Court Opinion

ID: 9630164
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:03:24.192568+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:33:34.238539
License: Public Domain

Murphy, J.
(dissenting in part). The majority opinion is correct so far as it pertains to the dispute involving the employees Fox and Tyndall and I concur only as to them.
The dispute involving Guerra is separate and distinct from that concerning Fox and Tyndall. It did not arise until July 20,1955, at which time there was no contract between the parties. There had been a contract prior to April 11, 1955, which covered the Fox and Tyndall discharges, since they occurred on April 4,1955, during the life of the contract. Guerra *25did not enter the defendant’s employ until June 21, 1955.
The contract between the parties was for two years effective April 11, 1953, and was to renew itself annually unless written notice of a desire to amend or change the contract was given to the other party at least sixty days before any date of expiration. The contract then provided that its terms and conditions would continue in effect “[d] wring the course of negotiations for amendment or renewal,” and that any changes with respect to wages would be retroactive. Had the union been content to act in accordance with the contract, the Guerra dispute might have been subject to arbitration. But in addition to giving the defendant written notice of its desire to change or amend the contract, the union went one step further and, in the notice, informed the defendant that the contract “will terminate on April 11, 1955.” The first notice to this effect was dated January 24, 1955, and was followed by a second notice on March 11, 1955. The only logical conclusion which could be drawn from the unequivocal use of this language by the union was that the contract would end on April 11, 1955; see Merchants Bank & Trust Co. v. New Canaan Historical Society, 133 Conn. 706, 714, 54 A.2d 696; and thereafter there would be no agreement between the parties covering their labor relations.
The majority opinion, however, chooses to ignore, as the trial court did, the union’s action in terminating the agreement, and predicates its conclusion that the Guerra dispute was subject to arbitration on the provision in the contract for the continuance of its terms and conditions “[d] wring the course of negotiations.” There were no negotiations in 1955 between the union and the defendant or anyone au*26thorized to act for the latter. It is true that the Motor Carriers Council had previously represented the defendant and had negotiated the 1953 contract. As the defendant resigned from the council effective March 1,1955, the council could not, without authority, negotiate for it. When the defendant resigned from the council, it notified the union that the president of the defendant would thereafter represent it in labor matters. The notice, sent by the union to the defendant on March 11, 1955, that employer representatives would meet with the New England teamsters unions neither obligated the defendant to send a representative to the meeting nor bound it by any agreement reached there. As there were no negotiations between the plaintiff and the defendant concerning a new contract, the old contract was not automatically extended after the union terminated it. Therefore, the Guerra dispute was not one which arose during the life of the contract or any bilateral extension of it and was not arbitrable.
It is difficult to understand the concluding paragraph of the majority opinion. It indulges in surmises and assumptions and completely disregards the action of the union in terminating the contract. The defendant took the union at its word and is now being penalized for having done so. That it made a mistake in not proceeding with the arbitration of the Fox-Tyndall matter, especially after it had requested the arbitration, should not nullify its defense in the Guerra case. Osmosis should not be held legally sufficient to create agency. Arbitration without representation is just as repugnant as taxation without representation. The award to Guerra should be set aside.