committee of Eastern MEC; Joseph P. Distel is a member of the ALPA Council 7 LEC; Wright B. George is a member of the ALPA Council 7 LEC; Charles H. Copeland is a member of the ALPA Council 51 LEC; Albert J. Gallo is a member of the ALPA Council 51 LEC; Ricky L. Chapman is a member of the ALPA Council 51 LEC; Robert A. Breslin is a member of the ALPA Council 18 LEC; Bruce F. Cushing is a member of the ALPA Council 18 LEC; and James C. Bost, Jr., is a member of the ALPA Council 18 LEC. (Amended Complaint ¶ 10, ALPA Answer ¶ 10; August 8 Tr. 1815.)

11. Defendant Transport Workers Union of America ("TWU") is an unincorporated association organized for the purposes or objectives of a labor organization. Its principal office is located at 656 Mineola Drive, Miami Springs, Florida 33166. Defendant TWU is organized into various divisions, has offices in various locations throughout the United States, and does business in the State of New York. The TWU is the collective bargaining representative of the Eastern flight attendants. (August 8 Tr. 1915.)

12. Defendant TWU's Local Union 553 ("TWU Local 553") is TWU's agent responsible for conducting labor relations on behalf of Eastern flight attendants represented by the TWU. Local 553 is located throughout the country at Eastern's flight attendants' base cities, of which the pertinent base cities are:

(i) 1001 Virginia Avenue Suite 322C Hapeville, GA 30343 (404) 766-1410 (ii) 80 West End Avenue Room 554 New York, NY 10023 (212) 595-7550

(August 8 Tr. 1815; TWU Answer ¶¶ 3, 4.)

13. The following defendants are officer or representatives of defendant TWU: Mary Jane Barry is President of TWU Local 553; Nancy Currier Tauss is Vice-President of TWU Local 553; Judith A. Coughlin is Secretary/Treasurer of TWU Local 553; Pattie O'Donnell is Chairperson of TWU Local 553, Atlanta Section; Carol Chappell is Vice-Chairperson of TWU Local 553, Atlanta Section; Terry Owen is Secretary of TWU Local 553, Atlanta Section; Carmen Gonzalez is Chairperson of TWU Local 553, New York Section; Michael Stubbins is Vice-Chairperson of TWU Local 553, New York Section; Kathy Ferar is Vice-Chairperson of TWU Local 553, Miami Section and Kit Rafferty is Vice-Chairperson of TWU Local 553, Miami Section. (August 8 Tr. 1815.)

14. Hereafter, the term "IAM Defendants" shall refer to defendants described in ¶¶ 2-5 hereof, the term "ALPA Defendants" shall refer to defendants described in ¶¶ 6-10 hereof, and the term "TWU Defendants" shall refer to defendants described in ¶¶ 11-13 hereof (Collectively, the "Defendants").

B. THE UNDERLYING DISPUTE

15. Eastern and defendant IAM have for many years been parties to collective bargaining...

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