Trolley Union Files for U.S. Labor Status

A labor union has challenged the San Diego Trolley’s autonomy by petitioning federal officials to declare the passenger line a carrier covered by the U.S. Railway Labor Act, a labor attorney said Tuesday.

Richard D. Prochazka, attorney for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 465, the union that represents trolley workers, said a petition was filed Friday with the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington. The union filed the petition after it and the trolley system failed to agree on a new labor contract after 19 months of negotiations, Prochazka said.

If the ICC rules favorably on the petition, both the trolley and the union would fall under the jurisdiction of the federal National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board, Prochazka said. Both federal agencies could then be called by either side to settle labor disputes. Currently, the trolley workers are under state jurisdiction.

NLRB officials rejected a previous effort by the union to file unfair labor charges against the trolley’s operator. The federal agency ruled that it had no jurisdiction over the San Diego Trolley because it was a political subdivision of the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, which was created by the state Legislature, Prochazka added.

The National Mediation Board has also rejected two requests by the union to mediate labor disputes with the trolley. Board officials said they did not have jurisdiction to mediate because the trolley was not covered by the Railway Labor Act.

“We finally decided to go this route because the union felt it had to get the employer in a forum where a third party could look at the employer’s conduct and decide if it was good-faith bargaining. Otherwise, we don’t think we will ever get an acceptable contract,” Prochazka said.

However, Rod Betts, labor counsel for the San Diego Trolley, charged the union with grandstanding. He noted that Local 465 officials filed the ICC petition one day after rejecting the trolley’s “final proposal.”

“From our perspective, the union has filed this petition for the sole purpose of trying to pressure (trolley officials) into making a more favorable proposal,” Betts said. “We believe our final proposal is fair and do not intend to bow to this kind of improper pressure.”

Although both sides were reluctant to discuss contract specifics, Betts said that trolley officials are offering the union a 12 1/2% pay increase over a three-year contract.

Prochazka said the union’s main objection to the contract is the “employer’s attitude.”

“They’re telling us, ‘We’ll do what we want to do and you’ll take it and like it.’ For example, they gave employees two weeks’ notice that free parking will no longer be provided for them. Parking will now cost them $50 a month. Under the Railway Labor Act, they couldn’t do that because it’s a change in working conditions,” said Prochazka.

According to Prochazka, trolley officials explained that free parking for employees was no longer available because the lot is owned by the MTDB, which wanted it back. The trolley is a subsidiary of the MTDB.

“Anybody with an ounce of brains will say who’s kidding who. They’re two pockets in the same suit,” Prochazka said.

Prochazka said that a favorable ruling by the ICC would put the trolley under NLRB jurisdiction, but Betts said it is unlikely that the NLRB will ever exert jurisdiction over the trolley.

“Even if the union is successful with its petition, jurisdiction is not binding on the NLRB. The board has already concluded that the trolley is exempt from its jurisdiction because it is a political subdivision,” Betts said.

He said that the trolley is currently under the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Code, which covers transit districts. Local 465 was able to organize trolley workers in 1984 under provisions of the state code, which incorporates the rules and procedures of the NLRB, Betts said.

Trolley employees work in a modified open shop, meaning that workers are not required to join the union. Although Local 465’s bargaining unit covers about 225 workers, the union only has about 20 dues-paying members, Betts said.

Only 17 workers voted on the last contract proposal, because voting was limited to dues-paying members, he added.

The union’s argument for having the trolley under the coverage of the federal Railway Labor Act is based on the fact that the San Diego Trolley uses tracks owned by the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway Co., which is also owned by the MTDB.

In addition to light rail duties, trolley employees also maintain the tracks and dispatch freight trains on the tracks used by the trolley and the railroad.