Case Title: City of Minot v. General Drivers & Helpers Union No. 74

Citation: 142 N.W.2d 612

Docket Number: 

State: north-dakota

Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Date: 1966-05-12T00:00:00Z

Document:
142 N.W.2d 612 (1966) The CITY OF MINOT, a municipal corporation of the State of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. GENERAL DRIVERS AND HELPERS UNION NO. 74 OF MINOT, North Dakota, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Sylvan Hubrig, as business representative and agent of the said union and Secretary-Treasurer thereof, James Boger, an employee of the City of Minot as steward of said union representing employees of the City of Minot who may be members of said union, and All members of said union who are employees of the City of Minot, as representatives of the class to which they belong, Defendants and Appellants. No. 8312. Supreme Court of North Dakota. May 12, 1966. *613 Walter O. Burk, Williston, for appellants. Bosard, McCutcheon & Coyne, Minot, for respondent. ERICKSTAD, Judge. This is an appeal by the defendants, General Drivers and Helpers Union No. 74 of Minot, North Dakota, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America; Sylvan Hubrig, as business representative and agent of the said union and Secretary-Treasurer thereof; James Boger, an employee of the City of Minot as steward of said union representing employees of the City of Minot who may be members of said union; and all members of said union who are employees of the City of Minot, as representatives of the class to which they belong, from a judgment of the District Court of Ward County. For ease of description the defendants will hereafter be referred to as the Teamsters. Representatives of the City of Minot and the Teamsters met several times during March, April, and May 1965 for the purpose of negotiating a labor contract to go into effect June 1, 1965, when the existing contract was to terminate. In June 1965 a contract acceptable to the negotiators was submitted to the parties. The Teamsters found it acceptable, but the City objected to the inclusion of a dues checkoff provision. When additional meetings of the representatives met with no success in resolving the City's objection, the Teamsters on June 22, 1965, requested mediation of the dispute pursuant to Chapter 34-11, N.D.C.C. As a result, a representative of the Teamsters and a representative of the City were appointed, and these two met a number of times for the purpose of agreeing on the third member of the board. Three different persons were agreed on, but none of these persons would accept the appointment. On July 16, 1965, before a third member had agreed to serve on the board, the Teamsters went on strike. In addition to remaining away from work, the employee union members also picketed the Public Works Building. The City then initiated this action, seeking to enjoin the Teamsters from striking, from work stoppage, and from picketing. The complaint alleged, among other things, that the Teamsters unlawfully and illegally and in contravention of Chapter 34-11 caused City employee members of the union to leave their employment and commence picketing; that the picketing was continuing; *614 that as a result the sanitation and refuse trucks of the City were not operating; and that by virtue of these acts the health and safety of the residents of the City were endangered. The City asked for a temporary restraining order to prohibit the Teamsters from picketing, alleging the picketing resulted in work stoppage causing irreparable damage to the City. An order to show cause why the temporary restraining order should not be made permanent was also requested. The court accordingly issued a temporary restraining order and an order to show cause why the temporary restraining order should not be made permanent. On July 22, 1965, the day set for a hearing on the order to show cause, the case was continued to permit the parties to make further efforts to form a mediation board. The mediation board which was ultimately formed rendered a divided report, the majority recommending that the dues checkoff provision be retained in the contract. When this recommendation was not accepted by the City, a hearing was held on August 18, 1965, on the order to show cause why the temporary restraining order should not be made permanent. This resulted in a judgment of the district court permanently enjoining the Teamsters "from further engaging in a strike, work stoppage, or picketing against the City." The Teamsters have appealed from this judgment and demand trial de novo. The issues on this appeal, as stated by the Teamsters, are whether employees of a city may strike against the city and, if not, whether a permanent injunction may be granted to prohibit such a strike. All agree that our statutes do not expressly prohibit nor expressly permit public employees to strike. In support of their contention that public employees may strike, the Teamsters cite the following sections of our Code: They say that these statutes are all-inclusive and make no exceptions as to municipal employees. *615 They argue that there would have been no reason for the enactment of Chapter 34-11, which provides for the mediation of disputes between public employers and employees, if, failing settlement through mediation, the public employees were to be prohibited from striking. On the ground that Chapter 34-08 applies to a dispute between public employees and the public employer, they contend that the commission of the acts of which the City herein complains, namely, striking and picketing, does not justify the issuance of an injunction. They specifically refer the court to subsections 1 and 5 of § 34-08-05, which read as follows: They further contend that the City has failed to comply with the provisions of § 34-08-07, which reads as follows: The City concedes that the court did not issue findings of fact affirmatively finding the four items called for under § 34-08-07 but argues that these findings are not essential in a dispute between public employees and a public employer. It points out that the court rendered a memorandum decision in lieu of findings of fact in this case. As Chapter 34-08 (known as the "Little Norris-LaGuardia Act" after the name of its parent, the federal act popularly known *616 as the Norris-LaGuardia Act) is almost identical to the federal act, an interpretation of the federal act becomes very important to us. Incidentally, § 34-08-05, N.D.C.C., is almost identical to Title 29, § 104, U.S.C.A.; and Title 29, § 107, U.S.C.A., contains all of the material provisions found in § 34-08-07, N.D.C.C., except for one which is not applicable to this case. Title 29, § 102, U.S.C.A., and § 34-08-02, N.D.C.C., set forth similar declarations of public policy. In 1947 the Supreme Court of the United States, in United States v. Mine Workers, considered the applicability of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in a case in which the United States, as an employer, had obtained a temporary order restraining the mine workers union from encouraging the mine workers to interfere with the operation of the mines by strike or cessation of work. The Federal Government was in possession of and operating the mines during a national emergency, pursuant to an executive order issued by the President. In considering the question of the applicability of the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act to the Federal Government, the Court said: Applying the reasoning of the Supreme Court of the United States in United Mine Workers, we conclude that our "Little Norris-LaGuardia Act" does not apply in the instant case to prevent the issuance of an injunction to prohibit striking and picketing by the employees of the City. The arguments advanced by the Teamsters which are premised on §§ 34-08-02, 34-08-05, and 34-08-07, N.D.C.C., are therefore found not to prevent the issuance of the injunction in the instant case. The answer to the Teamsters' contention that without the right to strike there would be no justification for the enactment of Chapter 34-11, providing for mediation, is that the purpose of mediation is not the strike nor the picketing, but is the settlement of a labor dispute, and that Chapter 34-11 provides the atmosphere and the procedure for the hearing of grievances and the settlement of disputes, which is ample justification for the existence of the statute. The argument made by the Teamsters that § 34-09-01 does not expressly exempt public employers, we believe, is also answered by the Supreme Court of the United States in United Mine Workers. Let us consider briefly the situation with which the City was confronted when the Teamsters went on strike. The City of Minot had approximately 220 employees who provided the city with such services as police protection, fire protection, health protection, garbage collection, water and sewer services, airport services, street repair and maintenance, and related services. Approximately 70 of the City's employees were in the bargaining unit represented by the Teamsters. These employees were mainly laborers, truck drivers, and heavy equipment operators. Eighteen or nineteen were in the street department. The street department maintained and repaired the city's streets, which extended some 200 miles within the city. All the city's pedestrian cross walks, traffic signals, electric semaphore signals, street markers, signs, and emergency barricades were maintained by the street department. The City conducted extensive street cleaning operations. It operated five street sweepers, four of which were in use 8 hours per day, and two of which were in use 16 hours per day from early spring to late fall. The sweepers covered the residential areas of the city approximately once every ten days. They were each 8 feet wide and had to make several swathes to cover a street. The City had more than 8,000 individual residential garbage accounts, for which it was the sole collector. A fee of $1.25 per month was charged to each account, which entitled the account to two garbage pickups and one trash pickup weekly. The City employed four 16-cubic-yard compacter garbage trucks and one or two trash trucks for the collection of garbage and trash. The total hauling capacity of each of the compacter trucks was far greater than 16 cubic *618 yards because of each truck's pressure compaction capability. The commercial areas of the city were serviced by private licensed commercial haulers. The City maintained a sanitary landfill operation for the disposal of garbage collected by its trucks and the privately operated trucks. The garbage was dumped by the trucks, compacted by crawler tractors, and covered with a layer of dirt each day. The landfill areas were somewhat inaccessible and were reached by a road, the location of which changed continually because of the nature of the covering operation, which kept changing the dumping point. The access road was suitable for the trucks but was quite unsatisfactory for passenger cars. Approximately 250 compacted cubic yards of garbage were deposited at the landfill each day. There were 17 employees in the City's garbage department, and all of them except the supervisor were represented by the union. On the morning the strike was called, only three men from the street department and one man from the garbage department reported for work. Those who reported for work were sent home because they could not efficiently operate either of the departments. The maintenance or emergency crews failed to report for work at the city's sewage plant, although the operational crews reported for work. This was also the case at the city's water plant. The airport was not picketed, and all of the airport employees continued to work. Under these circumstances, it was imperative that the trial court issue its temporary restraining order enjoining the union from striking, work stoppage, and picketing, and that the temporary order be made permanent. It is our view that the injunctive relief was necessary to prevent obstruction by the Teamsters of the governmental function of the City. Further, we believe that the strike and the picketing in its support by the city employees were illegal. In 1965 the Supreme Court of Illinois had occasion to consider questions similar to those raised on this appeal. In that case an action was brought to enjoin the custodial employees of certain public schools from conducting a strike against the school board and from picketing. In granting the injunction the court said: In addition to supporting our conclusion that the Teamsters in the instant case may be enjoined from conducting a strike against the City, it also supports our view that a strike and picketing in support thereof by municipal employees are illegal. The picketing in the Illinois case and in the case before us was peaceful. Nonetheless, the Illinois court held it enjoinable: It cannot be denied that the proper and efficient collection of garbage and the maintenance of city streets are in the public interest. That picketing for an illegal purpose may be enjoined has been previously held by this court in the case of Minor v. Building and Construction Trades Council, 75 N.W.2d 139 (N.D.1956). In the syllabus of that case we said: A similar viewpoint is indicated by the following excerpts from a decision rendered by the Supreme Court of Errors of the State of Connecticut in 1951: The judgment of the trial court enjoining the Teamsters from striking, work stoppage, and picketing is affirmed. TEIGEN, C. J., and STRUTZ, MURRAY and KNUDSON, JJ., concur.