Long Island R. Co. v. National Mediation Bd., 1015
| Decision Date | 25 March 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 1015,D,1015 |
| Citation | 703 F.2d 680 |
| Parties | 113 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2062, 96 Lab.Cas. P 14,167 The LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, et al., Defendants-Appellees. ocket 82-6319. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Lewis B. Kaden, New York City (Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York City, Cheryl L. Pollak, New York City, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.
Angela M. Sousa, Civil Division, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C. (Anthony J. Steinmeyer, Civil Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Edward R. Korman, U.S. Atty., E.D.N.Y., J. Paul McGrath, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ronald M. Etters, Gen. Counsel, National Mediation Bd., Washington, D.C., of counsel), for defendants-appellees, Nat. Mediation Bd.
John J. Sullivan, Washington, D.C., Highsaw & Mahoney, P.C. (Joseph Guerrieri, Jr., William J. Donlon, Rockville, Md., Gen. Counsel, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Mitchell M. Kraus, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Rockville, Md., of counsel), for defendants-appellees, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks.
Before FEINBERG, Chief Judge, and TIMBERS and CARDAMONE, Circuit Judges.
The Long Island Rail Road Company (LIRR) appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Mark A. Costantino, J., granting summary judgment for appellees National Mediation Board (the Board) and Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks (BRAC). This suit stems from the Board's ruling that two previously non-represented groups of LIRR employees were eligible for inclusion in already existing bargaining units of LIRR employees.
In June 1980, BRAC petitioned the Board to determine whether certain unrepresented administrative employees could be accreted to an already existing bargaining unit represented by BRAC. Shortly before the scheduled conclusion of the accretion election, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) objected to the election on the ground that some of these unrepresented employees would better fit within an existing BLE unit. The ballots were then impounded. Eight months later, after an investigation, the Board ordered that the disputed employees be excluded from the election because they had a greater community of interests with BLE employees. Shortly before the election ballots were to be counted, however, the United Transportation Union (UTU) objected to the inclusion of certain other employees. The Board dismissed the UTU petition the next business day, and certified BRAC as the bargaining representative following a close representation vote.
Meanwhile, also in June 1980, the American Airway & Railway Supervisors Association (ARSA) had petitioned the Board to determine whether certain unrepresented Mechanical Department employees wished to be accreted to an existing ARSA unit. In August 1980, while the ARSA accretion petition was still pending, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) sought to replace ARSA as the bargaining representative for all Mechanical Department employees, not only the previously non-represented ones. The Board dismissed the ARSA accretion petition, and held a representation election for the entire craft, which ARSA won. The Board then certified ARSA as the proper representative of these employees.
On appeal, LIRR claims that the Board certifications are invalid because the Board failed to investigate the disputes, as required by the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. Sec. 152 (1976).
LIRR recognizes that courts may intervene in representation disputes only to correct a constitutional violation or a "gross violation of the statute." British Airways Board v. National Mediation Board, 685 F.2d 52, 55 (2d Cir.1982). But LIRR notes that a failure to investigate a representation dispute may constitute a gross statutory violation. See id. at 56. LIRR claims,...
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