King v. Randazzo (234 F. Supp. 388, 1964)

BARTELS, District Judge.

Plaintiffs bring this action under Section 102, Title I of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LM RDA), 29 U.S.C.A. § 412, on behalf of themselves and all other members of Local 1476, International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) [Local], against Sugar Workers Council of North America, International Longshoremen’s Association [Sugar Council], an unincorporated association, seeking (i) declaration that an asserted affiliation of the Local or its members with the Sugar Council is null and void; (ii) recovery of invalid dues theretofore assessed against them and enjoining collection of further invalid dues, and (iii) enjoining Sugar Council from requesting any employer to discharge or suspend any member of the Local for failure or refusal to pay such dues to the Sugar Council.

In substance, the Local alleges that in October, 1963, the Sugar Council declared that the Local and its members were affiliated with the Sugar Council and subject to the payment of certain dues in the amount of $2 per month, payable to the Sugar Council, that neither the members of the Local nor any governing body of the Local agreed to such affiliation or to the payment of such dues, that the Sugar Council has already collected upon demand $6 from each member and threatens to cause the discharge of any member of the Local who fails or refuses to pay the dues requirement for the quarter ended June 30, 1964, and that by reason of such intimidation will continue to illegally collect invalid dues from its members. Plaintiffs move pursuant to Rule 65, Fed. Rules Civ.Proc., 28 U.S.C.A., for an order enjoining and restraining the defendants pending trial from taking any further action with respect to dues, etc. by reason of said illegal affiliation, and the defendants ci-oss-move pursuant to Rule 12(b) (1) and 12(b) (6), Fed. Rules Civ.Proc., 28 U.S.C.A., to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it fails to state a claim and that the Court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter. Defendants predicate their motion on the ground that the LMRDA did not legislate in the area of internal organizational structure of unions and moreover, that the Local’s affiliation with the Sugar Council complied in all respects with the requirements of Section 101(a) (3) (B) of the LMRDA because unanimously authorized by action of the International Executive Council of the ILA (Executive Council) pursuant to authority contained in an amendment to its international constitution adopted at its convention in 1963. From the papers and briefs submitted the following appear to be the facts:

In 1957 the ILA adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of a charter for the Sugar Council. In 1961 a number of local unions pursuant to this authority, organized the Sugar Council as an intermediate body within the ILA. The Sugar Council then adopted a constitution which in Article X, Section 1 provided in part:

“Each member of each Local Union affiliated with this organization shall pay to this organization monthly, as per capita tax, a sum equal to two (2