Meader v. District Lodge No. 4, IUMSWA

• Decision Date: 28 February 1992
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 88-0212 P.
• Citation: 786 F. Supp. 95
• Parties: Lindsey MEADER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DISTRICT LODGE # 4, INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE AND SHIPBUILDING WORKERS OF AMERICA, International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine

786 F. Supp. 95

Lindsey MEADER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DISTRICT LODGE # 4, INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE AND SHIPBUILDING WORKERS OF AMERICA, International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Defendants.

Civ. No. 88-0212 P.

United States District Court, D. Maine.

February 28, 1992.

Aaron D. Krakow, Feinberg, Charnas & Schwartz, Boston, Mass., for plaintiffs.

McTeaghe, Higbee, Libner, MacAdam, Case & Watson, Topsham, Me., for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

LAFFITTE, District Judge, Sitting by Designation.

I. BACKGROUND

The Amended Complaint, following a denial of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, asserts that plaintiffs Lindsey Meader, Harry Williams, Robert Owens, Theodore Bamford, and Ainsley McPhee were disciplined by District Lodge No. 4 Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, AFL-CIO ("IUMSWA").

Plaintiffs brought suit under Sections 101(a)(2) and (4) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), popularly known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(2) and (4), and Section 609 of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 529. Plaintiffs Williams, Owens and Bamford further allege that defendant IUMSWA violated Section 101(a)(5) of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. § 411(a)(5), by failing to give adequate notice of their union trials.

A bench trial was held on August 5 and 6, 1991. The parties having briefed the issues fully, the Court is now ready to rule.

II. FACTS

IUMSWA and its Local 6 have been the exclusive bargaining representative of approximately 6400 production and maintenance employees employed by Bath Iron Works for several years. In the early spring of 1988 the plaintiffs held the following union offices: (1) Lindsey Meader was the elected vice-president and a member of the Local 6 negotiating committee; (2) Harry Williams was an elected shop steward for the welding department and a member of the grievance committee; (3) Robert Owens was an elected shop steward in the pipe fitting department and member of the executive board; (4) Theodore Bamford was an elected shop steward and a member of the executive board; and (5) Ainslee McPhee was the recording secretary and president-elect of Local 6.

Due to a decline in union membership caused by a downturn in the ship building industry, the General Executive Board ("GEB") of IUMSWA decided that in order to survive it had to merge with another national union. Accordingly, in December 1987 a merger agreement was executed between IUMSWA and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO ("IAM"). The merger was to become effective upon ratification at a union convention.

Upon learning at a general membership meeting held in February 1988 of the proposed merger, members of Local 6 requested that IUMSWA hold a rank and file referendum on the merger. Under Article II of the IUMSWA Constitution, each IUMSWA local was entitled to one representative for every 200 members.¹ In October 1988 delegates to the IUMSWA national convention ratified the merger with IAM.

On or about June 13 and 14, 1988 plaintiffs Meader, Williams, Owens and Bamford circulated a petition among the members of Local 6, which reads:

The undersigned employees of Bath Iron Works, due to severe decline in our International Union membership, the need for a strong union affiliation and the unilateral "Plans" by our International staff to force a merger with IAM for their own benefit without a membership vote and in order to preserve our identity as Local 6 hereby authorize the shipbuilders Local 6/UBC to act as our collective bargaining agent in dealing with our employer in regard to wages, hours and other conditions of employment. All previous authorizations made by us are hereby revoked.²

On June 14, 1988, while still vice-president of IUMSWA Local 6, plaintiff Lindsey Meader filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") on behalf of Local 6/United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.³ The petition was accompanied by the signatures of those Local 6 members who had signed Joint Exh. 5. (Stipulated Facts ¶¶ 15 and 16.) The parties do not dispute that the filing of the NLRB petition was for the purpose of holding an NLRB election that could result in the replacement of the incumbent bargaining agent (IUMSWA) and the certification of a new bargaining agent. Nor is there a dispute that plaintiffs Meader, Williams, Owens and Bamford solicited and collected signatures on the NLRB representation petition on behalf of the Carpenters. Plaintiff McPhee, however, did not participate in the solicitation of signatures, although he opposed the merger.

In July 1988 Arthur Batson, President of IUMSWA, filed charges against Meader, Williams, Owens and Bamford. These four plaintiffs were charged with violating 1) their oath of office by soliciting signatures for a rival union, the Carpenters Union; 2) Article I, Section 6 of the IUMSWA constitution and Article VIII, Section 3 of Local 6 bylaws by jeopardizing IUMSWA's right to serve as the joint exclusive bargaining representative together with Local 6 of the maintenance and production employees at Bath Iron Works; 3) Article IV, Section 19 of the IUMSWA constitution and Article VIII, Section 3 of Local 6 Bylaws, requiring IUMSWA to be a party to the Local 6 agreement, and 4) Article IV, Section 21 of the IUMSWA constitution prohibiting a local union from withdrawing from, seceding from, or terminating its affiliation with IUMSWA. Plaintiff Meader was additionally charged with filing the representation petition with the NLRB. The alleged facts underlying the charges against Meader, Williams, Owens and Bamford were the filing by the former of an NLRB representation petition and the soliciting of signatures to file an NLRB representation petition by the latter three.

On July 12, 1988, IUMSWA brought disciplinary charges against plaintiff McPhee alleging violations of 1) his oath of office; 2) Article I, Section 6 and Article IV, Sections 19 and 21 of the IUMSWA constitution, and 3) Article VIII, Section 3 of the local bylaws. The factual predicate for McPhee's charges alleged

"specifically, shile sic serving as an officer of Local No. 6, by your presence and testimony during the Article XX hearing held on July 8, 1988 at the AFL-CIO Building in Washington, D.C., you identified yourself as a supporter of the U.B.C.'s petition for an N.L.R.B. representation election. You are violating the requirement that the National Union shall jointly be the exclusive representative of each member of this Union."

No charges were filed against rank and file members signing the petition for an NLRB election.⁴

The trial of the charges brought against plaintiffs was held before GEB members Lonnie Vick and Joseph Grauman, appointed by Batson pursuant to Article V, Section 2(k) of the IUMSWA Constitution. Article V, Section 2(c) of the IUMSWA Constitution requires that written charges be received at least 14 days prior to the disciplinary hearing. There is no dispute, and the parties are in agreement, that Meader and McPhee received copies of the charges brought against them at least 14 days prior to their disciplinary proceedings. Williams, Owens, and Bamford contend that they did not receive written notice of the charges more than 14 working days prior to trial.

It is undisputed that written charges were sent by certified mail to the five plaintiffs at Local 6 office. By plaintiffs' own admission "by July 4, 1988, still 22 days prior to the commencement of the first of three trials IUMSWA was aware that the plaintiffs had knowledge of certified mail waiting for them at the union office and were making no effort to pick up their mail." Plaintiffs' Post-trial brief at 31. The charges, however, were not mailed to the plaintiffs' residence, but mailed to the union hall because Batson believed that there were delivery problems with rural post office boxes in Maine.⁵

An examination of the record discloses that Williams, Owens and Bamford had knowledge that IUMSWA had mailed them written charges for their activities in soliciting employees' signature. Williams testified that upon receiving a telephone call on June 27 in the shipyard from Lorin Morin, a Local 6 secretary, informing him that he had a certified letter from IUMSWA, he had "a strong clue because Mickey Meader had already been brought up on charges." Tr. 24. Because Williams failed to pick up the letter at the union office the first Thursday in July, secretary Carol Grose attached the certified letter with a paper clip to Williams' pay check. Thereafter Williams picked up his check but left the certified letter. Tr. 265. The Court further finds that subsequently Grose hand-delivered the letter to Williams on July 13, 1988.

Williams' trial was held on July 26 and 27, 1988. Williams did not attend the proceedings, but on the first day of trial he sent a letter asserting that he had not received adequate notice of the trial and that he did not learn about the trial until July 20. After receiving evidence that Williams had solicited signatures on behalf of the Carpenters Union, the Trial Board upheld the charges. Williams was suspended from his elected position as shop steward and executive board member and prohibited from running for union office for three years. Williams appealed his suspension from union office. The appeal was heard by the GEB on October 14, 1988. Williams did not make a personal appearance. The appeal was denied on November 28, 1988.

Plaintiff Owens testified that he knew that the written charges were at the Local 6 office. On June 30 he received a telephone call from Carol Grose notifying him that he had a certified letter from IUMSWA. Secretary Shorete also telephoned Owens concerning the certified letter. Owens responded that he was aware of it but that he was not going to pick it up. Morin also talked to Owens about the letter. Grose and...