International Longshoremen's Ass'n, AFL-CIO v. Waterfront Com'n of New York Harbor
| Citation | 642 F.2d 666 |
| Decision Date | 25 February 1981 |
| Docket Number | 321,322 and 323,Nos. 212,213,A,AFL-CI,I,L,D,s. 212 |
| Parties | 106 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2630, 90 Lab.Cas. P 55,288 INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION,tlantic Coast District, ILA,ocal 1233, ILA and Carol Gardner, Plaintiffs-Appellees-Cross-Appellants, and Local 1814, International Longshoremen's Association,ntervening Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross-Appellant, v. The WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR and Robert Abrams, Attorney General of the State of New York, Defendants-Appellants-Cross-Appellees, and New York Shipping Association, Inc. and Metropolitan Marine Maintenance Contractors Association, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. ockets 80-7501, 7571, 7581, 7583 and 7591. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit) |
Gerald P. Lally, New York City (Waterfront Com'n of New York Harbor, New York City, David B. Greenfield, Rosemary Orr and Robert A. Pin, New York City, on brief), for defendant-appellant-cross-appellee Waterfront Com'n of New York Harbor.
Amy Juviler, Asst. Atty. Gen., New York City (Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen., State of N. Y., George D. Zuckerman, Asst. Atty. Gen., New York City, on brief), for intervening-defendant-appellant-cross-appellee, New York State.
Ernest L. Mathews, Jr., New York City (Gleason, Laitman & Mathews, New York City, Thomas W. Gleason and Gary G. Nicolosi, New York City, on brief), for plaintiffs-appellees-cross-appellants, ILA, AFL-CIO, Atlantic Coast Dist., ILA, AFL-CIO and Local 1233, ILA.
Donato Caruso, New York City (Lorenz, Finn, Giardino & Lambos, New York City, C. P. Lambos, New York City, on brief), for defendant-appellee, New York Shipping Ass'n, Inc.
Harkavy, Goldman, Goldman, Caprio & Levy, East Orange, N. J., for plaintiff-appellee-cross-appellant, Carol Gardner.
Schulman, Abarbanel, New York City (Howard Schulman and David Jaffe, New York City, on brief), for intervening plaintiff-appellee-cross-appellant, Local 1814, ILA, AFL-CIO.
Before TIMBERS, VAN GRAAFEILAND and NEWMAN, Circuit Judges.
During 1979, seven officials of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) were convicted of crimes arising out of malfeasance in office. These are appeals from a summary judgment order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Sofaer, J., which upheld in substantial part the provisions of New York State's Waterfront Commission Act designed to eliminate persons convicted of certain criminal acts from positions of authority in labor organizations serving the Port of New York.
The challenged provisions, which are contained in section 8 of Article XIV of the Act, as amended, N.Y.Unconsol.Laws § 9933 (McKinney 1974), provide in substance as follows:
(1) No person convicted of a felony, a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or certain specified crimes shall serve as an officer of a Port Waterfront Union, unless he has been pardoned or has received a certificate of good conduct from the parole board.
(2) No person, including the union, shall knowingly permit such an ineligible person to hold office.
(3) No person shall collect dues within the State for the union if any of its officers, agents, or employees is such an ineligible person.
The district court upheld the first two provisions but invalidated the third. We affirm as to the former, but reverse as to the latter.
The Waterfront Commission Act went into effect on December 1, 1953 following congressional approval of an interstate compact between New York and New Jersey. 67 Stat. 541. 1 Disgruntled waterfront groups launched the first of many attacks against the Act prior to its effective date. See Linehan v. Waterfront Commission, 116 F.Supp. 401 (S.D.N.Y.1953); Linehan v. Waterfront Commission, 116 F.Supp. 683 (S.D.N.Y.1953), aff'd, 347 U.S. 439, 74 S.Ct. 623, 98 L.Ed. 826 (1954); Staten Island Loaders v. Waterfront Commission, 117 F.Supp. 308 (S.D.N.Y.1953), aff'd sub nom. Linehan v. Waterfront Commission, 347 U.S. 439, 74 S.Ct. 623, 98 L.Ed.2d 826 (1954). In Linehan v. Waterfront Commission, supra, 116 F.Supp. 683, a three-judge court upheld the constitutionality of Article VIII PP 1-3, N.Y.Unconsol.Laws §§ 9827-29, which requires registration of longshoremen and denies registration to those who have been convicted of certain crimes. Judge Augustus N. Hand, writing for the court, found nothing in the Act that violated the Constitution and found no merit in plaintiff's contention that the Act denied equal protection of the law.
In Staten Island Loaders v. Waterfront Commission, supra, 117 F.Supp. 308, another three-judge court considered the constitutionality of Article VII, N.Y.Unconsol.Laws §§ 9825-26, which prohibits "public loaders" from operating on the New York piers. The court held the prohibition to be a valid exercise of the State's police power, stating that there was no absolute right to engage in a business which conflicted with the public interest. 117 F.Supp. at 310-11. It also rejected plaintiff's argument that the Act encroached upon the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress over maritime matters. Id. at 311. Judge Hand, who once again wrote the opinion, stated that "the registration of longshoremen and stevedores and the prohibition of public loading are matters of local concern in which the need for uniformity throughout the United States does not exist." Id.
In O'Rourke v. Waterfront Commission, 118 F.Supp. 236 (S.D.N.Y.1954), Judge Weinfeld refused to convene a three-judge court to consider the constitutionality of Article V, N.Y.Unconsol.Laws §§ 9812-18, requiring the licensing of pier superintendents and hiring agents and prohibiting the licensing of those who have been convicted of certain crimes. Judge Weinfeld stated that substantially all of the constitutional infirmities advanced by plaintiffs had already been rejected by the Linehan and Staten Island Loaders courts. 118 F.Supp. at 237. He found no merit in plaintiffs' suggestion that the court conduct its own inquiry to ascertain whether there was factual support for the legislation.
In Bradley v. Waterfront Commission, 130 F.Supp. 303 (S.D.N.Y.1955), then District Judge Kaufman refused to convene a three-judge court to consider the constitutionality of Article IX, N.Y.Unconsol.Laws §§ 9834-38, and Article XII, N.Y.Unconsol.Laws §§ 9852-55. Article XII provides for the establishment of "employment information centers", or hiring halls, for longshoremen, and Article IX requires longshoremen to make regular job applications at one of these centers if they wish their names to remain on the longshoremen's employment register. Plaintiffs contended that these provisions deprived them of due process and equal protection and were inconsistent with the Taft-Hartley and Wagner Labor Relations Acts. Judge Kaufman noted that the same arguments had been made in Linehan, supra, 116 F.Supp. 683, Staten Island Loaders, supra, 117 F.Supp. 308, and O'Rourke, supra, 118 F.Supp. 236, and "were roundly rejected". 130 F.Supp. at 308. He held that the provision for employment information centers and the concomitant classification requirements for longshoremen seeking work do not conflict with the rights of employees secured by collective bargaining or their rights to pursue the concerted activities granted them by federal labor legislation. 130 F.Supp. at 312.
In Applegate v. Waterfront Commission, 184 F.Supp. 33, 35 (S.D.N.Y.1960), Judge Ryan rejected plaintiffs' contention that the Act, and specifically section 8, were superseded or preempted by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. §§ 401-531.
As these challenges to the Act were being rejected by the federal courts, waterfront unions were making the same arguments in the New York and New Jersey courts, with a similar lack of success. See International Longshoremen's Association v. Hogan, 3 Misc.2d 893, 156 N.Y.S.2d 512 (1956) (); O'Connor v. Waterfront Commission, 9 Misc.2d 70, 166 N.Y.S.2d 287 (1957) (); DeVeau v. Braisted, 11 Misc.2d 661, 166 N.Y.S.2d 751 (1957), aff'd, 5 App.Div.2d 603, 174 N.Y.S.2d 596 (1958), aff'd, 5 N.Y.2d 236, 183 N.Y.S.2d 793, 157 N.E.2d 165 (1959), aff'd, 363 U.S. 144, 80 S.Ct. 1146, 4 L.Ed.2d 1109 (1960) (); In re Local 824, International Longshoremen's Association v. Waterfront Commission, 16 Misc.2d 632, 182 N.Y.S.2d 481 (1958) (). See also Hazelton v. Murray, supra, 21 N.J. 115, 121 A.2d 1 ().
Despite the uniform tenor of the above holdings, and despite the Supreme Court's opinion in DeVeau v. Braisted, which must be accepted as controlling authority, the district court held the dues-collection proscription of section 8 to be "bizarre" and an unconstitutional deprivation of the First Amendment right of association of waterfront employees. Our reading of DeVeau leads us to a different conclusion.
The incidents giving rise to the DeVeau litigation originated with a subpoena from the office of the defendant Braisted, then district attorney of Richmond County, which was served upon William V. Bradley, ILA president. At a subsequent interview which took place at Braisted's office, Bradley was informed that DeVeau had been convicted of a felony and that, so long as DeVeau was an officer of ILA Local 1346, any person who collected dues on behalf of that local could be convicted of a misdemeanor. 2 As a result of this warning, DeVeau was suspended from his office as secretary-treasurer of Local...
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