Local Union 204 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Affiliated With the Afl-Cio v. Iowa Electric Light and Power Company

668 F.2d 413, 109 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2305, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 22776
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 8, 1982
Docket81-1012
StatusPublished
Cited by70 cases

This text of 668 F.2d 413 (Local Union 204 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Affiliated With the Afl-Cio v. Iowa Electric Light and Power Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Local Union 204 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Affiliated With the Afl-Cio v. Iowa Electric Light and Power Company, 668 F.2d 413, 109 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2305, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 22776 (8th Cir. 1982).

Opinion

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

The defendant, Iowa Electric Light and Power Company (Iowa Electric), appeals an order by the district court 1 granting the motion of Local Union 204 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (the union) for summary judgment in an action brought pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (1976). 2 For the reasons stated herein, we reverse.

I. Background.

Iowa Electric operates the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear power plant at *415 Palo, Iowa. In 1979 Quality Control Inspectors (QCI’s), who were not members of the union bargaining unit apparently desired union representation. Pursuant to accretion procedures in an existing collective bargaining agreement between Iowa Electric and the union, the union petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under section 9(c) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 159(c) (1976), for accretion of Quality Control Inspectors to the bargaining unit. 3 Iowa Electric resisted accretion contending that because Quality Control Inspectors are managerial or supervisory personnel, they are not includable within the bargaining unit for “employees.”

On March 23,1979, after a hearing before a hearing officer, the Regional Director of the NLRB affirmed the hearing officer’s finding that QCI’s were “employees” within the meaning of the collective bargaining agreement rather than management or supervisory personnel. Therefore, an election was directed to be held among the QCI’s to determine if a majority of these employees chose the union as their bargaining representative. The Regional Director’s decision was affirmed by a 3 to 2 vote of the NLRB.

On October 12, 1979, the election designating the union as the bargaining representative for QCI’s was certified by the Regional Director of the NLRB. The union notified the company that it wished to meet to negotiate contract modifications. Iowa Electric notified the union that it did not intend to negotiate because it still maintained that the Quality Control Inspector position was managerial or supervisory and therefore, not appropriate for the bargaining unit. When the union proceeded through the grievance procedures of the contract, the company continued to refuse to discuss the matter on these grounds. Finally, pursuant to Article V, Section 4 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, 4 the union notified the company that it deemed its proposed contract modifications to have been accepted. When the company refused to meet the union’s pay demands for QCI’s, the union filed suit for breach of the collective bargaining agreement under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act.

The district court recognized that there was a question as to whether its jurisdiction was properly invoked in such a ease, but concluded that it had jurisdiction under section 301 because the union’s complaint alleged a breach of the agreement by the company in engaging in activity to defeat or evade the terms of the agreement. Local Union 204, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Iowa Electric Light and Power Co., 496 F.Supp. 873, 875 (N.D.Iowa 1980). The court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds that because there was substantial evidence on the administrative record that QCI’s were “employees,” there was no genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 877. Consequently, the court entered a judgment against Iowa Electric for $23,400 damages.

Before admitting the necessity of addressing the soundness of the district court’s analysis and conclusions as to the status of QCI’s, we must first answer the question of whether a union representational matter, like that before this court, which is committed to the jurisdiction of the NLRB under 29 U.S.C. § 159, and which may be the subject of an unfair labor practice proceeding, 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(5) (1976), 5 may also serve as the basis for a *416 section 301 contract violation suit in the district court.

II. District Court Jurisdiction.

Although we believe that the factual circumstances of this case present a somewhat novel question, we are not without guidance as to district court jurisdiction under section 301 over representational matters which may also constitute unfair labor practices under 29 U.S.C. § 158. The well entrenched general rule is that the fact that a particular activity may constitute an unfair labor practice under section 8 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158, does not necessarily preclude the district court’s jurisdiction under section 301 of the Act if that activity also constitutes a breach of the collective bargaining agreement. William E. Arnold Co. v. Carpenters District Council, 417 U.S. 12, 15-16, 94 S.Ct. 2069, 2071-72, 40 L.Ed.2d 620 (1974); Smith v. Evening News Association, 371 U.S. 195, 197, 83 S.Ct. 267, 268, 9 L.Ed.2d 246 (1962); National Rejectors Industries v. United Steelworkers, 562 F.2d 1069, 1074 (8th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 923, 98 S.Ct. 1486, 55 L.Ed.2d 517 (1978); Brown v. Sterling Aluminum Products Corporation, 365 F.2d 651, 656 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 957, 87 S.Ct. 1023, 18 L.Ed.2d 105 (1967). However, we are unable to find any case in which this rule has been held to apply to representational matters within the Board’s jurisdiction under section 9 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 159. Instead, representational matters have been almost invariably processed administratively through the NLRB under section 9 of the Act, with judicial review of the Board’s determination by the courts of appeals under section 10 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 160. 6 Local No. 3-198, International Woodworkers v. Ketchikan Pulp Co., 611 F.2d 1295, 1299 (9th Cir. 1980); see, e.g., South Prairie Construction Co. v.

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668 F.2d 413, 109 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2305, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 22776, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/local-union-204-of-the-international-brotherhood-of-electrical-workers-ca8-1982.