INTERNATIONAL BRO. OF ELECTRICAL WKRS., LOCAL 1186 v. Eli

• Decision Date: 25 November 1969
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 3052.
• Citation: 307 F. Supp. 495
• Parties: INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 1186, Henry K. H. Lee, Charles L. Isaacs, Aaron E. C. Soong, Minoru Kouchi, and Akito Fujikawa, Plaintiffs, v. Walters K. ELI, W. L. Vinson and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii

307 F. Supp. 495

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 1186, Henry K. H. Lee, Charles L. Isaacs, Aaron E. C. Soong, Minoru Kouchi, and Akito Fujikawa, Plaintiffs, v. Walters K. ELI, W. L. Vinson and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Defendants.

Civ. No. 3052.

United States District Court D. Hawaii.

November 25, 1969.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Alvin T. Shim, Benjamin C. Sigal, of Shim, Sigal & Ono, Honolulu, Hawaii, for plaintiffs.

Vernon F. L. Char, of Damon, Shigekane & Char, Honolulu, Hawaii; Eugene Miller, of Brundage, Neyhart, Miller, Ross & Reich, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants.

DECISION ON MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

PENCE, Chief Judge.

Local 1186 (Local) of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (International) has brought this action for a preliminary injunction restraining the defendants from imposing a trusteeship upon Local, suspending its business manager, Akito Fujikawa, and interfering with the affairs of Local, which it was alleged had occurred on September 18, 1969. International Vice-President W. L. Vinson gave to the officers of Local and to Fujikawa, respectively, the following rationale for International's actions:

"The reason for the international charge i. e., trusteeship has been violations of the collective bargaining agreement for electrical workers¹ and refusal to return men to jobs from which they were removed after being instructed to do so. Further, it was deemed necessary to take international charge because of pending litigation against IBEW Local 1186 and members thereof." (Vinson letter of September 30, 1969, to Officers of Local 1186, Exhibit B to defendants' Memorandum in Opposition to the Granting of Preliminary Injunction.)

"* * * Fujikawa is suspended from office for promoting or directing violations of the collective bargaining agreement for electrical workers and refusal to return men to jobs from which they were removed after being instructed to do so. These acts which allegedly took place on or about September 11, 1969 relate to violations of Sections 11 and 13, Article XVII, IBEW Constitution." (Vinson letter of October 1, 1969, to A. Fujikawa, Exhibit E to defendants' Memorandum in Opposition to Granting of Preliminary Injunction.)

The complaint alleges that the suspension of Fujikawa from office is in violation of Section 101(a) (4) of the Landrum-Griffin Act, 29 U.S.C. § 411(a) (4), and that the imposition of the trusteeship upon Local violates sections 302 and 304 of the same Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 462 and 464.

I.

In a prior proceeding this court denied plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order as to the suspension of Fujikawa from office. The court held that the plaintiffs' causes of action concerning the suspension of Fujikawa and the imposition of the trusteeship upon Local were, for the purposes of determining the plaintiffs' right to interlocutory relief, separable. While these two causes of action raise common issues of fact, they raise different issues of law, based as they are upon different statutory provisions.²

The complaint alleges a violation of Fujikawa's rights in the following terms:

"7. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and therefore aver that defendants placed Local 1186 under supervision and suspended Fujikawa, because said plaintiffs were named defendants in an action before this Court entitled Halfhill Electrical Co., Ltd. v. IBEW Local No. 1186, et al., Civil No. 3049 and were actively prosecuting their defense contrary to the wishes and instructions of the defendants * * * in violation of § 101(a) (4) * * * of the Act. * * *"

The Halfhill case charges Local, the Pacific Electrical Contractors Association,³ Fujikawa, and other individuals with a conspiracy to restrain competition in the electrical contracting industry in Hawaii by means of rigging bids, illegally controlling the supply of "material, equipment, and apparatus", and manipulating the labor supply so as to reward those who cooperate with conspiracy and to punish those who oppose it. Of particular interest here is the last of the means by which the alleged conspiracy is furthered. Halfhill alleges that Local and Fujikawa are attempting to "drive Halfhill out of business" by cutting off his labor supply, and that between August 15, 1969 and September 15, 1969 over twenty Halfhill employees quit

"because they were engaged in a conspiracy in restraint of trade * * * and said employee-defendants did not quit of their own free will, but quit because they were instructed to do so by Defendant Fujikawa." Complaint, para. 8.)

It is clear that, if these allegations were true, they would support the charges brought by international against Fujikawa, for the work stoppages alleged in the Halfhill complaint constitute a violation of Article IV of the IBEW-PECA collective bargaining agreement,⁴ and Article XVII of the International Constitution.⁵

Plaintiffs here contend that the suspension of Fujikawa is in violation of § 101(a) (4) of the Landrum-Griffin Act, supra, which provides as follows:

"(4) Protection of the right to sue. — No labor organization shall limit the right of any member thereof to institute an action in any court, or in a proceeding before any administrative agency, irrespective of whether or not the labor organization or its officers are named as defendants or respondents in such action or proceeding, or the right of any member of a labor organization to appear as a witness in any judicial, administrative, or legislative proceeding, or to petition any legislature or to communicate with any legislator * * *."

Assuming the truth of plaintiffs' factual allegations that Fujikawa was suspended because he was named a defendant in the Halfhill case and was actively prosecuting his defense contrary to the wishes and instructions of International, nevertheless this court is not satisfied that, as a matter of law, the plaintiffs have made a prima facie showing that § 101(a) (4) has been violated. This statute is designed to protect the right of union members to sue, regardless of whether or not such a suit is adverse to the interests of the union.

It is clear that the statute protects the union member against reprisals as well as against more formal limits upon his right to sue. N.L.R.B. v. Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, etc., 1968, 391 U.S. 418, 88 S.Ct. 1717, 20 L.Ed.2d 706; Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 v. Burroughs, 9 Cir., 1969, 417 F.2d 370. But plaintiffs here have not referred this court to any authority, nor have they made any substantial attempt to argue that Congress ever intended § 101(a) (4) to apply where, as here, a union member is sued by an employer.

It is not necessary for this court to rule upon that issue for the court remains unconvinced that the relief plaintiff Fujikawa seeks — restoration to his former status as union officer — may properly be granted under the Landrum-Griffin Act. In construing § 101 (a) (5) of the Act, a companion section in "the union member's Bill of Rights", the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that, while this section abrogated the power of an International to impair the rights of union membership, it did not limit the power of an International to suspend or remove a member from union office. Grand Lodge of the International Association of Machinists v. King, 9 Cir., 1961, 335 F.2d 340. The Third Circuit has also held that "`Title 1, Section 101(a) (5) secures safeguards against improper disciplinary action against union members, as members, but not as officers or employees of the union.' (Emphasis supplied.)" Sheridan, supra n. 2, 306 F.2d at 166. It is manifest that here Fujikawa was removed as an officer for his acts as such.

The requested preliminary injunction restraining the suspension of Fujikawa, as business manager of Local, is DENIED.

II.

Anent plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction against the trusteeship, as noted earlier, plaintiffs claim that the imposition of the trusteeship violates §§ 302 and 304(c) of the Landrum-Griffin Act (29 U.S.C. §§ 462 and 464(c)).

Section 464(c) states:

"Presumptions of validity or invalidity of trusteeship

(c) In any proceeding pursuant to this section a trusteeship established by a labor organization in conformity with the procedural requirements of its constitution and bylaws and authorized or ratified after a fair hearing either before the executive board or before such other body as may be provided in accordance with its constitution or bylaws shall be presumed valid for a period of eighteen months from the date of its establishment and shall not be subject to attack during such period except upon clear and convincing proof that the trusteeship was not established or maintained in good faith for a purpose allowable under section 462 of this title. After the expiration of eighteen months the trusteeship shall be presumed invalid in any such proceeding and its discontinuance shall be decreed unless the labor organization shall show by clear and convincing proof that the continuation of the trusteeship is necessary for a purpose allowable under section 462 of this title. In the latter event the court may dismiss the complaint or retain jurisdiction of the cause on such conditions and for such period as it deems appropriate."

The complaint contains the following allegation:

"5. On September 18, 1969, Vinson sent a telegram to Fujikawa * * * advising Fujikawa that Eli had been authorized and directed to take supervision over the affairs of Local 1186 * * * immediately. Said * * * action was taken by the IBEW without giving the plaintiffs a fair hearing, and no such hearing is contemplated."

While § 304(c) of the Act is not mentioned here, the plaintiffs make clear in argument to the court their contention that § 304(c) forbids the imposition of a trusteeship prior to the granting of a fair hearing. The statute however,...