Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, Inc.

525 U.S. 33, 119 S. Ct. 292, 142 L. Ed. 2d 242, 1998 U.S. LEXIS 7110
Supreme Court of the United States·Decided November 10, 1998·No. 97-1056·Published·Cited by 297 cases

Opinions

[36]*36Justice O’Connor

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 49 Stat. 452, as added, 61 Stat. 140, 29 U. S. C. § 158(a)(3), permits unions and employers to negotiate an agreement that requires union “membership” as a condition of employment for all employees. We have interpreted a proviso to this language to mean that the only “membership” that a union can require is the payment of fees and dues, NLRB v. General Motors Corp., 373 U. S. 734, 742 (1963), and we have held that § 8(a)(3) allows unions to collect and expend funds over the objection of nonmembers only to the extent they are used for collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment activities, Communications Workers v. Beck, 487 U. S. 735, 745, 762-763 (1988). In this ease, we must determine whether a union breaches its duty of fair representation when it negotiates a union security clause that tracks the language of § 8(a)(3) without explaining, in the agreement, this Court’s interpretation of that language. We conclude that it does not.

We are also asked to review the Court of Appeals’ decision that the District Court did not have jurisdiction to decide a claim that a union breached the duty of fair representation by negotiating a clause that was inconsistent with the statute. We conclude that because this challenge to the union security clause was based purely on an alleged inconsistency with the statute, the Court of Appeals correctly held that this claim was within the primary jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board).

3>

The language of § 8(a)(3) is at the heart of this case. In pertinent part, it provides as follows:

“It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer—
“(3) by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment... to encourage or discourage membership [37]*37in any labor organization: Provided, That nothing in this subchapter, or in any other statute of the United States, shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a labor organization ... to require as a condition of employment membership therein on or after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such employment or the effective date of such agreement, whichever is the later .... Provided further, That no employer shall justify any discrimination against an employee for non-membership in a labor organization ... if he has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was denied or terminated for reasons other than the failure of the employee to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership.” 29 U. S. C. § 158(a)(3).

This section is the statutory authorization for "union security clauses,” clauses that require employees to become "memberfs]” of a union as a condition of employment. See Communications Workers v. Beck, supra, at 744-745.

The conclusion that § 8(a)(3) permits union security clauses is not the end of the story. This Court has had several occasions to interpret § 8(a)(3), and two of our conclusions about the language of that subsection bear directly on this case. First, in NLRB v. General Motors Corp., supra, at 742-743 (citing Radio Officers v. NLRB, 347 U. S. 17, 41 (1954)), we held that although § 8(a)(3) states that unions may negotiate a clause requiring "membership” in the union, an employee can satisfy the membership condition merely by paying to the union an amount equal to the union’s initiation fees and dues. See also Pattern Makers v. NLRB, 473 U. S. 95, 106, n. 16, 108 (1985). In other words, the membership that may be required "as a condition of employment is whittled down to its financial core.” NLRB v. General Motors Corp., supra, at 742. Second, in Communications Workers v. Beck, supra, we considered whether the employee’s “financial core” obligation included a duty to pay for support of [38]*38union activities beyond those activities undertaken by the union as the exclusive bargaining representative. We held that the language of § 8(a)(3) does not permit unions to exact dpes or fees from employees for activities that are not germane to collective bargaining, grievance adjustment, or contract administration. Id., at 745, 762-763. As a result of these two conclusions, § 8(a)(3) permits unions and employers to require only that employees pay the fees and dues necessary to support the union’s activities as the employees’ exclusive bargaining representative.

B

Respondent Screen Actors Guild (SAG or union) is a labor organization that represents performers in the entertainment industry. In 1994, respondent Lakeside Productions (Lakeside) signed a collective bargaining agreement with SAG, making SAG the exclusive bargaining agent for the performers that Lakeside hired for its productions. This agreement contained a standard union security clause, providing that any performer who worked under the agreement must be “a member of the Union in good standing.” App. 28. Tracking the language of § 8(a)(3), the clause also provided:

"The foregoing [section], requiring as a condition of employment membership in the Union, shall not apply until on or after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such employment or the effective date of this Agreement, whichever is the later; the Union and the Producers interpret this sentence to mean that membership in the Union cannot be required of any performer by a Producer as a condition of employment until thirty (30) days after his first employment as a performer in the motion picture industry .... The Producer shall not be held to have violated this paragraph if it employs a performer who is not a member of the Union in good standing... if the Producer has reasonable grounds for [39]*39believing that membership in the Union was denied to such performer or such performer’s membership in the Union was terminated for reasons other than the failure of the performer to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fee uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership in the Union . . . Id., at 28-29.

The present dispute arose when petitioner, a part-time actress, successfully auditioned for a one-line role in an episode of the television series, Medicine Ball, which was produced by Lakeside. Petitioner accepted the part, and pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, Lakeside’s casting director called SAG to verify that petitioner met the requirements of the union security clause.

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Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, Inc., 525 U.S. 33, 119 S. Ct. 292, 142 L. Ed. 2d 242, 1998 U.S. LEXIS 7110 (1998).

525 U.S. 33 (Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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