By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//October 21, 2013//
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Civil
Labor — mergers
A union did not exceed its authority by merging several locals into one.
“The TWU Constitution explicitly gives the International President the power to ‘interpret the meaning and application of the provisions’ of the Constitution. Art. V, § 1. In his January 4th letter regarding the IEC’s authority to restructure the locals, President Little stated that, ‘[t]he TWU Constitution grants TWU numerous powers over its Locals,’ including the authority to ‘merge Locals, transfer members between Locals, dissolve Locals, revoke charters and charter new locals. See for example, Article VIII, Sections 8(a), 8(b), Article XIV, Section 2, and Article XIV, Sections 1-3 of the TWU Constitution.’ President Little’s interpretation of the relevant sections is consistent with the court’s reading of the TWU Constitution in Local 507. Here, TWU is effectively consolidating five Local Unions into one, and the consolidation is similar to the merger of two Locals into one, which the court approved in Local 507. On its face, we cannot deem President Little’s interpretation as ‘patently unreasonable.’”
Affirmed.
13-1722 Transport Workers Union of America v. Transport Workers Union of America
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Tharp, J., Bauer, J.