Cunningham v. Local 30, Operating Engineers

234 F.Supp.2d 383

Scott CUNNINGHAM, Richard Egan, James McNally, Charles Abruzzo, Kenneth Brengel, Anthony Colazzo, Anthony Calvanico, Vincent Campisi, Joseph Cartolano, Edward Chapman, William Cullen Jr., Angelo DeVito, Kerry Dickens, Ronald Dirks, Kenneth Egan, John Gilmour, Josephus Greenidge, John Hawkins, Richard Joyce, William Kay, John Mauriello, Robert McLaughlin, Robert Molloy, Roy Montgomery, Dennis Moynihan, Roland Ng, Richard Oertle, Walter Rau, Louis Riconda, William Roche, Gerald Sorgente, Victor Straub, Henry Surig, and Christopher Werner, Plaintiffs, v. LOCAL 30, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, AFL-CIO; James Hanley, as Commissioner of Labor for the City of New York; and Alan Hevesi, as Comptroller of the City of New York, Defendants.

No. 99 Civ. 10965(MBM).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

December 10, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Susan Jennik, Kennedy, Schwartz & Cure, P.C., New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.

Mark Steven Soroka, Adam Ira Klein, P.C., New York, NY, for Defendant, Local 30.

Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, Adam G. Kurtz, New York, NY, for City Defendants, of counsel.

OPINION AND ORDER

MUKASEY, District Judge.

Plaintiffs are members of defendant Local 30, International Union of Operating Engineers ("Local 30"), and are employed by the City of New York ("the City"). Plaintiffs sue Local 30 alleging that the manner in which Local 30 conducted the ratification vote on their contract violated Section 101(a)(1) and (a)(2) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), violated the Constitution of the International Union of Operating Engineers ("IUOE Constitution"), and breached Local 30's duty of fair representation to its members. In addition to suing their union, plaintiffs sue the City's Commissioner of Labor and its Comptroller (the "City defendants"), seeking to void the terms of the contract between Local 30 and the City.

Local 30 moves for summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b). City defendants renew their motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and alternatively seek summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, Local 30's motion for summary judgment is granted with respect to the LMRDA claim. This court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the IUOE Constitution claim, and declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law duty of fair representation claim. The City defendants' motion is granted.

I.

The following facts are undisputed except as described otherwise. Local 30 is a labor organization, chartered by the IUOE, with approximately 3000 members employed mostly to operate and maintain mechanical systems in buildings and plants. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 1; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A1) Local 30 represents employees in both the public and private sectors. (Am. Compl. ¶ 4; Ans. ¶ 4; Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 20) Approximately 600 of Local 30's members are employed by the City of New York in five different titles ("City members"). About 170 are employed in the job titles of Oiler and Plant Maintainer. These titles promote to the titles of Stationary Engineer and Stationary Engineer outside New York City, which include roughly 370 Local 30 members. About 65 Local 30 members have been promoted from these titles to the Senior Stationary Engineer title. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 2; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A2)

James Hanley is Commissioner of Labor for the City of New York and the chief negotiator of labor agreements. He and his staff negotiate collective bargaining agreements with labor unions including Local 30. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 3; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A3) The wages and benefits of Local 30 City members are determined by the Comptroller of the City of New York (formerly Alan Hevesi) and his staff, in accordance with Section 220 of New York State Labor Law. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 4; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A4) Section 220 provides that skilled trade employees of the City of New York are to be paid the wages and benefits prevailing in comparable private sector jobs. The City and the unions representing the "prevailing rate" titles can negotiate an agreement that is adopted by the Comptroller by consent. If the parties are unable to negotiate the prevailing wages and benefits, the Comptroller must perform surveys in the private sector to determine the rates. (N.Y. Lab. Law § 220; Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 4; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A4)

Plaintiffs are 34 members of Local 30 employed by the City of New York in the title of Senior Stationary Engineer ("Seniors"). (Am.Compl. ¶ 3)

On May 26, 1999, the City presented Local 30 with an offer covering the wages and benefits for all five titles, for the period July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1999. (Am. Compl. ¶ 11; Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 21) Local 30 conducted a membership ratification vote on the offer by counting the votes of all union members together, rather than separately by title. (Am. Compl. ¶ 12; Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 30; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A30) Prior to the 1995-1999 agreement, there were individual agreements for each title, which were ratified separately by the title covered in the individual agreement. (Am. Compl. ¶ 13; Pugh Dep. at 18-23)

Under the consent determinations covering the period October 1, 1991 to June 30, 1995, Stationary Engineers and Seniors had fewer holidays, vacation days, and sick and other excused days as well as a lower contribution toward retirement benefits than the Oiler and Plant Maintainer titles. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 7-8; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A7-A8) Local 30 asserts that the disparity in benefits among these titles was causing dissension because upon promotion to Stationary Engineer, an employee lost benefits. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 9-10) Plaintiffs assert there was also dissatisfaction about the narrowing of wage differences between and among titles. (Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 3, ¶ A10)

In 1997, Local 30 conducted a survey of City members to determine priorities for upcoming negotiations. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 11; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A11) According to Local 30, the survey was answered by 31 Seniors, 234 Stationary Engineers, and 67 Oilers. Among Seniors, 16 wanted improved benefits and 15 wanted improved wages. Among Stationary Engineers, 135 wanted improved benefits and 99 wanted improved wages. Among Oilers, 50 wanted improved wages and 17 wanted improved benefits. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 12) Local 30 says that based on these survey results, as well as the observed dissension among members, it decided to make equalizing benefits among titles a priority in the negotiations. (Local 30's Mem. at 21) Plaintiffs dispute Local 30's interpretation of the survey results. (Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 4)

Local 30 appointed a negotiating committee made up of Local 30 members from all the titles. At the first meeting in late 1997, the group discussed enhancing benefits for the Seniors and the Stationary Engineers. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 13; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A13)

The first negotiating session with the City was on January 22, 1998. In attendance, among others, was Dennis Steiner, the City negotiator, Local 30 President John Ahern, Business Representative Jim Gannon, and Field Representative Donald Pugh ("Local 30 leadership" or "Local 30"). (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 14; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A14) The City's offer at this meeting, referred to as the "citywide offer," was a five-year agreement that offered no wage increases for the first two years and then increases totaling roughly 12 percent in the last three years of the agreement. This offer did not address the benefit disparities among the titles. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 14; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A14) After surveying membership, Local 30 rejected the citywide offer. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 15; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ A15)

Local 30 leadership and the City disagree about who first proposed the idea of having a single consent determination, covering all titles, rather than separate agreements for each title—as had been the past practice. Local 30 asserts that it was the City that first proposed having a single consent determination. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 19). However, the City says that Local 30 first expressed interest in a single consent determination. (City's 56.1 ¶ 3) Dennis Steiner, the negotiator for the City, said: "both Local 15 and Local 30 initiated the proposal of trying to address their joint issues in the context of one consolidated consent determination.... The City did not initiate that proposal." (Steiner Dep. at 53) Plaintiffs argue that this disagreement is a genuine issue of material fact. Local 30 admits that there is some dispute regarding who first suggested joint negotiations, but argues that this dispute is not material. (Local 30's Reply Mem. at 9)

On May 26, 1999, the City made an offer covering four proceeding years (from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1999) and all the titles. Under the offer, the hourly wages for all titles increased. The wages for the Seniors increased also each year—from $32.93 in 1995 to $35.67 in 1999. However, on the last day of the contract, the Seniors' wages dropped back to $32.30. (Soroka Decl., Ex. L; Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 21) Thus the Seniors would receive back pay, but virtually no increase going forward. Local 30 claims that it tried to get the City to increase the final wage of the Seniors but that the City would not vary its proposal. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 22). Local 30 asserts that the offer equalized benefits among the titles and increased the Seniors' annuity benefits. (Local 30's 56.1 ¶ 21) Plaintiffs state that the offer did not in fact equalize benefits over the course of the agreement — benefits became equal only at the very end of the term. (Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 2) Plaintiffs state also that although the annuity contribution was equalized by the end of the contract, the contribution was paid for Oilers and Plant Maintainers on an hourly basis but paid for Seniors and Statutory Engineers on a daily basis, so those employees would be paid only for complete days. (Id. ¶ 2)

According to Local 30, the City informed the union that if the consent determination was rejected or litigated by any one of the...