United States Second Circuit

Preliminary injunction precluding defendant union from engaging in any form of work stoppage against plaintiff airline, operating under Chapter 11 protection, is affirmed where Section 2 (First) of the Railway Labor Act forbids an immediate strike when a bankruptcy court approves a debtor-carrier's rejection of a collective-bargaining agreement that is subject to the Railway Labor Act and permits it to impose new terms.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/29/2007
• Published 03/29/2007

Judges

• Before: JACOBS, Chief Judge, WALKER and RAGGI Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Richard M. Seltzer (Thomas N. Ciantra and Oriana Vigliotti, on the brief), Cohen, Weiss & Simon, New York, NY, for Intervenor-Appellant., Heidi A. Wendel, Assistant United States Attorney (Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Melanie Hallums and David S. Jones, Assistant United States Attorneys, on the brief), for Amicus Curiae United States of America., John J. Gallagher (Neal D. Mollen and Margaret H. Spurlin, on the brief), Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP, Washington D.C., for Amici Curiae:  Air Transport Association of America, Inc., David A. Berg, on the brief.   Airline Industrial Relations Conference, Robert J. DeLucia, on the brief., William R. Wilder (Stefan P. Sutich, on the brief), Baptiste & Wilder, P.C., Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae International Brotherhood of Teamsters., Jeffrey Freund, Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. (Jonathan Hiatt, American Federation of Labor on the brief), Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations., Lee Seham (Lucas K. Middlebrook and Stanley J. Silverstone, on the brief), Seham, Seham, Meltz & Petersen, LLP, White Plains, NY, for Amicus Curiae Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association., Scott L. Hazan (Brett H. Miller and Lorenzo Marinuzzi, on the brief), Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, P.C., New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Northwest Airlines Corporation.


• For Appellees:
  
• Edward J. Gilmartin (Robert S. Clayman and Jeffrey A. Bartos, Guerrieri, Edmond, Clayman & Bartos, P.C., on the brief) Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, Washington D.C., for Defendant-Appellant., Brian P. Leitch, Arnold & Porter, LLP, Washington, D.C. (Timothy Atkeson, Timothy MacDonald, Kent A. Yalowitz, and Brandon H. Cowart, Arnold & Porter, LLP, New York, N.Y. and Denver, Colorado;  Bruce R. Zirinsky, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, New York, NY, on the brief) for Plaintiff-Appellee.