Stearns v. Commission of Public Docks

Plaintiffs, Local 701 Hoisting and Portable Engineers and five members thereof, sought a declaratory judgment that defendant Commission, a public employer, could not discriminate among employees on account of their membership or nonmembership in a labor organization. Injunctive relief was also sought. A demurrer was sustained on the ground that plaintiffs had failed to join necessary parties, and plaintiffs appeal.

The complaint alleges that members of Local 701 formerly operated cranes at the Commission’s Terminal No. 4. Since January 1964 the Commission has employed only members of Local…