Lord v. LOCAL UNION NO. 2088

• Citation: 481 F. Supp. 419
• Decision Date: 29 November 1979
• Docket Number: No. 79-72-ORL-Civ-Y.,79-72-ORL-Civ-Y.
• Parties: Robert B. LORD, Charles E. Brown, Ralph M. Coletti, J. H. Figgatt, Fred W. Griffis, William C. Hay, Melvin R. Patrick, and A. R. Wagner, Plaintiffs, v. LOCAL UNION NO. 2088, IBEW and RCA International Service Corporation, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

481 F. Supp. 419

Robert B. LORD, Charles E. Brown, Ralph M. Coletti, J. H. Figgatt, Fred W. Griffis, William C. Hay, Melvin R. Patrick, and A. R. Wagner, Plaintiffs, v. LOCAL UNION NO. 2088, IBEW and RCA International Service Corporation, Defendants.

No. 79-72-ORL-Civ-Y.

United States District Court, M. D. Florida, Orlando Division.

November 29, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Christopher A. Detzel, Akerman, Senterfitt & Eidson, Orlando, Fla., and David T. Bryant, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Fairfax, Va., for plaintiffs.

Frank E. Hamilton, III, Hamilton & Douglas, P. A., Tampa, Fla., for defendant Local Union No. 2088.

Peter W. Zinober, Carlton, Fields, Ward, Emmanuel, Smith & Cutler, Tampa, Fla., for defendant RCA Intern. Service Corp.

MEMORANDUM DECISION

GEORGE C. YOUNG, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs, present or former employees of defendant RCA International Service Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "RCA"), have filed this lawsuit against RCA and Local Union No. 2088, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO (hereinafter referred to as "the Union"), under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185, and the federal declaratory judgment statutes, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202. They allege that as of the time of the amended complaint, they were members of a technical and plant clerical bargaining unit covered by a collective bargaining contract negotiated between RCA and the Union, effective September 1, 1978, governing the unit's wages, hours and conditions of employment. Plaintiffs further allege that the Union, as their bargaining representative, on January 16, 1979, entered into a union security agreement with RCA. They complain that this agreement is prohibited by Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution of the State of Florida,¹ as well as Fla.Stat. § 447.03² (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the Florida right-to-work civil laws"). They also allege that the agreement violates Fla. Stat. § 447.14,³ a misdemeanor provision, which incorporates Fla.Stat. § 447.03 by reference (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the Florida right-to-work criminal statutes"). Plaintiffs also seek reimbursement of all monies paid to the Union by plaintiffs pursuant to the agreement.

Defendants deny that the January 16 union security agreement is prohibited by the Florida right-to-work civil laws or the Florida right-to-work criminal statutes, and further assert that these laws are inapplicable in this case because the vast majority of employees in the collective bargaining unit work on the federal enclaves of Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Plaintiffs also claim that the Union breached its duty of fair representation to them by entering into the union security agreement, and that RCA, as a party to the agreement, participated in this breach of duty and is therefore jointly liable for it. This claim is also grounded on Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185.

Following the filing of an amended complaint, the Court entered an Order on May 31, 1979, pursuant to a joint motion and stipulation of all the parties which, inter alia, deferred rulings on the Union's motions to dismiss and to strike, and accepted the schedule for submission of the legal issues herein for determination on cross motions for summary judgment on stipulated facts.

A Joint Stipulation As To Facts, Authenticity of Documents And Agreement With Regard to Applicable Issues of Law was thereupon filed by the parties on July 2, 1979. The Stipulation incorporates certain pertinent documents and expresses the parties' agreement as to their authenticity, as well as to certain applicable issues of law. This Stipulation also expresses the parties' belief that the material facts required for complete and final adjudication of the instant controversy are incorporated into this Stipulation.

This Memorandum Decision will set forth the Court's ruling on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment.

I. The Facts.

The parties have stipulated to the material facts in this controversy. These stipulated facts are set forth in the following paragraphs.

All plaintiffs, with the exception of plaintiff Patrick, are presently employed by RCA. Patrick was employed by RCA until April 1, 1979, when he was transferred to the RCA Service Company. He is now working on the RCA Geodss Contract in Redondo Beach, California.

RCA is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York, New York. It operates and maintains tracking and instrumentation equipment which gather and analyze scientific, engineering and flight test data on the performance of guided missiles launched from Cape Canaveral for research and development purposes. Its employees work at a number of different installations in Brevard County, Florida, including the Kennedy Space Center, the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and Patrick Air Force Base.

The Union was certified by the National Labor Relations Board as bargaining representative for a unit of RCA technical and plant clerical employees on March 26, 1974. Following Board certification the Union and RCA entered into several collective bargaining agreements. The most recent agreement between RCA and the Union concerning the technical and plant clerical employees became effective September 1, 1978.

The recognition clause of the September 1, 1978 agreement, which is set forth as Section 1.01, defines the scope of the bargaining unit. As this clause indicates, the Union represents RCA technical and plant clerical employees at Patrick Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the Kennedy Space Center.⁴

Plaintiffs, Lord, Colletti, Figgatt, Griffis, Hay and Wagner are presently members of the technical and plant clerical bargaining unit. Plaintiff Patrick was a member of this bargaining unit until transferred out of the unit on February 12, 1979. As indicated above, Patrick was later transferred from RCA to another operation of RCA's parent corporation. Plaintiff Brown was a member of this unit until February 16, 1979 when he was transferred out of the unit.

The primary work site of plaintiffs Lord, Colletti, Griffis, Hay and Wagner is Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Plaintiff Figgatt's primary work site is Patrick Air Force Base. Plaintiff Brown worked at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station while employed in the collective bargaining unit. Plaintiff Patrick worked at Patrick Air Force Base while employed in the collective bargaining unit.

As of the date the collective bargaining agreement was amended, January 16, 1979, there were one hundred and forty-seven (147) employees in the technical and plant clerical bargaining unit. Of these employees, fifteen (15) were administratively assigned to and had a primary work situs of the Kennedy Space Center; forty-four (44) were administratively assigned to and had a primary work situs of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; and eighty-eight (88) were administratively assigned to Patrick Air Force Base. Of the eighty-eight (88) employees administratively assigned to Patrick Air Force Base, eighty-six (86) had a primary work situs of Patrick Air Force Base, and two (2) had a primary work situs of the Malibar Test Site near Melbourne, Florida. The parties agree that the Malibar Test Site is not on lands ceded to the United States.

As of January 16, 1979, all fifteen (15) of the technical and plant clerical employees assigned to Kennedy Space Center in the unit were Union members. Thirty-seven (37) of the forty-four (44) employees assigned to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station were Union members. Eighty-three (83) of the eighty-eight (88) employees assigned to Patrick Air Force Base in the bargaining unit were likewise Union members on this date. The total of eighty-three (83) Union members includes the two (2) employees at the Malibar Test Site.

The collective bargaining agreement between the Union and RCA applies to all employees in the bargaining unit, and contains provisions whereby employees may exercise their seniority within contractual seniority groups and be awarded jobs for which they are qualified, without distinction as to whether the job is at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral or Patrick Air Force Base.

On January 16, 1979, RCA and the Union agreed to an amendment to their collective bargaining agreement. This amendment provided as follows:

Section 3.04. UNION SHOP. It shall be a condition of employment that all employees of the Company covered by this Agreement who are members of the Union in good standing on the effective or execution date of this Agreement, whichever is later, shall remain members in good standing and those who are not members on the effective or execution date of this Agreement, whichever is later, shall on the thirty-first (31st) day following the effective or execution date of this Agreement, whichever is later, become and remain members in good standing in the Union. It shall also be a condition of employment that all employees covered by this Agreement and hired on or after its effective or execution date, whichever is later, shall on the thirty-first (31st) day following the beginning of each employment, become and remain members in good standing in the Union.

In negotiating and agreeing to the January 16, 1979 amendment to the collective bargaining agreement, RCA and the Union specifically relied upon the following decisions: Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers, International Union v. Mobil Oil Corp., 426 U.S. 407, 96 S.Ct. 2140, 48 L.Ed.2d 736 (1976); King v. Gemini Food Services, Inc., 562 F.2d 297 (4th Cir. 1977) cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1065, 98 S.Ct. 1242, 55 L.Ed.2d 766 (1978); King v. Gemini Food Services, Inc., 438 F.Supp. 964 (E.D.Va.1976), aff'd, 562 F.2d 297 (4th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1065, 98 S.Ct. 1242, 55 L.Ed.2d 766 (1978); Vincent v. General Dynamics Corp., 427 F.Supp. 786 (N.D.Tex.1977); a...