LODGE NO. 12, DIST. NO. 37, IAM v. Cameron Iron Works, Inc.

• Decision Date: 12 April 1960
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 11046.
• Citation: 183 F. Supp. 144
• Parties: LODGE NO. 12, DISTRICT NO. 37, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, Plaintiff, v. CAMERON IRON WORKS, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

183 F. Supp. 144

LODGE NO. 12, DISTRICT NO. 37, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, Plaintiff, v. CAMERON IRON WORKS, INC., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 11046.

United States District Court S. D. Texas, Houston Division.

April 12, 1960.

Dixie & Schulman, Chris Dixie, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff.

Vinson, Elkins, Weems & Searls, Leroy Jeffers, and Fouts, Moore, Williams & Caldwell, Joseph W. Moore, Houston, Tex., for defendant.

INGRAHAM, District Judge.

Suit for violation of a contract between defendant employer and plaintiff labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce, pursuant to Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, Title 29, U.S.C.A. § 185. Plaintiff seeks specific performance of an alleged agreement to arbitrate a grievance arising out of the discharge of certain employees, members of plaintiff, for alleged misconduct in connection with a strike. The case was tried before the court without a jury and is submitted for judgment upon the briefs of the parties.

Plaintiff and defendant are parties to a collective bargaining contract within the purview of the National Labor Relations Act, Title 29 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq. The contract was effective for a two-year period from June 1, 1956, through May 31, 1958, and included a renewal provision. Under the terms of the contract, the right to employ and discharge employees, while vested exclusively in defendant, is subject to certain limitations, one being that a discharge may constitute a "grievance". A "grievance procedure" is specified for any difference arising between defendant and any employee as to the meaning, application or interpretation of the contract; an unsettled grievance may be submitted to arbitration. Article V, Section 2, of the contract states:

"The Board of Arbitration shall render a decision within fifteen (15) days from the date the hearing is completed. The terms and conditions of the settlement shall be within the sole discretion of the Board and the decision of a majority of the Board shall be final and binding on the parties; provided, however, the Board shall have no authority to violate, contravene, disregard or supplement the terms of this agreement."

The contract contains a "wage reopening clause" which states that the question of wages can be reopened by either party once a year upon giving thirty days' written notice to the other, and if no agreement is reached within sixty days after the notice, any strike limitation on plaintiff terminates.

Plaintiff reopened the question of wages under the "wage reopening clause" and, after reaching no agreement, effected a strike on April 29, 1957. The strike ended on June 8, 1957, with a settlement of a three cent per hour wage increase. The settlement agreement was in the form of a letter from defendant accepted by plaintiff. The last paragraph of this letter states:

"Strikers who are lawfully entitled to reinstatement shall be reinstated to their respective jobs as rapidly as an orderly and economic readjustment of plant operations will permit, and in any event in not more than thirty (30) days from the date the strike is discontinued. Reinstatement notices will be mailed to the last known address of striking employees. Employees who do not report for duty, or submit a valid reason for not reporting, within five (5) days after reinstatement notice is mailed shall forfeit any right to reinstatement. These provisions shall not in any way prejudice the right of the company to reduce the working force." (Emphasis supplied.)

Upon termination of the strike fifteen employees, members of plaintiff, were discharged or were refused reinstatement because of "strike misconduct". Plaintiff demanded arbitration of the discharge of or refusal to reinstate the fifteen employees and, upon refusal by defendant, brought this action to compel arbitration under the contract. This court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment on the ground that the arbitration provisions of the contract were in no way applicable to the matter of discharging or refusing to reinstate the fifteen employees released for misconduct during the strike. Plaintiff stated its points on appeal to be the alleged error of the court in granting said motion and in overruling plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, which sought arbitration on the basis of the pleadings and the contract. Our court of appeals reversed and remanded the case, as reported at 257 F.2d 467, 468, certiorari denied 358 U.S. 880, 79 S.Ct. 120, 3 L.Ed.2d 110.

The court of appeals expressly stated that grievances arising from discharges may be arbitrated under specific terms of the contract and also under the general provision that "any difference" arising "between the Company and any employee as to the meaning, application or interpretation of the provisions" of the contract may constitute a grievance and, if not settled, may be arbitrated. It held that the contract was not intended to cover only normal operations free from strike and that the striking employees were in the employ of the company. Citing the preamble as implying "a broader, even an inclusive coverage", the court stated:

"We cannot interpret the contract to say that grievances arising from a discharge of employees for strike misconduct, where the employees were striking under the terms of the contract, would be impliedly excluded from arbitration. Neither did the settlement memorandum impliedly exclude from arbitration any arbitrable matter in the contract. The question of which strikers are `lawfully entitled to reinstatement' must be considered an arbitrable matter rather than left to the unilateral determination of the Company in order to preserve the terms of the contract relating to seniority, retirement, etc., and to carry out its general intent and purpose." (Emphasis supplied.)

Upon remand defendant filed a first amended original answer, alleging that during the negotiations for settlement of the strike leading to the execution of the settlement memorandum plaintiff proposed that the discharge of employees for alleged strike misconduct should be subject to review and adjudication through the grievance and arbitration procedure under Articles IV and V of the contract and that the settlement memorandum should so provide. Defendant contends that it expressly refused to agree to plaintiff's said proposal or to incorporate the proposed provision in the settlement memorandum. It would show that plaintiff and defendant executed the settlement memorandum without any such provision and, accordingly, that under the settlement and intentions of the parties the discharge of...