119 N.J. Eq. 230 | N.J. Ct. of Ch. | 1935
These two cases involve the internal affairs of Local No. 244, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada. The relief sought in both suits being identical in some respects and similar in others, and both concerning malfeasance or misfeasance of the union officers and alleged unlawful discrimination between members of that union, the cases were consolidated for the purpose of trial, were heard together and will be disposed of as one case. The first named case is known as the "junior" case; the second, as the "senior" case. The complainants in the first case are all so-called "junior" members of the local and the complainants in the second case are all so-called "senior" members of the same local.
By the first bill, complaint is made and relief sought as follows: *232
1. Complaint of the alleged illegal and unauthorized classification of the members of the local into junior and senior classes. The complainants seek full membership rights in the union and an injunction against the continuance of this classification and consequent discrimination.
2. Complaint against so-called "arm-work" or "working on the arm." The relief sought under this heading is an injunction against the continuance of this practice and an accounting by the officers of all moneys received by them as the result of such "arm-work."
3. Complaint of extortion by the officers, individually, of moneys from the juniors as the price of certain moving picture operators' jobs and periodical payments to said officers by the juniors as the price of their continuance in those positions. An injunction against this practice and a discovery and accounting for all of such payments are sought.
4. Complaint against the control by the union through its officers, and particularly by the business agent, of the various moving picture machine operators' jobs within the jurisdiction of the local and consequent discrimination between and among the members, and interference with their right to freedom of contract of employment. An injunction against the continuance of this practice is sought.
5. Complaint of the alleged illegal and unauthorized disbursement of moneys of the local since January 1st, 1929. A discovery and an accounting for such moneys are sought.
6. Complaint of misfeasance or malfeasance with respect to group life insurance. Discovery as to such insurance is sought.
7. Complaint of misfeasance, malfeasance, extortion, discrimination and general mismanagement of the affairs of the local. The relief sought under this heading is the appointment of a custodial receiver and an injunction against the officers' continuance in office.
The charges of the "senior" bill and the relief sought are generally similar to those contained in the "junior" bill. In addition they charge:
8. That the officers of the union have, without warrant, preferred charges against them and threatened them with *233 suspension or expulsion from the local because of their activities in support of the junior suit and in demanding recognition of their own right of freedom of contract; and they seek an injunction against the preferring or hearing of any such charges against them and from suspending or expelling any of them pending the final disposition of this cause. They also ask a decree declaring void all provisions of the local constitution and by-laws which in any way interfere with the members' freedom of contract of employment.
The final hearing in these cases began April 23d 1934, and continued intermittently thereafter until June 27th, 1934, during which period many witnesses were examined and voluminous testimony was taken. Subsequently, on July 30th, 1934, the testimony of two witnesses, officers of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada, was taken de beneesse in New York City, they having refused, for reasons best known to themselves, to submit to the jurisdiction of the court and testify in this state. At the conclusion of the final hearing in June counsel were directed to file briefs with the court. Complainant's brief was received on May 3d 1935, and that of defendants on June 20th, 1935. Had briefs been submitted immediately after final hearing, as directed, these cases could have been disposed of promptly. The delay, which has occasioned complaint on the part of some of the complainants, is due entirely to neglect of counsel. The effect of this delay upon other litigation pending before me cannot be accurately appraised, but it has proved a serious impediment to the prompt disposal of other causes of equal or greater importance.
I shall now consider the various complaints and the relief sought in their order as above stated.
This provision was evaded by the officers of the local by attaching to the local from time to time a number of operators who were known as "permit men." This practice was the result of the desire on the part of the officers to employ local talent in local theatres, while at the same time restricting the membership of the union to that number deemed requisite to insure the officers complete cotnrol of the positions involved. The permit men had no membership cards, were not initiated, paid no regular dues and were not participants in or beneficiaries of the group insurance plan. Their only right was to take jobs under the supervision of the local. The number of permit men had increased to approximately fifty in 1918 when the defendant Kauffman became a member, and the regular membership of the union did not exceed sixty down to 1925. Members of other locals having complained of this apparent evasion of the quoted section of the by-laws of the International, the officers of the defendant local conceived the idea of admitting the permit men to limited membership in the local and thus instituted the junior and senior systems, in total disregard of the spirit of equality and fraternity suggested by the preambles to the constitutions and by-laws above referred to. In March, 1929, *235 fifteen of the permit men were admitted into the local as juniors. These men were not novices in the trade or apprentices in any sense of the word. They were moving picture machine operators of many years' experience. Additional men were admitted into the local as junior members until at the time of the final hearing there were eighty-six juniors and ninety-one seniors. The proceedings for admission of the juniors were exactly the same as those applying to the admission of seniors. They applied for membership on printed application blanks furnished by the International. These were sent to the general secretary-treasurer of the International and approved by him. The applicants were then initiated and took the "oath of allegiance to the union." The ceremonial formalities of their admission were exactly the same as those of the seniors. Union cards exactly like those held by the seniors were issued to the juniors by the International. These cards were sent by the International to the local union and after their receipt by the local and before delivery to the new members the words "Jr. Dept." were stamped upon the cards with a rubber stamp by the treasurer of the local. The juniors pay exactly the same dues to the International Alliance as the seniors. The group insurance policy taken out by the local covers the juniors as well as the seniors and all are classified as "members" and all members — juniors as well as seniors — hold like certificates of insurance in which each is designated as "member of local No. 244." As already stated, the by-laws authorize no classification of members into juniors and seniors nor is there otherwise any discrimination among members authorized by these documents. There are, however, certain unwritten laws or rules promulgated by the officers of the union, with the approval of a majority of the seniors, which deprive the juniors of any voice in the union's affairs. They are not permitted to attend or vote at meetings of the members and they are obliged to surrender their jobs to the seniors upon demand. Seniors are also entitled to preference in the allotment of jobs. The juniors are required to pay to the local ten per cent. of their weekly wages up to $50 and fifteen per cent. of their wages in excess of that amount. They also pay $9 *236 dues per quarter or $36 annually, while the seniors pay $45 per quarter or $180 per annum, but make no other contribution to the treasury of the local. Thus a junior receiving $100 per week would pay ten per cent. of $50 or $5, and fifteen per cent. of $50, or $7.50, a total of $12.50 per week or $650 per annum; and in addition $36 dues, making a total of $686 as against $180 for the seniors. Out of the quarterly dues paid by the members $3 from the seniors and $6 from the juniors is allotted by the local to the sick and insurance fund. There is no written contract between the juniors and the local which authorizes these exactions or the consequent discrimination between juniors and seniors. The authority of the officers to thus discriminate between the two classes of members rests upon motions or resolutions of the senior members recorded in the minutes of the local, or upon the will or whim of the officers themselves. Under the "rules" of the local a junior member cannot be advanced to the position of a senior member except by two-thirds vote of the seniors at any meeting called for that purpose. Before a junior is eligible to such advancement he must deposit with the treasurer the sum of $500 in cash as an admission fee. The opportunities for such advancement under the arbitrary rules of the local are slight, indeed. Only eleven men have been made seniors since 1929, seven of whom were closely related to officers of the local; and two others were closely related to high officials of the Newark police department. It is admitted that at least one of these latter was made a senior because of the influence of his father, who was, at the time, a high police official. At the time of his admission he had been affiliated with the local only six or eight months. Other juniors who have been such for years are still waiting.
It is also a rule of the local that when a senior relieves a junior temporarily, the senior is to be paid at the full senior rate of $13 per day, even though the particular job pays less, in which event the junior must make up the difference. The junior has no voice in fixing the scale of wages of either juniors or seniors.
It is contended by the defendants that the juniors are really apprentices, and so they are registered in the New York *237 office of the International Alliance; but the classification is determined by the local controlled by the seniors and the secretary of the local wrote the word "apprentice" in each junior application without the authority of the applicant. But, as already stated, none of the juniors is an apprentice in any sense of that term; all are experienced operators and hold positions equal in importance to any held by the seniors; and there is no provision in the international or local constitution or by-laws for the serving of any apprenticeship.
The instant case is not unlike Cameron v. InternationalAlliance of Theatrical Stage Employes and Moving PictureOperators,
As already stated, the practice of "arm work" will be enjoined; but no accounting of the moneys collected by the officers will be ordered as it is apparent that "arm work" was an institution fostered and acquiesced in by the full membership of the union notwithstanding relief from the evil system could have been obtained at any time by application *239 to this court. The complainants are themselves at least partly responsible for the condition of which they complain — some of them eagerly sought the privilege (?) of doing "arm work" to curry favor with the officers and gain advantage over their fellows and thus to defeat that equality of opportunity and community of interest which unionism is designed to preserve. Their hands are not altogether clean.
"The business manager stated that as long as he held the position of business manager he would give out the jobs and nobody else had any right to tell any man that he would go here or there unless it came from him." (See Exhibit D-14, page 85.)
The evidence shows conclusively that this power was exercised by the defendant Kauffman in a wholly autocratic and arbitrary manner. This complete control of positions was a *241
vital element in aiding the extortion already commented upon. In the assignment of jobs the desires of the employers and of the employes are of no moment. The testimony supporting the charge of arbitrary control of jobs by the business agent and the evidence generally discloses that the men who were paying graft or "working on the arm" usually had steady employment. It is too plain for argument that nominal control of jobs was in the local, and actual control in the business manager; and that the members of the local who have acquiesced in this practice have surrendered to the local and to its officers their right of freedom of contract of employment. This situation is similar to that condemned by the court of errors and appeals in Lo Bianco
v. Cushing,
Article 1, paragraph 1 of the constitution of this state provides that "all men are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness."
In Walsche v. Sherlock,
"Those unalienable rights being guaranteed by the constitution, any contract, unreasonably restrictive thereof, is necessarily void. I do not suggest that every contract restrictive of constitutional rights is void. Mutual advantages arising from such contracts equal to the burdens assumed or privileges curtailed may justify an individual in waiving constitutional rights. But those rights which the constitution recognizes as unalienable will be preserved by the courts notwithstanding individual contracts of waiver especially where the public interest is affected because that interest transcends the will or whim of the individual. This concern as to the public interest is what is known as `public policy.' The contracts of individuals containing restrictions upon unalienable rights which are of an oppressive nature, and operating generally in the community to prevent workmen from obtaining employment and from earning their livelihood will not, therefore, be countenanced." *242
That statement is fully supported by the authorities cited in that opinion. We now have the added authority of Cameron v.International Alliance, c., supra, in which our court of last resort has expressed itself on this point in no uncertain terms. And see, also, Lo Bianco v. Cushing,
When labor learns to properly govern itself; when union leaders and business agents learn the essence of the golden rule; that enslavement of laborers to their autocratic and dictatorial whims is no less pernicious than the much decried and condemned enslavement of labor by capital, there will be less necessity for the intervention of the courts in labor disputes and controversies of this kind, and much less clamor, on the part of labor, against the injunctive power of equity — a power as necessary to protect labor from itself as from capital. There can be no "economic independence and security and *244 contentment of labor" so "essential for the public order and welfare" (Cameron v. International Alliance, c., supra) until the unscrupulous labor leader or business agent is shorn of his autocratic power. The solution of the problem lies with the rank and file of union labor itself.
The issue here is much deeper than appears upon the surface; it is not merely whether the bare acts of the officers complained of are wrong; it is whether the inherent right of the individual to work out his own destiny, declared by the constitution to be unalienable, shall be preserved; whether individuals are to be compelled to surrender to collectivism and collectivism in turn to dictatorship. It touches the very foundations of society. There can be but one answer to this issue. Once it is thoroughly understood the rank and file of labor will revolt against the assumed dictatorship of so-called labor leaders and of racketeering business agents and resume their right to individual effort and insist on the freedom of contract which is guaranteed them by the basic law of the land. Union labor may purge itself.
Decree accordingly. *249