Tob. Workers International Union v. Weyler
| Decision Date | 17 October 1939 |
| Citation | 280 Ky. 355 |
| Parties | Tobacco Workers' International Union v. Weyler et al. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
Appeal from Jefferson Circuit Court.
J. Miles Pound, James W. Stites, Trabue, Doolan, Helm & Stites and Edward F. Seiller for appellant.
Richard P. Dietzman, Edwin C. Willis, Robert L. Sloss and Julian N. Elliott for appellee.
Before Churchill Humphrey, Judge.
Affirming.
The Tobacco Workers' International Union, a trade union of workers in the tobacco industry, was organized in 1895. It is a voluntary association, and its present constitution has been in effect since January 1, 1901. There are 43 local unions scattered throughout the United States, and the total membership is approximately 16,000. The number of members of the various locals ranges from about 25 in the smallest to approximately 3,000 in Local Union 185 located in Louisville, Kentucky. E. Lewis Evans has been secretary-treasurer of the Tobacco Workers' International Union, hereinafter referred to as the T.W.I.U., since its organization, and International president-secretary-treasurer since 1925 when the offices of president and secretary-treasurer were combined. The constitution provides that the officers of the T.W.I.U. shall consist of the International president-secretary-treasurer and six vice-presidents, and that these seven officers shall constitute the International Executive Board. Wide powers are lodged in the president-secretary-treasurer and the board. The constitution provides a method for calling a convention of the T.W.I.U., prescribes the manner of electing delegates thereto, and fixes the number of delegates each local union is entitled to elect, based on the number of members of such local. No convention of the T.W. I.U. has been held since 1900. The constitution provides that a convention shall be held when authorized by a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the International Union. Conceiving that it would be for the best interest of the union that a convention should be held, a movement with that end in view was started. The membership of Local Union No. 185 voted to submit a resolution to the president-secretary-treasurer of the T.W.I.U. calling for a vote of the membership as to whether or not a convention should be held in October, 1939. President Evans sent the resolution to each local union, and 24 of the local unions held elections on the convention question and submitted the results to the president. Thirteen of the local unions voted in favor of the convention and 11 against it, but the popular vote was 5,277 in favor of the convention and 2,406 against it. The president-secretary-treasurer, by a method of canvassing the vote not necessary now to mention, found that only 3,884 votes had been cast, and 1,888 of these had been cast in favor of a convention and 1,996 against it. He also found that two-thirds of the total vote cast was 2,589, and as only 1,888 votes were cast in favor of a convention he declared the convention issue lost by 701 votes. Certain members who were dissatisfied with his ruling appealed to the International Executive Board, which rendered a decision on July 15, 1939, upholding the ruling of the president-secretary-treasurer.
An action was brought in the Jefferson circuit court against E. Lewis Evans, president-secretary-treasurer of the T.W.I.U. and the six vice-presidents comprising the International Executive Board, in which the plaintiffs sought a mandatory injunction requiring the defendants to take the steps provided for or required by the constitution of the T.W.I.U. for calling and holding a convention. The plaintiffs alleged in their petition that, pursuant to a request made of him, E. Lewis Evans, president-secretary-treasurer of the T.W.I.U., issued a call for a vote to determine whether a convention should be held, and that pursuant to the call an election was held by secret ballot by the local unions of the T.W.I.U., and that more than two-thirds of those voting on the question voted in favor of a convention, but that Evans, in canvassing the returns, unreasonably and unlawfully refused to count certain votes and wrongfully declared that less than two-thirds of those voting had voted in favor of a convention. It was alleged that he refused to count the vote of Local Union No. 185 of Louisville, Kentucky, which voted 2,474 for a convention and 34 against, and the vote of Local Union No. 178 of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which voted 266 for a convention and 41 against. It was also alleged that he refused to count the votes of a number of other local unions which reported that their membership had voted unanimously for a convention. It was also alleged in the petition that Evans had been guilty of dictatorial practices and had arrogated to himself undelegated powers in violation of the express provisions of the constitution of the T.W.I.U. and had failed to give an understandable accounting of the fiscal affairs of the union, and that he and other members of the International Executive Board were wrongfully refusing to call a convention and to take the steps prescribed by the constitution for holding a convention after two-thirds of those voting on the question had voted in favor of a convention. The defendants' answer was merely a traverse. In an amended answer and plea in abatement, they alleged that the plaintiffs had not exhausted their remedies within the union, since they had not appealed from the ruling of the International Executive Board to a popular vote of the membership of the International Union as provided for in Section 21 of the constitution.
By agreement a special commissioner was appointed to hear testimony and recanvass the vote of all local unions making returns on the question of whether or not a convention should be held by the Tobacco Workers' International Union and to report his findings. The commissioner heard proof and reported that 5,277 votes had been cast in favor of holding a convention and 2,406 votes against it, and that the convention call received more than the necessary two-thirds votes required under the constitution of the International Union. On August 7, 1939, an agreed judgment was entered adjudging that the resolution for a convention to be held in the month of October, 1939, had carried by more than the required two-thirds majority of those voting thereon, and the defendants be mandatorily enjoined and directed to call a convention of the Tobacco Workers' International Union, in accordance with the agreement of the parties theretofore entered into in court, to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, beginning on the 23rd day of October, 1939, and that the defendant E. Lewis Evans, as president-secretary-treasurer, cause to be done all acts provided for by the constitution of the T.W.I.U. preparatory to the calling and holding of a convention. The judgment contained this provision:
"The matter of costs is reserved until the Tobacco Workers' International Union shall have been made a party thereto, and the plaintiffs are now directed to file an amended petition making the Tobacco Workers' International Union a party to this action."
It appears that this provision was inserted in the judgment at the suggestion of the defendants so that the costs would not be adjudged against them personally. The judgment also contained this provision:
"There...
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