Keele v. Union Pac. R. Co.

• Decision Date: 20 February 1948
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 6079.
• Citation: 78 F. Supp. 678
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
• Parties: KEELE et al. v. UNION PAC. R. CO. et al.

78 F. Supp. 678

KEELE et al. v. UNION PAC. R. CO. et al.

Civ. No. 6079.

District Court, S. D. California, Central Division.

February 20, 1948.

David Sokol, of Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiffs.

E. E. Bennett, Edward C. Renwick and Malcolm Davis, all of Los Angeles, Cal., for Union Pac. R. Co.

J. F. T. O'CONNOR, District Judge.

Plaintiffs bring this action under an Act of Congress of the United States of America entitled The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Act of June 25, 1938, see Chap. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, Title 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq., hereinafter called The Act.

The plaintiffs, eleven in number, are all former employees of the defendant, Union Pacific Railroad Company, and were engaged in defendant's oil fields at Wilmington, California, in work and processes necessary to the production of oil and petroleum products for Interstate Commerce.

The plaintiffs allege they worked in excess of the work-weeks established by sec. 7(a) (3) of The Act, and that the defendants failed to pay the compensation for overtime hours in excess of the work-weeks prescribed by the provisions of said section, and claim that plaintiffs are entitled to additional sums equal to the amounts claimed by them as liquidated damages by virtue of the provisions of sec. 16(b) of The Act, and, in addition, claim that they are entitled to be awarded reasonable attorney fees.

It is conceded that the Union Pacific Railroad Company is a common carrier by railroad engaged in transportation of property and freight in Interstate Commerce, and is an employer subject to the provisions of Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. and the defendant contends that it is not subject to the provisions of the Act but is exempt under the provisions of Paragraph II of Paragraph b of sec. 13 of The Act, and upon official rulings of the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor.

The defendant moved to dismiss un-named plaintiffs. The Court extended the time for other employees to join as plaintiffs. No new plaintiffs were made parties. It must be assumed, threfore, that the un-named present employees of the defendant, similarly situated, are satisfied with the terms of the contract. Abram v. San Joaquin Cotton Oil Company, D.C., 46 F.Supp. 969; Department of Justice Bulletin No. 151.

Both parties have filed extensive affidavits setting forth the facts as claimed by each party. In open court both parties stipulated the essential facts necessary to a decision are not in dispute, but both parties object to the conclusions reached by the opposing party; also plaintiffs dispute the hourly wage and computation as contended for by the defendant under the terms of the contract.

Both parties move for a Summary Judgment.

Under Rule 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c, if all of the basic facts are undisputed and the matter is one of interpretation or the reaching of a conclusion by the Court, the Court may grant a motion for Summary Judgment. Heart of America Lumber Company v. Belove, D. C., W.D.Mo., 28 F.Supp. 619; Northland Greyhound Lines v. Amalgamated Association, etc., D.C.D.Minn., 4th Division, 66 F.Supp. 431; Fox v. Johnson & Wimsatt, 75 U.S.App.D.C. 211, 127 F.2d 729, 737.

The plaintiffs were all electricians, and were engaged during the greater part of their time in work and process necessary to the production of crude oil by the defendants. The crude oil produced by the defendant was in an unrefined state and could not be used as fuel in the locomotives of defendant, Union Pacific Railroad Company. The defendant did not own and did not operate refinery facilities. It sold its crude oil to the Richfield Oil Corporation under an arrangement whereby the Richfield Oil Corporation supplied the defendant, in part payment for the crude oil, with large quantities of fuel oil which was consumed by the defendant in its common carrier business. Practically the same officers and employees conduct both the railroad operations and the oil operations of the Union Pacific Company. Without refined oil the oil burning engines of the defendant would be useless. It requires no argument to show the importance and close relationship between oil and the operation of oil burning engines. To say that refined oil could be purchased from other sources does not answer the question. It could be said that, while passenger depots are necessary and essential to the operation of a railroad, they could be leased from other owners rather than owned by the railroad. We must deal with a practical situation. The contract between the defendant and Richfield Oil Corporation, wherein the defendant was assured of an adequate supply of fuel oil, was made a part of the pleadings. Therefore, the question before the Court is whether these employers were exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act under Section 213, subdivision (b), 29 U.S.C.A., which provides: "(b) The provisions of section 207 of this title shall not apply with respect to (1) any employee with respect to whom the Interstate Commerce Commission has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of section 304 of Title 49; or (2) any employee of an employer subject to the provisions of sections 1-27 of Title 49."

If the answer is in the affirmative, the controversy will be at an end and it will be unnecessary to go into other issues raised by the pleadings.

The plaintiffs and defendants entered into a collective bargaining contract dated January 17, 1944.

After conferences lasting many months the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, a labor organization and an unincorporated association, represented all of the electric workers employed in the Maintenance of Way Department of Union Pacific Railroad Company. It was authorized to represent, and to bargain on behalf of, the plaintiffs, under the provisions of the Railroad Labor Act. This labor union was affiliated with System Federation No. 105 which, in turn, was affiliated with the Railroad Employees Department of the American Federation of Labor. The System Federation No. 105 was authorized to bargain on behalf of several classes of "non-operating employees" employed by the defendant, which included plaintiffs, under the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq.

More than 13 years ago a collective bargaining agreement was entered into, between the representatives of plaintiffs and defendant, which provided for the hourly rate, and for increases in the rates, on the basis of 8 hours per day, 6 days per week, and provision also was made for a 9-hour day in the Wilmington oil fields and a guaranteed monthly salary.

Effective August 1, 1937 the plaintiffs and those similarly situated received an increase per hour recommended by the mediation agreement signed at Washington, D. C. on August 5, 1937. Representatives of the principal railroads of the United States including the defendant, and fourteen labor organizations including the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, signed the agreement. The agreement was a culmination of the labor dispute which arose in March 1937. Again, on Sept. 1, 1941, the plaintiffs received an increase in their hourly rate, recommended by the National Mediation Board, expressed in an agreement signed at Chicago, Illinois on Dec. 15, 1941, by the same parties mentioned herein. This agreement was preceded by many conferences between the contracting parties in which the plaintiffs demanded an increase of 30¢ per hour subject to the provision that no employee should receive less than 70¢ per hour. The Emergency Fact-finding Board appointed by the President of the United States made its recommendations, but these were not satisfactory to the labor organizations. An agreement was reached between the contracting parties named herein on January 17, 1944, which provided for additional hourly rate of increase to the plaintiffs. It will serve no useful purpose to point out the many conferences, the several hearings before the various committees and boards, and the refusal of the plaintiffs' representatives to accept the recommendation of the President of the United States. The failure to reach an agreement prior to the collective bargaining agreement of January 17, 1944 culminated in a strike-vote taken by the labor organizations which resulted in a favorable vote for a strike. The strike was set for September 30, 1943. Both the operating and the non-operating employees of the railroads participated in the vote. The crisis had been reached. Hundreds of thousands of men were affected. The President of the United States, in order to avoid the chaos which would follow a strike paralyzing the railroads of the country, on December 27, 1943 ordered the United States Army to take over the railroads of the United States, which was done.

On January 18, 1944, after an agreement had been reached, the President of the United States ordered the Army to return the railroads to private management, which was done. Further raises in pay were agreed upon by the contracting parties after the agreement of January 17, 1944.

It is important to note that all of these conferences, hearings, and agreements were held under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, S-2475, was introduced by Senator Black on May 24, 1937. Section 2(7) defined "employe": "`employe' includes any individual employed * * * but shall not include any person employed in an executive, administrative, supervisory, or professional capacity * * * as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of the board". Thus, all railroad employes were subject to the Act's provisions with the exception of the executive, professional and administrative classes. Hearings before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor brought objection from the railroad industry and from certain railroad brotherhoods, contending that...