George P. Shultz, Secretary of Labor, Cross-Appellee v. Local Union 6799, United Steelworkers of America, Afl-Cio, Cross-Appellants

The Secretary of Labor brought this action in the district court pursuant to § 402(b) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act against Local Union 6799, United Steel workers of America, to secure judgment setting aside an election of officers and directing the Local to conduct a new election under supervision of the Secretary.

That section authorizes the. Secretary to commence and prosecute such an action on timely complaint of a union member who has exhausted the . available internal remedies afforded by the union whenever the Secretary, upon an investigation, finds probable cause to believe that the election was not in compliance with Section 401 of the Act; Section 402(c) empowers the court to order a hew election if it finds the violation “may have affected the outcome of an election.”

The Secretary asserted three separate claims;

(1) that a rule of the International, applicable to all locals, including Local 6799, prescribing qualifications for candidate eligibility, exceeded the permissible limits of provisions in Section 401(e) and tainted the whole election, thus requiring a complete new election for all officers;

(2) that the eligibility rule (even if…