West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. v. Lewis
| Decision Date | 01 August 1958 |
| Citation | 191 N.Y.S.2d 303,17 Misc.2d 94 |
| Parties | WEST VIRGINIA PULP AND PAPER COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. A. D. LEWIS et al., Defendant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
Arthur H. Vinett, Mechanicville, for plaintiff.
Medwin, Tabner & Carlson, Albany, John W. Tabner, Albany, of counsel, for defendants, A. D. Lewis, as President of District 50, United Mine Workers of America and Nicholas R. Patterson, as Regional Director of Region 4, District 50, United Mine Workers of America, and also as Temporary Administrator of Local 12915, District 50, United Mine Workers of America.
Tobin & O'Brien, Albany, Jay Cox O'Brien, Albany, of counsel, for defendants, Victor F. Giulianelli, individually, and as President of Local Union 12915, District 50, United Mine Workers of America, and also as President of a newly formed organizing committee of employees of the mill of West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company at Mechanicville, New York; and Cosmo De Crescente (Descend), individually and a Financial Secretary of said organizing committee.
The plaintiff, West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, has brought an action of interpleader pursuant to Section 285 of the Civil Practice Act. The defendants are rival claimants for the same fund. The fund consists of union dues, checked off by the plaintiff, and is claimed by the defendants, A. D. Lewis, as President of District 50, United Mine Workers of America and Nicholas R. Patterson, as Temporary Administrator of Local 12915. Claim is also made by the defendants, Victor F. Giulianelli and Cosmo De Crescente acting as President and Financial Secretary, respectively, for an Organizing Committee of Employees of plaintiff's mill at Mechanicville, New York. The first set of defendants will be referred to as the 'District 50', and the second group as the 'Organizing Committee'.
The plaintiff, through a collective bargaining agreement, has checked-off union dues pursuant to a contract executed on November 24, 1956 between the plaintiff and the defendant District 50, United Mine Workers of America and its Local 12915. The contract is in full force and effect and does not expire until September 27, 1958. The contract provides that the said union is the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the unit certified by the National Labor Relations Board. The agreement provided that the plaintiff would transmit check-off dues to the Financial Secretary of Local 12915, District 50, United Mine Workers of America. Since early in 1957, the plaintiff, pursuant to an order of this Court, has deposited all such money with the Treasurer of the County of Saratoga.
The proof revealed that on January 9, 1957, at a regular meeting of Local 12915, a representative of District 50 stated that the per capita tax payable to District 50 would be increased from $1.50 to $2 per month. This was done pursuant to the Rules of District 50, Article VI, Section I. A resolution was then passed to disaffiliate. The resolution was then held in abeyance pending a further report by the representative from District 50. On February 13, 1957, another regular meeting of Local 12915 was held at which time the local was informed that the increase still stood and the local members passed a resolution limiting the per capita tax to $1.50 per month. On February 23, 1957, defendants Victor F. Giulianelli, as President of Local 12915, and Cosmo De Crescente, Financial Secretary of Local 12915, were notified by one John L. Lewis, as President of the United Mine Workers of America, that the Local was placed under temporary administration, and that the defendant Patterson was appointed Temporary Administrator. At a special meeting on February 28, 1957, a meeting of the membership of the Local was held in two sections, with a total of 428 members out of a total of some 920, and the membership of the Local voted unanimously to disaffiliate from District 50 to form an Organizing Committee to seek affiliation with another International Union and to turn over all the property of Local 12915 to the Committee. The defendants, Giulianelli and De Crescente, were elected as President and Financial Secretary, respectively, of the Organizing Committee.
District 50 and Local 12915 have continued to perform, under the agreement with plaintiff, by holding grievance meetings, job award meetings and regular monthly meetings. The evidence revealed that only a very small minority continued on with Local 12915.
The United Papermakers and Paperworkers (AFL-CIO) filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for an immediate election for designation of a new bargaining representative. On October 11, 1957, the National Labor Relations Board dismissed the petition on the ground that the contract between the plaintiff herein, as employer, and the United Mine Workers of America, District 50, and its Local 12915, will not expire until September 27, 1958, is a bar to the said petition. The petition was dismissed 'without prejudice to a timely refiling'. United Papermakers and Paperworkers (AFL-CIO) petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for reconsideration of its decision, which petition was denied by the Board on December 6, 1957.
District 50 claims the subject moneys on the ground that District 50 succeeded to the rights of Local 12915 and that the disaffiliation move caused the assets of the Local to pass to the International. This contention is based on the ground that Local 12915 was chartered as part of and is under the jurisdiction of and subject to the laws of the International Union, United Mine Workers of America and the Rules of District 50, United Mine Workers of America, and it is the sole and exclusive bargaining representative and contracting party with the plaintiff.
The committee, on the other hand, contends that the membership of Local 12915 disaffiliated and is now constituted as the Organizing Committee, and, as such, is entitled to check-off dues. It also claims that the administratorship was invalid and void in its inception. The agreement entered into on November 24, 1956, between the plaintiff, District 50, United Mine Workers of America, and Local 12915, under Article 2, Section 4 provided for voluntarily signed authorizations for the deduction of current months' dues from each employee's first pay check each month. The authorization provides among its terms that it is irrevocable for a period of one year or for the period of the collective bargaining agreement, whichever is shorter. No evidence was presented that any employee has revoked his authorization in accordance with his written authorization. The plaintiff company, therefore, continues to deduct the monthly dues in accordance with these authorizations and the aforesaid mentioned contract. The members of the disaffiliating group have signed authorizations for their new affiliation in the event of certification, but have not done anything to withdraw the existing authorization, which is being honored by the plaintiff employer in accordance with the existing contract.
The proof established that the membership of Local...
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...specifically on the contractual relationship between the union and the employer. See, e.g., West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. v. Lewis, 17 Misc.2d 94, 191 N.Y.S.2d 303, 307 (Sup.Ct.1958), aff'd mem., 8 A.D.2d 899, 187 N.Y.S.2d 1002 (1959). Here, however, the withholding is authorized by statut......
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