Wampler v. Goldschmidt, Civ. No. 5-80-39.
| Decision Date | 28 February 1980 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 5-80-39. |
| Parties | Linus WAMPLER; Katherine E. Tintor; Judith A. Obeidginski; Frederick M. Salo; United Steelworkers of America; Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers Local 563, AFL-CIO; the Minnesota AFL-CIO; Armco, Inc.; Bethlehem Steel Corporation; Inland Steel Company; Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation; Republic Steel Company; and United States Steel Corporation, Plaintiffs, v. Neil GOLDSCHMIDT, Secretary of U. S. Dept. of Transportation; Karl S. Bowers, Federal Highway Administrator; Albert H. Quie, Governor of the State of Minnesota; Richard P. Braun, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation; James J. Hiniker, Jr., Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Administration; Lowell Jackson, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation; and Cleco Construction Company, Inc., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Stephen G. Palmer, Asst. U. S. Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., John R. Murphy, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Minn., Charles R. Larsen, Asst. Atty. Gen., Madison, Wis., Timothy O'Brien and Peter F. Greiner, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendants.
John G. Engberg and Roger A. Peterson, Peterson, Engberg & Peterson, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiffs.
Richard Kyle, Jr., Briggs & Morgan, St. Paul, Minn., for U. S. Steel Corp.
John B. Gordon, Faegre & Benson, Minneapolis, Minn., for Armco, Inc., and Bethlehem Steel Corp.
John M. Donovan, Duluth, Minn., for Inland Steel Co. and Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.
William T. Egan and Timothy Thornton, Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel, Minneapolis, Minn., for Republic Steel Corp.
On August 12, 1974, the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin entered into an agreement wherein the states agreed to cooperate in the construction of a proposed new Arrowhead Bridge spanning the St. Louis River between Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. The agreement essentially provided that the states would cooperate in the apportionment of the costs of construction, engineering, operation and maintenance of the new bridge. The states also agreed to cooperate with the Federal Highway Administration and to seek to obtain federal funding for the bridge project; the states agreed to share equally in that portion of the cost of the new bridge which was not paid by the federal government. The 1974 agreement was amended, in August 1979, to take into account the fact that federal funding for the Arrowhead Bridge would come from a nationwide appropriation of discretionary bridge funds authorized by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978. The Amended Agreement provided that the federal government would fund eighty percent (80%) of the cost of the project; each state would be responsible for half of the balance. The agreement provided that Wisconsin would undertake the design, and prepare the contract plans and specifications for the various projects included in the bridgework and, further, would administer those contracts; all of the functions undertaken by the State of Wisconsin were subject to the approval of the State of Minnesota. In addition, each state was responsible for and would bear the cost, subject to reimbursement by federal funding, for the necessary approach work on their side of the river.
Wisconsin, with the concurrence of Minnesota and the Federal Highway Administration, determined that there would be approximately 14 prime contracts let for the bridge job. Included as one of the 14 prime contracts was the contract involved in the instant case, the Minnesota-Wisconsin Arrowhead Bridge Main Span Contract. The main span contract was scheduled for letting on December 18, 1979, and the State of Wisconsin advertised for bids based upon that letting date. The main span contract consisted of the construction of the superstructure steel on the main span of the bridge and all incidental items necessary to complete the work for that main span. The proposal for the main span contract was prepared by the State of Wisconsin, Department of Transportation, and was reviewed and approved by both the State of Minnesota and the Federal Highway Administration. The work required thereunder involved fabrication and erection of approximately 2,700 tons of structural steel to form the main span of the new Arrowhead Bridge.
The proposal sent to bidders contained a provision requiring bidders to submit a bid for domestic steel and also, if they so elected, submit an alternative bid using non-domestic structural steel. The proposal specified that the contract would be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder who submitted a bid to furnish domestic structural steel, unless such total bid exceeded the lowest total bid based upon furnishing nondomestic, or foreign steel, by more than 10 percent. This proposal was issued in accordance with section 401 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978, and the federal regulation enacted pursuant thereto, 23 C.F.R. § 635.410 (1979).
On or about September 18, 1979, the State of Wisconsin awarded two contracts for substructure work in the total amount of approximately $10,350,000.00. On or about December 18, 1979, another substructure contract for the bridge was awarded in the amount of approximately $4,715,000.00.
Defendant Cleco Construction Company of St. Paul, Minnesota (Cleco), after reviewing the advertisement for bids and requesting and receiving plans and a proposal for the bid for the main span work, determined to submit a bid on this project. Cleco submitted its proposal on December 18, 1979; its proposal contained prices based upon both domestic steel and foreign steel.
Seven bids were received based upon domestic steel and two of the seven bidders also submitted a foreign steel alternate for the main span project. On or shortly after December 18, 1979, the State of Wisconsin determined that Cleco's bid utilizing the foreign steel alternate was the lowest responsive bid. In addition, the State of Wisconsin determined that the lowest bid based upon furnishing domestic structural steel exceeded Cleco's bid by more than ten percent. Cleco's foreign steel alternate bid was in the amount of $6,825,886.10; the next lowest bid, Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company's bid, was in the amount of $7,764,683.26.
On December 20, 1979, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation recommended to the Minnesota Department of Transportation that the main span contract be awarded to Cleco since the lowest domestic steel bid was 13.8 percent in excess of Cleco's foreign steel alternate bid. On December 26, 1979, the Minnesota Department of Transportation contacted the Wisconsin Department of Transportation indicating its concurrence in awarding the Cleco bid. Thereafter, on December 28, 1979, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation notified Cleco, by letter, that it had been awarded the contract, and enclosed the contract and bond for execution. Cleco executed the contract and bond and returned both to the State of Wisconsin. The State of Wisconsin reviewed the contract and bond, and forwarded the documents to the State of Minnesota for execution.
Prior to the execution of the contract by the Minnesota defendant, plaintiffs brought the instant action seeking to enjoin the execution and performance of the main span contract, and the committing of any federal or state funds for the construction project on the grounds that such would violate section 401 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978, Pub.L.No.95-599, 92 Stat. 2689, 2756 (1978), and Minn. Stat. § 16.073.
Standing is simply the requirement that a party seeking redress in the federal courts have "a sufficient stake in an otherwise justiciable controversy." Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 731, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 1364, 31 L.Ed.2d 636 (1972). In an effort to determine whether the plaintiffs in the instant action have such a "sufficient stake," it is necessary to make two inquiries:
1) Have the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants' acts will cause them injury in fact; and
2) Is the interest sought to be protected "arguably within the zone of interests to be protected or regulated by the statute". Assn. of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 152-53, 90 S.Ct. 827, 830, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970). See also Rodeway Inns of America, Inc. v. Frank, 541 F.2d 759, 763-65 (8th Cir. 1976); Churchill Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States, 533 F.2d 411, 416 (8th Cir. 1976); Blue Cross Association v. Califano, 473 F.Supp. 1047, 1058-59 and n. 16 (W.D.Mo.1979). But see Park View Heights Corp. v. City of Black Jack, 467 F.2d 1208, 1212 and n. 4 (8th Cir. 1972).
The Court finds that both inquiries are affirmatively satisfied. The plaintiffs have alleged that if Cleco's foreign bid is ultimately accepted and Japanese steel is used in the main span of the new Arrowhead Bridge, it would result in a total wage loss to the steelworkers employed at PDM of roughly $357,000. The steelworkers reasoned that with regard to this specific contract, it would require 26,450 man hours to produce the amount of steel needed for the main span. The average hourly rate of this man hour time would total $13.50.1 Accordingly, the total wage loss would exceed $357,000.
It seems clear, in the case at bar, that the international unions have standing to initiate this suit on behalf of its members. It seems beyond question that its members who will suffer wage loss would have standing to bring this action; the interests sought to be protected by these international unions are germane to the organizations' purposes, and neither the plaintiffs' claims nor their requested relief require the participation of any individual union members in the law suit. See Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm'n., 432 U.S. 333, 343, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 2441, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977); Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 511, 95 S.Ct....
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National Ass'n of Property Owners v. US, Civ. No. 5-79-95
...controversy." Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 731, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 1364, 31 L.Ed.2d 636 (1972). See also Wampler v. Goldschmidt, 486 F.Supp. 1130, 1133 (D.Minn.1980). The sufficiency of plaintiffs' stake turns upon two inquiries: (1) Have plaintiffs alleged that the defendants' acts wil......