RAILWAY LABOR EXECUTIVES v. Boston & Maine Corp., Civ. No. 86-0122 P

• Decision Date: 14 July 1986
• Docket Number: 86-0194 P.,Civ. No. 86-0122 P
• Citation: 639 F. Supp. 1092
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine
• Parties: RAILWAY LABOR EXECUTIVES ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, v. BOSTON & MAINE CORPORATION, Delaware & Hudson Railway Company, Maine Central Railroad Company, and Portland Terminal Company, Defendants. The BOSTON & MAINE CORPORATION, Delaware & Hudson Railway Co., Maine Central Railroad Company, and Portland Terminal Company, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Sheetmetal Workers International Association, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgemen & Helpers, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, International Association of Machinists, and International Association of Electrical Workers, Defendants.

639 F. Supp. 1092

RAILWAY LABOR EXECUTIVES ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, v. BOSTON & MAINE CORPORATION, Delaware & Hudson Railway Company, Maine Central Railroad Company, and Portland Terminal Company, Defendants.

The BOSTON & MAINE CORPORATION, Delaware & Hudson Railway Co., Maine Central Railroad Company, and Portland Terminal Company, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Sheetmetal Workers International Association, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgemen & Helpers, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, International Association of Machinists, and International Association of Electrical Workers, Defendants.

Civ. Nos. 86-0122 P, 86-0194 P.

United States District Court, D. Maine.

July 11, 1986.

Memorandum of Decision and Order on Motion for Stay Pending Appeal July 14, 1986.

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Bruce Read, Craig J. Rancourt, Biddeford, Me., John O'B. Clarke, Thomas P. Murphy, Kimberlay A. Madigan, Highsaw & Mahoney, Washington D.C., for plaintiffs.

Ralph J. Moore, Jr., Shea & Gardner, Washington D.C., for co-counsel for Boston & Maine, et al.

Charles S. Einsiedler, Jr., Portland, Me., for Boston & Maine; Del & Hudson; MCRR; PTC.

Warren D. Hutchinson, James E. Howard, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Boston, Mass., Jay S. Blumenkopf, Drummond Woodsum, Portland, Me., for Guilford.

P. Benjamin Zuckerman, Robert J. Keach, David C. Hillman, Verrill & Dana, Mathew L. Caras, Portland, Me., for debtor.

William Black, Portland, Me., trustee.

Stanley Greenberg, Portland, Me., for Creditor's Committee.

John E. O'Keefe, John D. Molloy, Kinga LaChapelle, B & M Corp., Billerica, Mass., Ralph J. Moore, Jr., William F. Sheehan, Richard M. Wyner, Shea & Gardner, Washington D.C., for plaintiffs.

James F. Freely, Jr., Phillip E. Cleary, Boston, Mass., for United Trans. Union.

Gregory Flynn, Boston, Mass., for MBTA.

George Cahill, Cahill Goetsch & DiPersia, P.C., New Haven, Conn., Martha Sossman, Asst. U.S. Atty., John O'B. Clarke, Jr., Thomas P. Murphy, Highsaw & Mahoney, P.C., Washington D.C., Robert T. Naumes, Malone & Naumes, Boston, Mass., for United Trans. Union.

Paul Kelly, Segal Roitman & Coleman, Boston, Mass., for Bros of Loc. Engineers.

GENE CARTER, District Judge.

I. Procedural Background

This is an action arising under the Railway Labor Act (hereinafter "RLA"), 45 U.S.C. §§ 151, et seq. The Plaintiff, Railway Labor Executives' Association (hereinafter "RLEA"), is a voluntary, unincorporated association of the Chief Executive Officers of nineteen standard labor organizations which collectively represent virtually all organized railroad employees in the nation.

The Defendants are common carriers by railroad engaged in interstate commerce. Boston & Maine Corporation (hereinafter "B & M") transports passengers in Massachusetts and Vermont and freight in New York, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut. Delaware & Hudson Railway Company (hereinafter "D & H") transports freight in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. Maine Central Railroad Company (hereinafter "MEC") transports freight in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Portland Terminal Company (hereinafter "PT") provides switching and terminal services in Portland, Maine. MEC, D & H and B & M are owned by Guilford Transportation Industries, Inc. (hereinafter "Guilford"), which is headquartered in North Billerica, Massachusetts. PT is a whollyowned subsidiary of MEC. Together, MEC/PT, D & H and B & M constitute the Guilford Rail System.

This matter is now before the Court for adjudication on the merits of the Plaintiff's claim for a permanent injunction requiring the four carrier Defendants in Civil No. 86-0122-P to restore the status quo of the relationship between each carrier and its contract labor force pursuant to section 10 of the RLA (45 U.S.C. § 160). The labor dispute which underlies this claim arose out of negotiations prior to April 2, 1984, between the Maine Central Railroad Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Portland Terminal Company, (hereinafter "MEC/PT") and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (hereinafter "BMWE").

Action Civil No. 86-0122-P, was commenced by the RLEA on March 24, 1986, in this Court by a Complaint that sought, inter alia, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief protecting the rights of the membership of the unions throughout the Guilford system to honor BMWE picket lines established at the property of any Guilford carrier and to enforce the carrier's obligations under section 2, First of the RLA to exert every reasonable effort to maintain existing agreements. Action Civil No. 86-0194-P was originally commenced by the Guilford carriers in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on April 26, 1986, by a Complaint which sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against the memberships of some eleven craft unions barring those memberships from, inter alia, any picketing of or work stoppage against the Guilford carriers "over the carriers' April 21, 1986, notices or the subject matter of those notices."¹ Complaint at 6-7. A Temporary Restraining Order was entered therein by Keeton, D.J., on April 26, 1986, enjoining both parties from implementing any self-help in respect to the April 21, 1986 notices of the carriers. On May 13, 1986, with the consent of the parties, the TRO was extended by Wolf, D.J., until decision on the Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. Judge Wolf filed a Memorandum and Order on May 5, 1986, staying further proceedings in the matter in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts until this Court could decide whether these matters should proceed together in the District of Maine or the District of Massachusetts.

On May 16, 1986, this Court entered its Memorandum of Opinion and Order, denying in Civil No. 86-0122-P the Defendant's motion to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. On the same day, the President issued Executive Order No. 12557, which established Emergency Board No. 209 pursuant to section 10 of the RLA to investigate the controversy between the parties and report to the President concerning the dispute. On May 22, 1986, Judge Wolf entered an Order in Civil No. 86-0194-P (then C.A. No. 86-1327-W on the docket of the Massachusetts Court), transferring that case to this Court for joinder with Civil No. 86-0122-P, pursuant to this Court's Order of May 16, 1986.

This Court endorsed, on May 23, 1986, with the consent of counsel, the Plaintiffs' then pending motions for preliminary injunctive relief as requiring no Court action because they had been rendered moot by the Executive Order creating Emergency Board No. 209. The members of the Board were appointed on that same day, and since that time hearings have been held by the Board which resulted in the issuance on June 20, 1986, of the Report to the President by Emergency Board No. 209. (Defendants' Exhibit 55.) The Temporary Restraining Order entered by Judge Keeton, as extended by the terms of the Consent Order entered by Judge Wolf, expired on June 2, 1986. The cases were consolidated for further proceedings by a Bench Order.

Plaintiffs in the consolidated matters, on May 19, 1986, filed a motion for a new temporary restraining order requiring the Guilford carriers to observe the status quo created by section 10 of the RLA with the issuance of the aforesaid Executive Order. This motion was denied by the Court's Order filed on May 23, 1986. Plaintiff had filed on May 20, 1986, a motion for a preliminary injunction to the same effect and an amendment to the Complaint, seeking a permanent injunction to that effect. After pretrial conferences and discovery, these requests were set for hearing to commence on June 18, 1986. At the commencement of the hearing, the Court granted, over the Defendants' objections, the Plaintiff's motion to amend the Complaint and its motion to advance the trial on the merits of Plaintiff's claim for a permanent injunction and to consolidate that trial with the hearing on the preliminary injunction. The hearing was held in the period June 18-24, 1986. The matter is now properly postured for adjudication of the Plaintiff's claim for a permanent injunction.

II. Findings of Fact

On April 2, 1984, in compliance with section 6 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. § 156), the BMWE served notice on MEC/PT of its desire to accomplish changes in numerous provisions of the existing collective bargaining agreements. For purposes of section 10, this is when the "dispute" arose. In negotiations leading up to this notice BMWE attempted to obtain a protective-type agreement to stanch the massive furlough practices of MEC/PT in respect to maintenance of way employees. Tr., Vol. 2, at 2.² In 1981-82 there were 350 to 400 maintenance of way employees during the carrier's peak seasonal period. By October 1985 the size of that work force was 120 to 165. Id. at 2-3. The section 6 notice sought primarily to achieve contract terms that would (1) afford greater job protection for BMWE members than existed under the existing collective bargaining agreement and (2) limit the carrier's right to achieve reductions in the work force of contract labor by future job abolishments.

The parties did not resolve the dispute through negotiations, and on September 19, 1984, the BMWE applied to the National Mediation Board (hereinafter "NMB") for its assistance. Mediation followed, and on September 26, 1985, in accordance with section 5, First (45 U.S.C. § 155, First) of the Railway Labor Act, the NMB proffered arbitration which was declined by BMWE on October 2, 1985. The NMB notified the parties that they were required to...