LOCAL 553, TRANSPORT, ETC. v. Eastern Air Lines

• Decision Date: 16 August 1982
• Docket Number: No. CV-82-1504.,CV-82-1504.
• Citation: 544 F. Supp. 1315
• Parties: LOCAL 553, TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, Plaintiff, v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

544 F. Supp. 1315

LOCAL 553, TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, Plaintiff, v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., Defendant.

No. CV-82-1504.

United States District Court, E. D. New York.

August 16, 1982.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, P. C. by Victor Rabinowitz, Katherine Stone, New York City, for plaintiff.

Poletti, Freidin, Prashker, Feldman & Gartner by Herbert Prashker, Stanley Futterman, New York City, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

SIFTON, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Local 553, Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO (the "Union" or "Local 553"), instituted this action on May 28, 1982, alleging that defendant, Eastern Air Lines, Inc. ("Eastern" or the "Company"), has violated certain provisions of the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. (the "RLA"). This dispute arises from Eastern's recent agreement with Braniff Airways, Inc. ("Braniff") to take over Braniff's routes to points in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru (the "Latin American Routes"), and to hire approximately 310 flight attendants employed by Braniff who reside in and are nationals of five of the eight countries serviced by these routes — namely, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, and Peru — for a four-year period.

In its amended complaint the Union asserts that Eastern's employment of the Braniff flight attendants is a breach of section 2(A)(1) of the collective bargaining agreement entered into by Eastern and the Union on February 29, 1980 (the "1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement"). Section 2(A)(1) of that agreement states:

"It is agreed that any and all flying, performed in or for the service of Eastern Air Lines, Inc., will be performed by Flight Attendants whose names appear on the then current Eastern Airlines system seniority list."

The Union further alleges that because the Braniff flight attendants now flying in the service of Eastern are not on the Eastern Air Lines system seniority list, the Company has unilaterally changed the rates of pay, rules, and working conditions of its flight attendants in violation of the status quo provisions of § 6 of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. § 156. Accordingly, says the Union, this is a "major" dispute under the RLA; and the Union is entitled to an injunction to preserve the status quo.

On May 28, 1982, the Union applied to this Court for a preliminary injunction to restore the status quo pending the trial of this action. A hearing on the Union's application for preliminary relief was conducted in May and June 1982. On the basis of the evidence adduced at that hearing, I have determined that the Union is entitled to preliminary relief. The findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which this determination is based are set forth below, as required by Rule 65(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

STANDARDS FOR ISSUANCE OF A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

In general, in order to obtain preliminary injunctive relief in this Circuit, a party must make a showing of (a) irreparable harm and (b) either (1) likelihood of success on the merits or (2) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation and a balance of hardships tipping decidedly toward the party requesting the preliminary injunctive relief. See Jack Kahn Music v. Baldwin Piano & Organ, 604 F.2d 755, 758-59 (2d Cir. 1979).

BACKGROUND

On February 28, 1980, the Union and Eastern entered into the 1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement containing section 2(A)(1) quoted above. As the 1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement had an expiration date of March 31, 1982, in January of 1982 each party served upon the other a notice pursuant to § 6 of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. § 156, to change certain rates of pay, rules, and working conditions set forth in the 1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

On February 10, 1982, the parties exchanged proposed amendments to the 1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement — each party reserving the right to add, delete or amend the proposals during the course of the negotiations. Neither party proposed any changes to section 2(A)(1).

On April 26, 1982, while the parties were still negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement pursuant to § 6 of the RLA, Eastern and Braniff entered into an Interim Operating and Joint Service Agreement (the "Eastern-Braniff Agreement") pursuant to which Eastern proposed to take over Braniff's Latin American Routes. The Eastern-Braniff Agreement provides that Eastern will assume all of Braniff's liabilities, obligations, rights, and responsibilities as employer of all ground and office personnel and flight attendants employed by Braniff in any of the eight Latin American countries referred to above for a period of four years.

On April 27, 1982, the Civil Aeronautics Board ("CAB") approved the Eastern-Braniff Agreement on an interim basis for a 15-month period. The CAB did not condition its approval by requiring any labor protective provisions, but stated that it might decide to do so after further hearings on the matter. A week prior to approving the Eastern-Braniff Agreement, the CAB had refused to approve an agreement between Pan American World Airways, Inc. and Braniff (the "Pam Am-Braniff Agreement"), under which Pan Am would have taken over Braniff's Latin American Routes, because of possible antitrust problems. The Pan Am-Braniff Agreement, entered into on March 17, 1982, provided that Pan Am would not hire the Braniff flight attendants based in Latin America.

The Union first learned that Eastern might take over Braniff's Latin American Routes and employ the Braniff flight attendants on April 22, 1982. Union representatives told Eastern officials that they were opposed to Eastern's plan to hire the Braniff flight attendants. The Union and the Company met several times between April 22 and May 27, at which time the parties attempted to negotiate a settlement of the dispute that had arisen due to Eastern's employment of the Braniff flight attendants. The meetings resulted in no agreement between the parties.

Under the Eastern-Braniff Agreement, Eastern was not to commence flying the Latin American Routes until June 1, 1982. However, Braniff filed for bankruptcy under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Law on May 13, 1982. This resulted in Eastern's commencing actual flight operations over the former Braniff routes on May 14, 1982.

On May 19, 1982, the Union submitted a grievance to the Company, pursuant to §§ 27 and 28 of the 1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement, asserting that Eastern had violated § 2(A)(1) of the agreement by using flight attendants whose names did not appear on the seniority list. The Union demanded that the Company cease using flight attendants not on the seniority list and remunerate flight attendants on the seniority list who would have flown those flights. The grievance was denied by the Company on June 18, 1982. Apparently, that the grievance has now been submitted to a system adjustment board provided for under the 1980 Collective Bargaining Agreement in an effort to secure a resolution.

It appears that Eastern is now flying the Latin American Routes over the Union's continuing objections in accordance with an arrangement which involves Braniff flight attendants flying all the flights between points in Latin America, Union members flying all the new routes between points in the United States, and with Braniff flight attendants and Union members each flying about one-half of the flying between points in the United States and South America.

"MAJOR" OR "MINOR" DISPUTE UNDER THE RLA

Although defendant has raised a myriad of issues in opposition to the request for preliminary relief, the initial question to be resolved is whether there is a likelihood that the Union will succeed at a trial of the merits in establishing that this is a "major" dispute, as that term is used in the case law interpreting the RLA.

The general purpose of the RLA, as passed by Congress in 1926, and as amended in 1934, is to "avoid interruptions to transportation resulting from disputes over rates of pay, rules, or working conditions, to provide peaceful and orderly procedures for the settlement of disputes, and to foster the organization of employees." Rutland Railway Corp. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 307 F.2d 21, 31 (2d Cir. 1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 954, 83 S.Ct. 949, 9 L.Ed.2d 978 (1963). Congress hoped "to encourage the use of the nonjudicial processes of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration for the adjustment of labor disputes." Brotherhood of R. Trainmen v. Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad, 321 U.S. 50, 58, 64 S.Ct. 413, 418, 88 L.Ed. 534 (1944). In 1936, Congress amended the RLA to cover the small, but growing, air transportation industry. 49 Stat. 1189, 45 U.S.C. §§ 181-188. See Int'l Ass'n of Machinists v. Central Airlines, 372 U.S. 682, 685, 83 S.Ct. 956, 958, 10 L.Ed.2d 67 (1963).

The RLA contemplates two types of labor disputes and provides different procedures for handling each. The courts have denominated these disputes "major" and "minor," although these terms — first used in Elgin, Joilet & Eastern Railway Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, 723, 65 S.Ct. 1282, 1289-1290, 89 L.Ed. 1886 (1945) — are not used by the RLA and in fact bear, at times, little relationship to the real dimensions of the matters at issue. See Rutland, supra at 42-43 (Marshall, J. dissenting). In essence, a "minor" dispute is one which involves "a dispute between a carrier or carriers and its or their employees, arising out of grievances or out of interpretation or application of agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions." Section 2, Sixth, of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. § 152, Sixth. Major disputes, on the other hand, involve attempts by either a carrier or a union unilaterally to "change the rates of pay, rules, or working conditions of its employees, as a class, as embodied in" a collective bargaining agreement....