United Transp. Union v. U.S., s. 92-5002

• Decision Date: 30 June 1993
• Docket Number: 92-5016,Nos. 92-5002,s. 92-5002
• Citation: 987 F.2d 784
• Parties: 142 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2790, 300 U.S.App.D.C. 120, 124 Lab.Cas. P 10,579 UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al. BURLINGTON NORTHERN RAILROAD COMPANY, et al. v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 784

987 F.2d 784

142 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2790, 300 U.S.App.D.C. 120,

124 Lab.Cas. P 10,579

UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al.

BURLINGTON NORTHERN RAILROAD COMPANY, et al. v. UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION, Appellant.

Nos. 92-5002, 92-5016.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Dec. 10, 1992.

Decided March 9, 1993.

Mandate Recalled June 30, 1993.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (91cv1861 & 91cv1851).

Norton N. Newborn, with whom Clinton J. Miller, III, Gen. Counsel, U. Transp. Union, Joseph Guerrieri, Jr. and Mark Masling were on the brief, for appellant. John A. Edmond also entered an appearance for appellant.

Jeffrey A. Clair, Atty., Dept. of Justice, with whom Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jay B. Stephens, U.S. Atty., William Kanter, Atty., Dept. of Justice, and Ronald M. Etters, Gen. Counsel, Nat. Mediation Bd., were on the brief, for appellee.

Peter Buscemi, Harry A. Rissetto and D. Michael Underhill, were on the brief for appellees, Burlington Northern R.R. Co., CSX Transp., Inc., Denver and Rio Grande Western R.R. Co., Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., Kansas City Southern Railway Co., Norfolk Southern Railway Co., Norfolk and Western Railway Co., St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co., Southern Pac. Transp. Co. and Union Pac. R.R. Co.

Ralph J. Moore, Jr. and John Townsend Rich were on the joint brief for appellee, Chicago & North Western Transp. Co.

Bruce R. Lerner, Susan D. Carle, and Harold A. Ross, Attys., were on the brief for appellee Broth. of Locomotive Engineers.

Before: MIKVA, Chief Judge, SILBERMAN and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SILBERMAN.

SILBERMAN, Circuit Judge:

The United Transportation Union (UTU) appeals the district court's rejection of its claims that Public Law 102-29 (the Act) violates the Commerce Clause and conflicts with the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The Act settled a labor dispute between UTU and most of the nation's Class I rail carriers by imposing a collective bargaining agreement which, inter alia, reopened negotiations over the makeup of railway crews (the crew consist issue) and authorized a rival union to be the exclusive representative of certain engineers previously represented by UTU. UTU contends that because existing collective bargaining agreements (called moratoriums) prevented it from striking directly over the crew consist issue, Congress' decision to permit the renegotiation of the crew consist arrangements lacked a rational constitutional basis. We think, however, that Congress recognized that the inability of either side to alter the crew consist arrangements may have contributed to the stalemate reached on the remaining labor issues. Congress' decision to reopen negotiations, therefore, was reasonably designed to resolve the labor dispute. UTU also argues that the Act's designation of a rival union as the exclusive representative of all engineers violates a provision of the RLA, and that UTU, rather than its rival, should represent certain engineers. This contention at least arguably raises a representation dispute subject to the National Mediation Board's (NMB) exclusive jurisdiction, and we accordingly dismiss the claim so that the NMB can exercise primary jurisdiction over it. The district court's decision is, therefore, affirmed.

I.

The labor dispute that led to this litigation began in July 1988, when the majority of UTU's local General Committees of Adjustment (the local unions) opened negotiations with the carriers by serving notice under section six of the RLA. 45 U.S.C. § 156. The unions sought to improve the wages and health care benefits of their members--almost all of the firemen, conductors, brakemen, yardmen and yardmasters employed by the carriers. In October 1988, the individual carriers made counterproposals seeking sharp wage reductions. As an alternative, the carriers offered smaller wage cuts if the local unions would agree to reopen the crew consist arrangements, local-level agreements reached in the early 1980's by which a union and the carriers generally agreed to have one conductor and one or two brakemen on each train crew. The unions had the legal right to refuse to discuss these arrangements because local "moratorium" agreements prohibited either side from initiating a section six proceeding to alter the crew consist arrangements until a specified future date. The local unions refused to reopen the crew consist arrangements, and the labor dispute moved to its next stage, "national handling."

All of the carriers involved in this litigation designated the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC) of the National Railway Labor Conference to negotiate on their behalf. UTU's National Negotiating Committee represented the local UTU General Committees in bargaining sessions with the NCCC which began in February 1989. UTU and the NCCC quickly reached an impasse in April 1989 and accordingly asked the NMB to mediate pursuant to 45 U.S.C. § 155. The NMB's year-long mediation efforts failed to resolve the stalemate, and in April 1990, the Board offered arbitration to include other unions involved in parallel labor negotiations with the NCCC. The unions and the NCCC declined the offer. The NMB then certified to President Bush that the labor dispute threatened a substantial disruption of interstate commerce. Based on the NMB's recommendation, the President, pursuant to his authority under 45 U.S.C. § 160, appointed Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) 219 to investigate the consolidated disputes between the carriers and the various unions, including UTU. Exec. Order No. 12714, 55 Fed.Reg. 19,047 (1990).

The PEB conducted extensive hearings and took testimony from all of the interested parties. The transcript of the proceedings runs to over 21,000 pages. The PEB issued its report and recommendations to President Bush on January 15, 1991. The unions voluntarily extended the 30-day period after the PEB report, in which strikes are forbidden, to 90 days to avoid any interference with the United States' efforts in the Persian Gulf War. Although three unions came to terms with the NCCC during this interim cooling off period, eight unions, including UTU, could not resolve their differences with the NCCC and went on strike at 7:00 a.m. on April 17, 1991.

Congress reacted quickly to the strike, passing legislation to resolve it in the early morning hours of April 18, 1991. President Bush signed the Act, Pub.L. No. 102-29, 105 Stat. 169, later that day. The Act imposed the final report of PEB 219, subject to revision by another Special Board appointed by the President, as the collective bargaining agreement to govern the parties. The Special Board entertained requests for clarification and modification of the final report, but on July 18, 1991, it denied all requests for modification, and the unaltered final report was imposed on the parties.

The final report resolved all of the ongoing labor disputes, including the impasse between UTU and the carriers. It provided for a wage increase, an improvement in some employee benefits, an extended work day, and the reopening of the crew consist arrangements. Although the PEB had acknowledged that the local crew consist arrangements fell outside its national jurisdiction, the final report authorized renegotiation of the arrangements because they were a source of tension between UTU and the carriers and the PEB thought that the overall labor dispute would not be resolved if this key variable remained fixed. Thus the final report allowed the parties to bring a section six motion to bargain locally over the terms of the crew consist arrangements, which was, of course, a direct abrogation of the moratorium agreements. If those negotiations were to founder, the parties were obliged to accept mandatory binding arbitration.

The final report also recognized the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) as the exclusive bargaining representative of engineers in on property grievance proceedings (these are minor grievance and disciplinary proceedings that are handled on the employer's premises). BLE is the certified class representative for engineers, but not all engineers belong to BLE. Many engineers who previously worked as yard personnel represented by UTU retain their UTU membership after promotion. As a consequence of this unusual arrangement, UTU had agreements with most of the carriers to permit it to represent its engineer members in on property grievance proceedings. The RLA sanctions this historical practice by directing that such disputes "be handled in the usual manner." 45 U.S.C. § 153 First(i). During the PEB proceedings, BLE proposed that it be authorized as the exclusive representative of all engineers in on property grievances. The final report, alluding to the peculiarity of the existing practice, adopted BLE's proposal.

Both UTU and the carriers filed actions that focused on the constitutionality of the Act's imposition of the final report as a collective bargaining agreement. UTU sought a declaratory judgment that the statute violated the Takings Clause and that the revision of the crew consist agreements exceeded Congress' Commerce Clause power. The carriers brought an opposing complaint against UTU asking the court to declare the Act constitutional. UTU also filed a counterclaim in the carriers' action arguing that the designation of BLE as the exclusive representative of all engineers violated 45 U.S.C. § 153 First(i)'s provision that on property grievances "shall be handled in the usual manner." The court eventually consolidated the two cases and held that the Act was constitutionally valid and that the court lacked jurisdiction to decide the dispute over BLE's exclusive representation. Although UTU has dropped its Takings Clause claim, it appeals the district court's disposition of the crew consist and representation issues.

II....