System Federation No. 91 v. Reed
| Decision Date | 13 March 1950 |
| Docket Number | 10931.,No. 10930,10930 |
| Citation | 180 F.2d 991 |
| Parties | SYSTEM FEDERATION NO. 91, RY. EMPLOYES' DEPT., AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR v. REED et al. LOUISVILLE & N. R. CO. v. REED et al. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Richard R. Lyman, Toledo, Ohio, Robert E. Hogan, Louisville, Ky., Clarence M. Mulholland, on brief, for System Federation No. 91, Ry. Employes' Dept., etc., and others.
C. S. Landrum, Lexington, Ky., H. T. Lively, Louisville, Ky., on brief, for Louisville & N. R. Co.
Marshall Eldred, Louisville, Ky., Eli H. Brown, III, on brief, Brown, Greenebaum & Eldred, Louisville, Ky., of counsel, for C. Pierce Reed and Brown & Eldred.
Before SIMONS, ALLEN and McALLISTER, Circuit Judges.
Appellants, a railroad company and a union, appeal from a judgment holding them in contempt of court for violation of an injunction which prohibited them from discriminating against appellees through denying them and the classes represented by them, promotion to preferred jobs and protection of their seniority. The above appeals are from the same judgment, and will be considered as one case.
The following is the background of the present controversy: On July 16, 1945, O. V. Wright and twenty-seven others (not parties to this suit) brought an action against the same railroad and union that are appellants in this case. The allegations of one of the individual employees are characteristic of those made by all. They set forth that he was employed by the railroad as a machinist helper in the machinist craft; that the union was the exclusive bargaining agent and representative of such machinist craft; that he was not a member of the union; that he was demoted from work as an upgraded worker for the reason that he was not a member of the union; that other helpers who were junior to him in point of service were upgraded to perform such work, not because of better qualifications but merely because they were members of the union. He further set forth that he brought the suit on behalf of the class that he represented, namely, all the members of the craft of machinists employed by the railroad, whose rights and privileges had been denied or abridged by the railroad and union, either by separate acts of discrimination or by acts of discrimination in concert between the railroad and union, and for the sole reason that the said employees did not join or retain their membership in the union; and that the employees suffering such discrimination were so numerous as to make it impracticable to bring them all before the court, but that common relief was sought for all.
The complaint then asked for a declaratory judgment decreeing that workers who were not members of the union were entitled to promotion to preferred jobs, or jobs in a higher classification, paying a higher rate of pay, and to proper protection of their seniority based upon their ability, seniority, and willingness to perform their duties, without regard to whether they joined or retained their membership in the union; that the court further decree that the railroad, under the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq., was under the duty to treat fairly, impartially, and without discrimination all of its employees, and to assure all of them the right to promotion to preferred jobs, to proper protection of their seniority, and to receive the benefits of such rights based upon ability, seniority, and willingness to perform, without regard to whether they were members of the union. The complaint asked that an injunction issue against the railroad and the union, perpetually restraining and enjoining them from requiring, as a condition to receiving promotion, protection of seniority, and any and all rights and benefits which might arise out of an individual contract of employment between the railroad and any of its employees, that plaintiff or the classes represented by him join or retain their membership in the union; and perpetually restraining the railroad and union from denying to the said parties promotions, protection of seniority, or benefits of contracts of employment, for the reason that they were not members of the union; and for a judgment awarding plaintiffs, jointly and severally, a judgment in the amount of $5,000.
Thereafter, the union and the railroad consented to the entry of a declaratory judgment and injunction. The judgment declared that the union and the railroad, in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act and the duly adopted bargaining agreements between the railroad and the union, were under the obligation to represent and treat fairly and impartially all members of the craft of machinists without discrimination based on membership or nonmembership in any union, and without regard to whether the employees were members of the union or retained their membership therein. The judgment further set forth that in accordance with the foregoing, the railroad was under a duty to refrain from such discrimination and that the employees of the railroad were entitled to the rights of promotion to preferred jobs and to the proper protection of their seniority, as provided in bargaining agreements between the union and the railroad then in effect or thereafter to be in effect, in accordance with the Railway Labor Act, regardless of any union membership.
Following the foregoing declaratory portion of the judgment, it proceeded to enjoin the railroad and the union from requiring plaintiffs or the classes represented by them to join or retain their membership in the union as a condition to receiving promotion, proper protection of seniority, or any rights or benefits which might arise out of or be in accordance with the regularly adopted bargaining agreements in effect between the railroad and the union, or that might thereafter be in effect, in accordance with the Railway Labor Act. It also enjoined defendants from denying to the plaintiffs, or the classes represented by them, promotion to preferred jobs, and protection of their seniority, on grounds of membership or nonmembership in the union; and the railroad and the union were further enjoined, in the application of the provisions of the regularly adopted bargaining agreements in effect between the railroad and the union, or that might thereafter be in effect, from discriminating against the plaintiffs and the classes represented by them, by reason of, or on account of, the refusal of any of the employees to join or retain their membership in the union. The district court, in its decree, retained control of the action for the purpose of entering such further orders as might be deemed necessary or proper.
The above judgment and injunction were in effect when, on November 15, 1946, appellee Reed commenced the proceedings in this case by the filing of his intervening petition in the same action in which the injunction had been issued. Reed, in his petition, asked the district court to adjudge the railroad and the union to be in contempt of court for the violation of the injunction theretofore issued, and prayed that the defendants be punished by being required to pay for his benefit the sum of $65.00 per month from January 13, 1946, until the date of hearing, the amount of the loss he had suffered by reason of the violation of the injunction, as well as reasonable attorney fees and such additional sums as might be adjudged by the court as necessary to purge them of their contempt.
The basis of Reed's claim that the appellants had violated the injunction was as follows: Reed had been first employed by the railroad in 1923 as a machinist helper. He retained that status until February 7, 1944, when he was upgraded to the status of a machinist, and received the prevailing rate of pay for machinists. Under a contract, executed in 1943 between the railroad and the union, it was provided that when helpers were "upgraded" to mechanics, they would receive a mechanic's rate of pay, and that they should be selected by the management of the railroad and the committee of the union, with consideration being given of their seniority ranking. This contract between the railroad and the union, in effect when Reed was upgraded, also set forth the conditions of demotion from the grade when it became necessary to reduce the force. It provided, in so far as here relevant, that when it was necessary to reduce the force, the railroad and the union "will approve the men to be demoted, with consideration being given them in seniority order." (Emphasis supplied.)
Reed, after he was upgraded, continued to draw the rate of pay for a machinist until January 13, 1946, when he was demoted. Just ten days before his demotion, the union and the railroad entered into an agreement which stipulated that machinist helpers who had been promoted in accordance with the agreement of 1943 (which provided for demotion with consideration being given to their seniority) should thereafter be demoted in the reverse order in which they were promoted. Thirteen machinist helpers junior to Reed on the seniority list had been promoted to the status of machinist before Reed was promoted. He, however, did not, and is not, complaining of that fact. When Reed was upgraded, the contract provisions in effect between the railroad and the union provided that in case of demotion of workers, they would be demoted with consideration given them of their seniority. Under the provisions of the contract then in effect, Reed outranked the thirteen other workers and would, according to seniority, be the last man in number among them to be demoted. The thirteen machinist helpers were members of the union and retained their membership therein. Reed discontinued his membership in the union. The contract between the union and the railroad was thereafter changed so that Reed, in spite of his seniority over the other thirteen helpers, was the first to be demoted. This was, of course, because the new contract provided that...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hodgson v. United Mine Workers of America
...Natural Gas Corp. v. El Paso Natural Gas Corp., 386 U.S. 129, 136, 87 S.Ct. 932, 17 L.Ed.2d 814 (1967); System Federation No. 91 v. Reed, 180 F.2d 991, 998 (6th Cir. 1950); Wilson v. City of Paducah, 100 F.Supp. 116, 118 (W.D.Ky.1951); 3B J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 24.131 at XX-XXX-XX (2d......
-
Bronson v. Board of Ed. of City School Dist. of Cincinnati, 75--1244
...have no affect on substantive rights. The Rules Enabling Act so provides. 28 U.S.C. § 2072. See System Federation No. 91 Ry. Employees' Dept. A.F.L. v. Reed, 180 F.2d 991, 996 (6th Cir. 1950); First Congregational Church and Society of Burlington v. Evangelical and Reformed Church, 305 F.2d......
-
Lowry v. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD, ETC.
...Enginemen, 8 Cir., 1918, 252 F. 961. 6 See Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Langer, 8 Cir., 1948, 168 F.2d 182, 187; System Federation No. 91, etc. v. Reed, 6 Cir., 1950, 180 F.2d 991, 995; 3 Moore's Federal Practice, 2d ed., Para. 23.02. Former Equity Rule 38 reads: "When the question is one of co......
-
Stotts v. Memphis Fire Dept.
...also Cascade Natural Gas Corp. v. El Paso Natural Gas Corp., supra; EEOC v. AT&T, 506 F.2d 735 (3rd Cir. 1974); System Federation No. 91 v. Reed, 180 F.2d 991 (6th Cir. 1950). The majority fails, in my view, to appreciate the importance of post-judgment intervention when difficult remedial ......
-
Sturm und Drang, 1953-1980.
...note 55, at 245-46 ("Most lawyers and judges are no longer accustomed to think in this way."). (63.) E.g., Sys. Fed'n No. 91 v. Reed, 180 F.2d 991,996 (6th Cir. 1950); Martinez v. Maverick Cnty. Water Control and Improvement Dist., 219 F.2d 666 (5th Cir. 1955); Pentland, 152 F.2d at (64.) 3......
-
28 APPENDIX U.S.C. § 23 Class Actions
...appropriate but were reached by dint of depriving the word "several" of coherent meaning. See, e.g., System Federation No. 91 v. Reed, 180 F.2d 991 (6th Cir. 1950); Wilson v. City of Paducah, 100 F.Supp. 116 (W.D.Ky. 1951); Citizens Banking Co. v. Monticello State Bank, 143 F.2d 261 (8th Ci......