United States v. International Longshoremen's Ass'n

• Decision Date: 03 December 1970
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 20688-H.
• Citation: 319 F. Supp. 737
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, Atlantic Coast District, International Longshoremen's Association, and Locals 829 and 858, I. L. A., Baltimore, Maryland, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

319 F. Supp. 737

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, Atlantic Coast District, International Longshoremen's Association, and Locals 829 and 858, I. L. A., Baltimore, Maryland, Defendants.

Civ. No. 20688-H.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

December 3, 1970.

John N. Mitchell, Atty. Gen., Jerris Leonard, Asst. Atty. Gen., Andrew J. Ruzicho and John W. Davis, Washington, D. C., and George Beall, U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md., for plaintiff.

Julius Miller, Thomas W. Gleason and Gleason & Miller, New York City, and O'Connor & Preston, Baltimore, Md., for defendants.

HARVEY, District Judge:

In this civil action, the United States (the "Government") is seeking injunctive relief against various labor organizations because of alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the "Act"). Named as defendants are Locals 829 and 858 of the International Longshoremen's Association, as well as the International Longshoremen's Association itself (the "ILA") and the Atlantic Coast District of the ILA (the "District").

The Government claims that Locals 829 and 858 have violated and continue to violate § 703(c) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(c), which provides as follows:

"(c) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization —

(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this section."

It is alleged in the complaint that defendants have engaged in and are engaging in a pattern and practice of discrimination against persons on account of their race in the operation of their labor organizations in the State of Maryland. The Government seeks to enjoin the defendants from engaging in any employment practice which discriminates against any person on account of race. In particular, this Court is asked to enter a decree (1) merging Locals 829 and 858 into a single union; (2) requiring that these Locals operate a single hiring hall; and (3) requiring that the gang system for supplying longshoremen to employers in the Port of Baltimore be discontinued and that gangs as presently constituted be disbanded and reorganized on a non-racial basis.

The ILA itself and the District have been joined as parties because no merger of the two Locals would be possible in the absence of an order requiring appropriate action by the parent organizations as well.¹ The Executive Council of the ILA has the power under its constitution to issue and revoke charters of local unions and to order the consolidation of two or more locals. It is the responsibility of the District to recommend to the parent organization whether a local should be chartered.

The defendants assert that neither the two Locals nor the other defendants have violated the Act and further take the position that if any violations have been proved, the Government's proposed relief is not feasible. The defendants have heretofore sought to file an amendment to their answer contending that a court-ordered merger of the two Locals would violate their members' right of freedom of association under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. A motion to strike defendants' proposed amendment under Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has heretofore been granted by this Court after a hearing, on the ground that the defense raised by the amendment was insufficient as a matter of law.²

Facts

The parties have stipulated to most of the background facts, and numerous statistical exhibits were admitted in evidence at the trial without objection. Local 829 and Local 858 represent longshoremen who load and unload ships in the Port of Baltimore. Local 829 was chartered in 1913 and from the time that it was formed has been composed almost entirely of white persons. At the present time there are approximately 1155 active members of Local 829, and since 1950 there have been about 4 Negro members. Since 1960, Local 829 has admitted to membership approximately 757 persons, all of whom have been white.

Local 858 was chartered in 1914. At all times since it was formed, Local 858 has been composed almost entirely of Negro persons. At the present time there are approximately 1226 active members of Local 858, of whom approximately 5 are white. Since 1964, Local 858 has admitted 263 members, all of whom were Negro except 2.

Locals 829 and 858 are the general cargo locals for the Port of Baltimore. They work under the same collective bargaining agreement, for the same companies, on the same ships, and occasionally in the same hatches at the same times. It is undisputed therefore that the members of both Locals do the same kind of work. The parties to the collective bargaining agreement which covers longshoring operations in Baltimore are the ILA, the District, the Locals and the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore (the "STA"). The Locals bargain collectively on behalf of all longshoremen in the jurisdiction, and under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement the Locals refer members to job opportunities through their hiring halls. The STA represents all the stevedoring companies in the area who use the referral services of the hiring halls of the two Locals, and the STA is responsible for paying annual vacation benefits to the members of both local unions. A separate hiring hall is maintained by each Local.

In the Port of Baltimore, labor is supplied to stevedoring companies for the purpose of loading and unloading vessels in accordance with the so-called "gang system". Most ports along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts use a similar system, although a few ports use a daily shape-up system based exclusively on seniority. Under the gang system, the leader or gang carrier forms a group of some 15 to 20 regular members. A normal gang consists of 8 men in the hold, 2 winch drivers, 4 deckmen, and a gang carrier. Gangs from both Locals 829 and 858 are referred to the stevedoring companies as a result of telephone calls to the hiring halls during the afternoon of the day before the men are needed for the work. Many gangs are assigned to particular employers and are regularly called by such employer when work is available. If more gangs are needed on a particular day in addition to those regularly assigned, the employer will specifically request another gang or will accept one from those available.

A new member of a Local first obtains work with a particular gang as an extra man or as a replacement whenever men are needed to increase the size of a gang or to fill a vacancy within the gang. When a regular vacancy occurs in a gang because of death, retirement or for any other reason, the gang carrier is the individual who selects the new member. A new member of a gang normally begins by performing less desirable work in the hold of a ship. There is an informal line of progression whereby such a member may work up to the more desirable top-side jobs. If a gang carrier leaves, the gang itself elects a new leader who is usually a member of the gang.

Local 829 supervises 30 gangs operating in the Port of Baltimore. All gangs under the supervision of Local 829 are composed solely of white longshoremen, with two exceptions. One of these gangs is composed solely of Negroes and includes members of both Local 829 and Local 858. One other is known as the "checkerboard" gang in that it includes members of both races from both locals. Local 858 has approximately 47 gangs operating in the Port, and all 47 are composed entirely of Negro longshoremen.

Most of the stevedoring companies in the City of Baltimore use both white and Negro gangs and use approximately as many Negro as white gangs.³ A few use only white or only Negro gangs.⁴ There is no difference in skill and ability between white gangs and Negro gangs handling the same type of cargo.

Applicability of the Act

The Government seeks in this action to prove that Locals 829 and 858 have violated all three sub-sections of Section 703(c) of the Act. It is claimed that these two Locals have excluded from their membership individuals because of their race in violation of subsection (c) (1), that they have segregated or classified their membership in violation of subsection (c) (2), and that they have caused employers to discriminate against individual union members in violation of subsection (c) (3).

It is, of course, not necessary for this Court to find violations of all three of these subsections if the Government is to be entitled to relief. Only one need be proved. For the reasons stated herein, this Court finds from the evidence in this case that the defendant Locals have violated Section 703(c) (2) of the Act. It is therefore unnecessary to consider whether the facts further show violations of subsections (1) and (3).

It is clear from the stipulations and evidence that Locals 829 and 858 are segregated locals. Local 829 was chartered and has always been maintained as a white local with only a token number of Negro members. Since 1914 it has been known as the "white local", and most Negro longshoremen have therefore refrained from applying for membership to it.⁵ Conversely, Local 858 was chartered as and has been maintained and known as a Negro local.⁶ Only one of the 77 gangs operated under the supervision of these two Locals in the Port of Baltimore includes both white and Negro members of the gang.

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