Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board v. Metropolitan Bus Authority
Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board v. Metropolitan Bus Authority
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board has requested this Court to enforce an order of that agency directed to the Metropolitan Bus Authority requiring the latter:
“To take the following affirmative action to effectuate the purposes of the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Act:
“(a) To deliver to the Seafarers International Union (Puerto Rico Division) the amount of the check-off dues of the operating and maintenance employees of defendant from the week commencing September 26, 1962 to the week ending January 1, 1963.
“(b) To serve notice on the Chairman of the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board, within ten (10) days after the date of such order, of the actions taken to comply with the order.”
In view of the fact that the action sought unquestionably affected the Seafarers International Union of North
The S.I.U. requested that the order be enforced and also that it be modified to include a pronouncement on the payment of interest “for the violation of its rights by defendant.”
The U.T.A.M.A. alleged that (a) the Board’s request was not in order, since the determination of the entity entitled to the checkoff dues was a matter which called for adjudication of private rather than public rights, wherefore the said agency lacked jurisdiction; (b) The decision and order affects more than 1,000 of defendant’s workers as well as the union representing them at present, without their being parties in the unfair-practice proceeding before the Board; (c) the deposit by defendant of the amounts deducted relieves it from further obligation and removes the settlement of the dispute to the ordinary courts of justice as the proper forum for such purpose; and (d) in any event, the proper action would be to order that the funds be delivered to the union which represents the workers at present.
Thus far the dispute as posed in the averments. For a better understanding of all the questions involved, it is necessary to sum up, in a general way, the turbulence and rapid changes which have characterized the labor-management relations in the Metropolitan Bus Authority.
A — The Facts
From and after 1949 the Metropolitan Bus Authority has bargained collectively with the labor organization certified by the Labor Relations Board as the representative of a majority of its employees in the appropriate contracting unit. Originally the labor organization was Union No. 1 of Chauffeurs and Mechanics of San Juan and Affiliated Branches, Inc., which afterwards changed its name to that of Union of Transportation Workers of Puerto Rico, IBL-AFL-CIO. Empowered by the certification, in June 1959 this union negotiated an agreement with the enterprise which would expire on December 31, 1962, whose article VII on checkoff
“The Authority agrees to deduct from the salary or wage received by the employees covered by the contracting unit the monthly dues agreed upon at a duly constituted assembly of the Union. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Union, with the approval of the President, shall send to the Authority a certification of such agreement for proper action. The amount of money so deducted shall be delivered monthly to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Union together with a copy of the payroll*489 or a list of the personnel to whom the deduction has been made.”
In March 1962 a large number of employees included in the contracting unit constituted a nucleus of opposition to the certified union, and sought the help of the Seafarers International Union (Puerto Rico Division) to present the corresponding request for investigation and certification as representative. An affiliation between the group of laborers and that international union did not properly exist, but their relations were characterized by certain peculiar conditions which, in fact, amounted to the recognition of the autonomy of the local entity to deal with its problems, especially as respects the bargaining agreements.
On June 19 and 20 the workers held a meeting at which they designated their board of directors, the delegates to handle complaints and grievances and for the welfare fund, and adopted other measures for the administration of the existing collective agreement.
Hardly three months had elapsed since the certification when late in September 1962 a certain unrest began to be felt among the workers because of the uncertainty respecting the special relation existing between the local group and the S.I.U. Impatient because the promise of autonomy had not materialized in a more tangible form, the directors called on Terpe for the purpose of inquiring on the forthcoming bargaining agreement and the stabilization — through a simple affiliation — of the local with the international organization. Apparently the vagueness of Terpe’s statements at this conversation, coupled with his exaggerated insistence that the certification had been issued directly to the S.I.U., aroused certain fear in the directors which convinced them of the need for calling the members to consider the situation. Among other things, the same day of the conversation the directors wrote a letter to the enterprise requiring it to initiate conversations to discuss the new agreement. It was
The relations between the group and the S.I.U. deteriorated rapidly. An assembly was held on October 2 and 3 which was attended by 470 workers. The decisions made reveal the complete and definitive split between that group and the S.I.U. The Union of Workers of the Metropolitan Bus Authority was constituted and it was agreed: (a) to petition the A.M.A. to discontinue the deduction of dues to the laborers to be delivered to the S.I.U.; (b) to withdraw the authorization of the S.I.U. to intervene in the new bargaining agreement; (c) to fix a quota for expenses of the local group; and (d) to substitute the Secretary-Treasurer, who had continued to be loyal to the S.I.U., by Ismael Vargas. Notice of all these agreements was served on the employer on October 4.
In view of this situation, on October 9 the A.M.A. withheld the dues deducted and started to deposit them with the clerk of the Superior Court.
On October 10 the U.T.A.M.A. filed a petition for certification with the Labor Relations Board. On December 11 this agency ordered elections to be held,
In the meantime, what happened in the administration of the agreement during the period between October 9 and December 31, 1962? Let us see. 1 — On October 17 the S.I.U.
On October 9, 1962, the Seafarers International Union filed a charge of unfair labor practice against the Metropolitan Bus Authority within the meaning of subds. (a), (b), (d), and (f) of § 8(1) of the Act.
On April 25, 1963, after the elections were held in which the U.T.A.M.A. was the winner and was accordingly certified as the exclusive representative for the purposes of collective bargaining, the Chairman of the Board issued a notice for a hearing and dismissal of charges setting forth that he would not issue any complaint respecting the averments contained in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) above, and summoning the A.M.A. and the U.T.A.M.A. to a hearing to show cause why the attorneys for the Board should not be ordered to appear before the Superior Court, San Juan Part, to request that the funds deposited be delivered to
On September 27 the Chairman of the Board ordered the Legal Division of that agency to file the corresponding complaint on the basis of the charge of violation of the agreement. The order was executed on the same day. The hearing was held on October 16. From the report of the trial examiner it appears that “Mr. Nicolás Nogueras, attorney for the Union of Workers of the Metropolitan Bus Authority, did not appear although he was duly served with notice of this proceeding and before it was commenced steps were unsuccessfully taken to locate him in his offices.” We have referred to the decision and order of the Board at the outset of this opinion. In order to account for its action, it says in part: “In the past we have considered that in cases of performance of obligations arising from a collective agreement the best rule is to exact performance of the agreement by the union concerned until the latter is substituted by another. ... We thus make clear for employers and labor organizations the cardinal principle of our Law that collective agreements must be literally performed, and we further make clear to the employees that whenever they designate a collective representative they are obligated to contribute to its support.”
THE JURISDICTIONAL QUESTION AND THE PROPRIETY OF THE REMEDY
In Puerto Rico Telephone v. Labor Relations Board, 86 P.R.R. 362 (1962), we re-examined the doctrine announced in Labor Rel. Board v. I.L.A., 73 P.R.R. 568, 579-97 (1952), in the light of the opinions delivered by the National Supreme Court in Guss v. Utah L.R.B., 353 U.S. 1 (1957), and San Diego Bldg. Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (1959), and reaffirmed the authority of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, in the exercise of its police power, to regulate the violation of a collective agreement as an unfair labor practice. We pointed out, in the face of a challenge of the jurisdiction of the State Labor Relations Board, that the exclusiveness of the National Board was limited, by the very terms of the act on the matter, to the scope of the activities protected and the unfair practices listed therein, and that, the field of violation of collective agreements not being regulated by federal but by local legislation, there was no conflict whatsoever of jurisdiction.
Once again we reiterate that the lawmaker vested the Board with exclusive jurisdiction to avoid and remedy unfair labor practices, Luce & Co., S. en C. v. Labor Relations Board, 82 P.R.R. 92, 97 (1961); Labor Relations Board v. Ortega, 79 P.R.R. 714 (1956); Asoc. de Guardianes v. Bull Line, 78 P.R.R. 680 (1955); Labor Relations Board v. Simmons Int't, Ltd., 78 P.R.R. 360 (1955); Asoc. Empl. Bayamón Transit v. Labor Relations Board, 70 P.R.R. 273 (1949),
The administration of this public policy was entrusted to the Board and it was empowered to enter the corresponding orders to cease and desist from conduct constituting unfair practices — prevention with prospective character — and to take such affirmative action as will effectuate the purposes of the Act — remedy for conduct contrary to the Act.
From the foregoing it may be inferred that, once the Board’s exclusive jurisdiction to take cognizance of a case of violation of an agreement is recognized, the question for determination is whether the measure adopted by way of remedy is adequate and succeeds in giving effectiveness to the public policy. In Asociación de Guardianes v. Bull Line, 78 P.R.R. 680 (1915), the Asociación de Guardianes de Puerto Rico filed a complaint on declaratory judgment seeking an interpretation on the scope of a collective agreement clause relative to the powers of a grievance committee. The
It is true that some isolated expressions may be found in federal cases which, in considering the claim of dues deducted in pursuance of collective-agreement provisions, refer to the fact that they involve the adjudication of private rights, and that, therefore, their determination is for the courts. Roberston v. Eastern Air Lines, 54 L.R.R.M. 2274; Local 464 v. Hershey Chocolate Corp., 53 L.R.R.M. 2612 (1963) ;
Considering all the circumstances of the present case, we hold that the Board’s order on the disposition of the checkoff dues is proper as a remedy incidental to an unlawful practice proceeding. Perhaps it is the only way of revendicating the public interest involved in the dispute. Any other solution would be an invitation to the employer, upon the slightest sign of germination or existence of a dispute, real or apparent, in the union membership, and notwithstanding the certification of the incumbent organization as exclusive agent of the workers, to deposit the checkoffs thereby depriving the recognized unions of an effective administration of any existing agreement, attempting against the very life of the latter, and encouraging dissension in serious detriment to the stability in the labor movement. This situation is much more critical in Puerto Rico where experience shows that the labor movement is unstable, and that very frequently its energies are devoted more to the internal struggles than to spreading the advantages of unionization.
An examination of the record convinces us that the order to deliver the dues to the S.I.U. is reasonable considering
We agree that this is not a proper case for the imposition of costs, Labor Relations Board v. Morales, 89 P.R.R. 760 (1964); Reserve Supply Corp. v. N.L.R.B., 317 F.2d 785 (2d Cir. 1963), 53 L.R.R.M. 2374, 2377.
The conclusion which we have reached also relieves us from discussing whether the U.T.A.M.A. could intervene in the present proceeding, even though as a matter of fact such opportunity was given to it before the Board, of which it did not avail itself, and before this. Court.
Lastly, this appeal shows the pressing need for a review of the labor relations legislation in order to conform it to the realities which have arisen in the course of the development of the labor movement and the country’s economy. The Board has efficiently discharged its mission, but many of its solutions have to be the product of improvisation. Such a situation is not desirable for an agency charged with the administration- of a public policy and much less for the
Judgment will be rendered enforcing the order of the Labor Relations Board and providing for the cessation of our order staying the proceedings before the Superior Court to which we have made reference in the course of this opinion.
In support of this assertion it cites paragraph 4 of the Board’s petition which reads: “To this date it has been impossible-to comply with the order copied above because the Union of Workers of the Metropolitan Bus Authority claims the dues referred to above, and has brought different legal actions to prevent the Defendant from complying with the Order entered by the Petitioner.”
As a result of the different claims on the amount of the checkoff dues, several actions were filed in the Superior Court, San Juan Part, which at the Board’s request and as an incident to protect our jurisdiction in the present appeal we stayed by order of April 8, 1964, to wit: (1) Civil case 62-7685, Ex parte Metropolitan Bus Authority, on Trusteeship; (2) Civil case 63-201, Seafarers International Union v. Metropolitan Bus Authority, on Collection of Money; (3) Civil case 64-40, Union of Workers of the Metropolitan Bus Authority, on Declaratory Judgment; and (4) Civil case 64-209, Seafarers International Union, etc. v. Metropolitan Bus Authority, on Damages. In the first two actions, which were consolidated for the purpose of disposition, judgment was rendered on November 27, 1963 decreeing their dismissal on the ground that the Labor Relations Board had assumed jurisdiction over the matter “in the exercise of its exclusive power, as consecrated in § 7 of the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Act.” A motion for reconsideration was denied on December 16. A motion to dismiss the complaint in Civil case 64-40 was granted on March 31, 1964, for identical reasons.
The Seafarers had filed with us a petition for enforcement of the Board’s order, which was entered under No. JRT-64-1. Within this proceeding it did not move for modification to include interest. We dismissed the petition upon taking cognizance of the present appeal.
In the report of October 29, 1963 of the official examiner it was expressly recommended that no payment of interest be imposed, considering that (1) this was the first time in which a charge of this nature, based on the facts already recited, was filed; (2) complainant union was an organization of recognized solvency, which enabled it to continue complying with its obligations as representative of the laborers.
Por this summary of the facts we depend on the disclosures of the proceedings before the Board in case CA-2765, within which the records which gave rise to decisions 273 and 304 of the Board were offered in evidence.
At the time this agreement was signed § 5 of Act No. 17 of April 17, 1931, 29 L.P.R.A. § 175, permitted the employer to deduct from the laborer’s wages the union dues stipulated in a collective labor agreement, and required the posting of a bond by the treasurer or official designated to receive such dues. The amendatory acts retain substantially the same wording. The authorized deduction of dues appears at present in the body of the section as subd. (d), 29 L.P.R.A. § 175 (Supp. 1963, p. 125). See, also, § 8 (1) (b) of the Labor Relations Act, 29 L.P.R.A. § 69.
On May 17, 1962, Keith Terpe and Felipe de Jesús, President and Executive Secretary respectively of the S.I.U., declared under oath:
“1. That the Seafarers International Union, Puerto Rico Division, shall indorse the autonomy of the Transportation Union of Puerto Rico. The workers of the A.M.A. shall have their own charter, elect their own board of directors, bargain their own collective agreements, and administer and direct their Union freely.
“2. That the Seafarers International Union, Puerto Rico Division, recognizes and shall recognize the right of the workers of the A.M.A. to administer and conserve their properties. These properties shall be the exclusive property of the workers of the A.M.A., and the Seafarers International Union, Puerto Rico Division, cannot, nor shall, intervene in the management and use of their properties by the workers of the A.M.A. This is a right of the workers of the A.M.A. and we SHALL RESPECT that right.
“3. That the Seafarers International Union, Puerto Rico Division, shall give its full moral, economic, legal, and physical support to the workers of the A.M.A., and we declare that the Seafarers International Union, Puerto Rico Division, shall continue to indorse the workers of the A.M.A. in their struggle against the tyranny and the dictatorship existing in their Union and shall stand side by side with the workers.”
It is well to point out that on July 11 the S.I.U. wrote a letter to the enterprise stating that the Secretary-Treasurer recently elected would not furnish any bond because the laborers were directly affiliated to that union, and that the funds accruing from dues were not under the immediate custody of that officer but were covered into the S.I.U.
The S.I.U. sought before this Court the review of the election order, and on December 21 we declined to issue the writ. The National Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari to review our order, 372 U.S. 914 (1963).
The said subdivisions, 29 L.P.R.A. § 69, in their pertinent part read as follows:
“(a) To interfere with, restrain or exercise coercion upon, or to attempt to interfere with, restrain or exercise coercion upon his employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 65 of this title.
“(b) To intiate, create, establish, dominate, interfere with or attempt to initiate, create, establish, dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization, or to contribute financial or other support to the same ....
“(c) ........
“(d) To refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of a majority of his employees in a unit appropriate for collective bargaining
“(f) To violate the terms of a collective bargaining contract . . . .”
On November 21, 1963, the Board appeared in the consolidated actions to which we have referred in n. 2, and moved for dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, together with a copy of its decision and order.
It- also appeared on January 16, 1964, in the action for declaratory judgment and made the same contention.
We examined .recently an aspect of the jurisdiction of both agencies in Labor Relations Board v. Milares Realty, Inc., 90 P.R.R. 821 (1964).
It is well to recall that both the original charge of unfair practice and the act of deposit took place on the same day of October 9, 1962. The Board entered its order, which includes the pronouncement on the disposition of the dues deducted, on November 15, 1963, when no final action had been taken by the courts of justice.
Section 7(a) of the Labor Relations Act, 29 L.P.R.A. § 68, provides that “The Board shall have power ... to prevent any person from engaging in any of the unfair labor practices enumerated in section 8. This power shall be exclusive and shall not be affected by any other method of adjustment or prevention.”
In the federal jurisdiction, see 29 U.S.C. § 141, and Garner v. Teamsters Union, 346 U.S. 485 (1953); Newport News Co. v. Schauffler, 303
There are obvious reasons of special importance requiring the disqualification of the judicial forum and the establishment of the primary-jurisdiction of a specialized agency to take cognizance of matters involving conduct allegedly constituting an unfair practice: (a) the need for attaining uniformity in the construction and application of the Act and in the administration of the labor policy, Puerto Rico Telephone Co. v. Labor Relations Board, supra; (b) to prevent the proliferation of proceedings and the possibility of conflicting judicial decisions, Luce & Co., S. en C. v. Labor Relations Board, 82 P.R.R. 92 (1961); (c) the implied capacity of a specialized board to enforce a defined public policy, see San Diego
In Commonwealth v. 12,974.78 Square Meters, 90 P.R.R. 494 (1964), we made an ample exposition of the doctrine of primary jurisdiction and its importance in administrative law. We refer to it.
Unlike the federal legislation, 29 U.S.C. § 160 (j), our Act does not empower the Board to petition for temporary relief aimed at preventing the continuation of actions which prima facie constitute unfair practices. The Board has been unsuccessfully seeking this authority since 1962. See the Eighth Annual Report of the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board, p. 63 et seq., S.B. 344 introduced on April 15, 1963, and H.B. 240 introduced on March 14, 1957.
The Legislative Assembly is bound to determine whether the purpose pursued — the elimination of the commission of unfair practice subsequent to the stage in which the complaint has been issued, namely, after an administrative determination of probable' cause has been made, without having to wait for the termination of a protracted proceeding — is warranted under extraordinary circumstances.
The intervention of the courts has been restricted even more as a result of the opinion delivered in Pérez v. Water Resources Authority, 87 P.R.R. 110 (1963).
The fact that the dues should benefit the employees who pay them is considered a determining factor in these cases, a criterion which is probably more adequate in the case of property acquired through the investment of union funds.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.