United States v. Railway Employees' Department of American Federation of Labor

• Decision Date: 23 September 1922
• Docket Number: 2943.
• Citation: 283 F. 479
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. RAILWAY EMPLOYEES' DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR et al.

283 F. 479

UNITED STATES v. RAILWAY EMPLOYEES' DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR et al.

No. 2943.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

September 23, 1922

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

The case presented by the bill is this: The United States finding that the interstate transportation of persons and property, as well as the carriage of mails, is obstructed and threatened with destruction, and that a combination and conspiracy exists to subject the control of such transportation to the will of the conspirators, applies to this court for an injunction to prevent such obstruction and to prevent carrying into effect such conspiracy. The application is made under both the general equity jurisdiction to aid the government in preventing interference with interstate commerce and the mails, and the provisions of the Acts of July 2, 1890, c. 647, 26 Stat. 209, and October 15, 1914, c. 323, 38 Stat. 730, directed against unlawful restraints and monopolies.

The bill names as defendants Railway Employees' Department of the American Federation of Labor, International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, International Alliance of Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers, International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America, International Association of Machinists, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, all of which are voluntary labor organizations, and the last six of which are known as the federated shop crafts comprising a division of the American Federation of Labor, numerous branches of said federated shop crafts throughout the United States which are known as system federations, Bert M. Jewell, John Scott, and other individuals, who are also sued as members of the executive council of the railway department of the American Federation of Labor. The bill states in substance that:

Prior to July 1, 1922, the entire membership of said federated shop crafts were in the regular employment of the railway companies operating throughout the United States. Two million employees are in the service of said railway companies, of which 490,000 are shop employees, including 400,000 members of said federated shop crafts. The work of said shop employees in inspecting, overhauling, and repairing rolling stock and equipment in the shops is essential to the operation of the railways, and must be done by skilled and experienced mechanics. If the work at the shops is prevented, the resulting deterioration of rolling stock and equipment will impair and very shortly destroy railway service, thereby obstructing interstate commerce. The Transportation Act of 1920 contains provisions which are set forth concerning disputes between carriers and their employees. 41 Stat., pp. 469-474.

In the case of Alabama & Vicksburg Railway Company v. Railway Employees' Department, American Federation of Labor, et al., the Labor Board of June 5, 1922, decided a dispute between the railway carriers of the United States and their employees, members of said federated shop crafts, concerning wages and conditions of employment. It was the duty, the bill charges, of both parties to the dispute to observe the order of the Labor Board. Such obligations rested upon both the public service corporations and their employees because of the direct connection of the service rendered with interstate transportation. The public has an interest in the orderly observance of the rulings of the board, and public injury results from a disregard of such rulings. The United States has a legal right to prevent an interruption of interstate transportation growing out of a failure to observe those rulings and a resort to strikes to overthrow them. The defendants, dissatisfied with said rulings of the Labor Board, entered into a combination and conspiracy to disregard it, and to quit the service of the railway companies in a body at one and the same time as a protest against and contempt for said decision of the Labor Board of the government of the United States. The purpose of said strike was to compel the railway companies, through public pressure, to disregard the decision of the board, by making it impossible for them to discharge their functions and obligations.

On June 29, 1922, a strike order was promulgated, requiring the members of the federated shop crafts to quit in a body on July 1, 1922, and to absent themselves from their employment until the companies should repudiate the order of the board and pay the scale of wages demanded by the union. On July 1, 1922, about 90 per cent. of the members of the federated shop crafts abandoned the service of the railway companies, thus purposely impairing the safety and efficiency of the entire transportation system of the United States, and compelling the railway companies, in many instances, to abandon the operation of passenger and freight trains, with consequent inability and incapacity to carry the mails and transport in interstate and foreign commerce food, fuel, and other necessaries and supplies for the immediate needs of the public, particularly in the large cities, the transportation of all of which has been and now is retarded, restrained, and obstructed, and is seriously in danger of being utterly prevented. The Interstate Commerce Acts, the Safety Appliance Acts, and the Live Stock Transportation Act impose many public duties upon the railway companies with respect to the continuous operation of the railroads, the maintenance of rolling stock and equipment and the transportation of live stock. Said railway companies also have public duties with reference to the carriage of mails and the transportation of military forces and supplies and equipment therefor.

The railway systems are an integral part of the industrial life of the country, and their continued operation is now essential to the distribution of food and the maintenance of industries, without which the nation cannot exist. Bituminous coal is absolutely necessary, not only for industrial purposes, but to preserve the lives of the people in many parts of the country. There is an acute coal shortage, resulting from the complete suspension of mining operations since April 1, 1922. If the transportation systems are now broken down, a national disaster will result, and the people will be utterly unprovided with fuel and food in the face of winter.

Simultaneous and concerted abandonment of the service of the railway companies by the members of the federated shop crafts necessarily impairs the efficiency of the entire railway transportation system, and operates to obstruct interstate commerce and the carriage of the mails. To remove such obstruction, and to save the entire railway system from complete breakdown, new employees in equal numbers must be placed immediately in the service and trained. The railway companies are now engaged in filling the places of the members of the federated shop crafts who left their service with a like kind of employees, or as nearly as may be. While some interference with interstate commerce and the carriage of the mails must necessarily result, the railway companies will be able to restore the service and to perform their public duties, unless they are prevented from obtaining the necessary employees by the acts of the defendants.

Well knowing the facts above set forth, the defendants engaged in a combination and conspiracy to hinder and prevent the railway companies from obtaining the services of other necessary workmen, and to prevent such other workmen from entering the services of the railway companies, and to cause members of the federated shop crafts who have continued in the service of the companies to abandon the service, and to wholly deprive the railway companies of the forces and facilities with which to maintain their rolling stock and equipment, and thus to obstruct the transportation of passengers and property in interstate commerce and the carriage of the mails. In pursuance of said conspiracy the individual defendants, comprising the executive council of the railway employees' department of the American Federation of Labor, published and circulated, among the members of said federated shop crafts, letters and other communications directing the officers and members of said federated shop crafts to picket the shops and other premises of the railway companies, and to prevent the railway companies from securing and having sufficient number of employees to keep the rolling stock and equipment in repair and to maintain the same in proper running order.

The defendants have carried out the purpose of said conspiracy by unlawful means, including picketing, displays of force, acts of violence, and the infliction of personal injuries upon officers and employees of the railway companies, and by such unlawful means and other acts of terrorism, as well as by inducement, argument, and persuasion, have sought, and are now seeking, to prevent the railway companies from procuring the employees necessary for the maintenance of the rolling stock and equipment and for keeping the railroads in operation. As a result of the activities of the conspiring defendants the number of workmen at the railway shops has been reduced to such an extent that many hundred of freight and passenger trains have already been abandoned, and if the activities of the defendants continue the rolling stock and equipment will deteriorate within a short time, and interstate transportation of passengers and property and the carriage of the mails will be completely obstructed.

The purpose and intent of the defendants, and each of them, and their associates, in conspiring, combining, confederating agreeing, and arranging together to cause the members of the federated shop crafts,...