Local No. 218, Bakery and Confectionery Workers Intern. Union of America v. Local No. --, Am. Bakery and Confectionery Workers Intern. Union, AFL-CIO

• Citation: 405 S.W.2d 917
• Decision Date: 11 July 1966
• Docket Number: AFL-CIO,No. 51519,No. 2,51519,2
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
• Parties: LOCAL NO. 218, BAKERY & CONFECTIONERY WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION OF AMERICA et al., Appellants, v. LOCAL NO. _ _, AMERICAN BAKERY & CONFECTIONERY WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION,et al., Respondents

Page 917

405 S.W.2d 917

LOCAL NO. 218, BAKERY & CONFECTIONERY WORKERS INTERNATIONAL

UNION OF AMERICA et al., Appellants, v. LOCAL NO. _ _, AMERICAN BAKERY & CONFECTIONERY WORKERS

INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL-CIO et al., Respondents.

No. 51519.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

July 11, 1966.

Motion for Rehearing or for Transfer to Court En Banc Denied

Sept. 12, 1966.

John J. Manning, Robert S. Fousek, Kansas City, for appellants.

Ben W. Swofford, Phillip L. Waisblum, Kansas City, for respondents, Swofford & Waisblum, Kansas City, of counsel.

STOCKARD, Commissioner.

This case involves the right of a local labor union to retain and keep its property and assets after disaffiliation from an international union.

The Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union of America (hereafter referred to as 'BCW'), while affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (hereafter referred to as 'AFL'), issued a charter to Local 218 in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1955 the AFL and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (hereafter referred to as 'CIO') merged into what is known in abbreviated form as the AFL-CIO. BCW was instrumental in bringing about this merger, but on December 7, 1957, it was expelled from its affiliation with AFL-CIO because of internal corruption and its failure to comply with certain orders of the executive council of the AFL-CIO which had been recommended by the ethical practices committee of that organization. The reasons for and the circumstances of this explusion are set forth in the report of the AFL-CIO ethical practices committee, introduced in evidence as an exhibit, and a rather complete summary may be found in Crocker v. Weil, 227 Or. 260, 361 P.2d 1014. At the same general convention of the AFL-CIO at which BCW was expelled, AFL-CIO chartered a new international union known as the American Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union (hereafter referred to as 'ABC'). On December 28, 1957, at a regular meeting of Local 218, with approximately half of the active members present, the members voted 253 to none (with one and possibly two members who were present not voting) that Local 218 disaffiliate from BCW and that it affiliate with ABC, and that all assets and property of Local 218 held prior to disaffiliation be held and used by Local 218 in its new affiliation. Subsequently, at a meeting in January 1958, this action of disaffiliation from BCW, and affiliation with ABC with transfer of assets and property, was 'ratified' by a vote of 424 to none. On January 12, 1958, this disaffiliated group received a charter from ABC in which it was designated as Local 218. Reference hereafter to the status of this organization after its affiliation with ABC will be to Local 218 ABC. It elected as officers the same persons who held office before the disaffiliation and continued an uninterrupted function as a labor organization. In 1958, after an election, it was certified by the National Labor Relations Board as the collective bargaining representative of the same workers and class of workers in the bakery industry in the greater Kansas City area formerly represented by Local 218 BCW.

After the disaffiliation meeting of December 28, 1957, a group of persons (possibly as many as thirty-two but the status of most of these is challenged and their status is questionable) claimed to remain as members of Local 218 BCW, and twelve of them, claiming to represent all the members of Local 218 BCW as a class, brought suit to obtain possession and control of the assets and property of Local 218 BCW which was taken by and placed under the control of Local 218 ABC. We note, however, that it appears that six of these twelve may have been named as plaintiffs without their knowledge and permission. The trial court issued its temporary injunction which prohibited any exercise of control over or use of such assets and property by Local 218 ABC and its members, and also prohibited the disaffiliated group from using the name 'Local No. 218,' and as a result it has since been known as 'Local No. ---, American Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union, AFL-CIO.' At the trial on the merits the temporary injunction was dissolved, and the issues were found in favor of Local 218 ABC and its members.

The record shows that subsequent to the disaffiliation meeting in December 1957, a local union designated at one time as Local 218A, and later as Local 465, purported to merge with Local 218 BCW. While we mention this, we are of the opinion that this fact has no bearing on the merits of the pending controversy.

Local 218, prior to the act of disaffiliation from BCW, accumulated substantial assets, including government bonds with a value in excess of $50,000 and an interest in an office building. There is no contention that these assets were not accumulated by the local union for uses by it had its members, and the constitution of BCW provided that all funds and property of local unions should be held by them in the name of the local. Although appellants present several points in their brief they do not challenge the legality of the disaffiliation meeting or the action of disaffiliation there taken. The critical question on this appeal, and upon which all issues rest, is whether a local union can take with it and retain its property and assets when a majority of its members vote to sever its affiliation with a national organization on the ground the national organization was expelled from a national federation of unions because of internal corruption.

In determining the effect on the property rights of a local union which results from the withdrawal by the local union from its affiliation with a national union, it is essential to determine the legal relation between the national and local unions, and also between the members of the local union. Both craft and industrial unions are generally organized on a national basis, with local unions chartered by the national body on a regional basis, and the national unions are in turn loosely federated into a central body made up of the various autonomous national unions. 31 Am.Jur. Labor § 13. In this case Local 218 BCW was chartered by BCW, and BCW in turn was affiliated first with AFL and later with AFL-CIO. The courts have held almost uniformly that these relationships are contractual in nature and that the contract consists of the articles of agreement of a labor union, whether called a constitution, charter, bylaws or some other name, which the courts will enforce if not immoral or contrary to public policy or applicable law. 31 Am.Jur. Labor §§ 33 and 42; Annotation 23 A.L.R.2d § 3 at page 1214 et seq.; 87 C.J.S. Trade Unions § 11: Junkins v. Local Union No. 6313, Communication Workers of America, 241 Mo.App. 1029, 271 S.W.2d 71; Robinson v. Nick, 235 Mo.App. 461, 136 S.W.2d 374; Farrar v. Messmer, Mo.App., 368 S.W.2d 933; Way v. Patton, 195 Or. 36, 58, 241 P.2d 895, 906; Olson v. Carbonara, 21 Ill.App.2d 69, 157 N.E.2d 273; Liggett v. Koivunen, 227 Minn. 114, 34 N.W.2d 345; Roberts v. Ferguson, La.App., 131 So.2d 323; Fitzgerald v. Abramson, 89 F.Supp. 504. 'The local union is a separate and distinct voluntary association which owes its creation and continued existence to the will of its own members.' Duris v. Iozzi, 6 N.J.Super. 530, 70 A.2d 793, 796; International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers of America, CIO v. Becherer, 142 N.J.Eq. 561, 61 A.2d 16, 20, affirmed 4 N.J.Super. 456, 67 A.2d 900; Harker v. McKissock, 7 N.J. 323, 81 A.2d 480. Dues by the members are not paid directly to the national organization but to the local union which in turn remits out of those dues a per capita tax or assessment to the national organization. The local union could continue its existence and function without any relationship to the national organization. Bozeman v. Fitzmaurice, Ohio App., 107 N.E.2d 627, 629. This was recognized in Farrar v. Messmer, Mo.App., 368 S.W.2d 933, where a union retained its status though not affiliated with a national union and even though it was not the certified bargaining representative for the employees of any employer. National affiliation is a voluntary arrangement, and once established creates a contractual relationship. Harker v. McKissock, supra; 87 C.J.S. Trade Unions § 43.

In this case the constitution of BCW provided, among other things, that 'Should a local union dissolve, secede, or have its charter revoked all its money and property shall revert to the ownership of the International Union * * *,' and that no local can dissolve 'while seven members remain in good standing and desire to retain the charter.' BCW is not a party to this suit, and there is no person who is a party claiming to represent BCW. The parties plaintiff are certain persons, more than seven in number, claiming to be members of Local 218 BCW. There is no contention that the assets and property should 'revert to the ownership' of BCW. Instead, the contention of plaintiffs necessarily is that Local 218 BCW is still in existence, and that those persons who 'disaffiliated' thereby voluntarily withdrew from Local 218 BCW and abandoned their claim to any interest in or right to the assets and property of Local 218 BCW, or as stated by appellants in their brief, the 'seceding members of a labor organization have no right or title to the property of such labor organization, particularly where the contract (constitution) specifically prohibits such members from acquiring title to such properties.'

Respondents admit that the constitution of BCW and the bylaws of Local 218 BCW constituted a contract between BCW and the members of Local 218 BCW, and also between the members of Local 218 BCW. They contend, and the trial court held, that an implied condition of the contract was the continuied affiliation of BCW with AFL and later AFL-CIO, and that the 'expulsion of BCW from AFL-CIO for corruption breached the contract...