Shipyard Workers Educational Ass'n v. Lynch

This action for declaratory relief was brought by Shipyard Workers Educational Association, Inc., hereinafter referred to as the “Association,” and by four individual plaintiffs who are alleged to be “the elected or de facto board of directors and officers” of plaintiff Association.

The Attorney General of the State of California was named as the sole defendant. As a more or less incidental item of relief, the complaint sought a determination of the question whether or not the Association was a charitable corporation subject to the Uniform Supervision of Trustees for Charitable Purposes Act. (Gov. Code, §§ 12580-12585.)

The two adversary parties who entered the litigation by way of intervention are Local Union No. 9 of the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America and the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, APL-CIO. These intervenors, who are the appellants herein, will be referred to hereinafter as the “National Union” and the “Local” or “Local 9.”

The Nature of the Controversy

As the allegations of the pleadings clearly indicate, and as all parties apparently agree, the major and essential reason for the bringing of this…