Young v. International Union

148 F. Supp. 3d 602, 205 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3019, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161006, 2015 WL 7733449
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedDecember 1, 2015
DocketCase No. 15-11151
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 148 F. Supp. 3d 602 (Young v. International Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young v. International Union, 148 F. Supp. 3d 602, 205 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3019, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161006, 2015 WL 7733449 (E.D. Mich. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING UAW DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS [16] AND DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ REQUESTS TO AMEND COMPLAINT

Nancy G. Edmunds, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs’ Complaint asserts a classic hybrid section 301 claim, alleging that the defendant employer violated Plaintiffs’ rights under several collective bargaining agreements, associated supplemental agreements and memorandums of under[607]*607standing, and that the defendant unions breached .their duty of fair representation. This matter is before the Court on two of the defendant unions’ motion to dismiss. The court held a hearing on this matter. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants their motion to dismiss (docket no. 16.).

I. FACTS

Plaintiffs are 93 former employees of Delphi Corporation, who are currently employees of Defendant General Motors, LLC (“GM”) and who work at the following plants, within the Eastern District of Michigan; Flint'Assembly, Davison Road CCA, Lansing Grand River, Flint Engine South, Flint Stamping or Lansing Delta. (Pis.’ Compl. ¶4.) Plaintiffs bring suit against three defendants: International Union United Automobile,- Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 651 (“Local 651”); International Union United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (“International,” together “UAW Defendants”) and General Motors, LLC (“GM”); (Pis.’ Compl. ¶ 5.) Plaintiffs’ claims are that Defendant GM violated collective bargaining agreements and related agreements because Plaintiffs remain at a lower Tier II wage level and they should be paid at the higher Tier I wage level at GM and that the UAW Defendants violated their duty of fair representation.

A. Background

The parties agree that in the early to mid-2000’s, the automotive industry, including Delphi Corporation, was experiencing financial problems and heading into an economic downturn.1 (Compl. ¶ 7; Defs.’ Mot. 1.) In 2004, the UAW and Delphi entered into a Supplemental Agreement (“2004 Supplemental Agreement) effective May 3, 2004. (Compl. ¶ 37; Defs.’ Mot. 4, Ex. 1.) The terms of the 2004 Supplemental Agreement applied to “all hourly bargaining unit employees newly hired oh or after the Effective Date at all Delphi facilities covered by the UAW-Delphi National Agreement, including temporary employees on.the roll prior to the Effective Date who are subsequently converted to permanent status.”2 (Defs.’ Mot. Ex. 1, Article 1; Compl. ¶ 14.), The 2004 Supplemental Agreement set up a second tier or lower wage rate for those incoming employees. (Compl. ¶ 14; 2004 Supp. Agr., Defs Mot. Ex. 1.) As Plaintiffs’ attorney clarified at the hearing, the majority of Plaintiffs began working for Delphi in 2006. (Compl. ¶ 14.)'They were paid at the lower Tier II levels pursuant to the 2004 Supplemental Agreement. (Compl. ¶ 14.) Some Plaintiffs had worked at GM prior to the Delphi spin-off in 1999. (Compl. ¶6.) Despite these cost-saving measures, Delphi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. (Defs.’ Mot. 5; see also In re Delphi Corporation, et al., Case No. 05-44481, 2008 WL 5155561 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2008).)

[608]*608Plaintiffs allege that pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding between Delphi and the International UAW, signed on November 21, 2006, all supplemental (temporary) employees in UAW-Delphi plants on or before November 20, 2006 would be converted to permanent employees and alleges that all Plaintiffs were considered permanent Delphi employees. (Compl. ¶ 8.) It remains unclear to what agreement this refers; neither party provided an agreement signed on this date.3

On June 22, 2007, after Delphi had filed for bankruptcy, the UAW, Delphi and GM. signed the “UAW-Delphi-GM Memorandum of Understanding Delphi Restructuring” or, as the parties refer to it, the “Restructuring Agreement” (“2007 RA”). This agreement figures prominently in Plaintiffs’ claims. (Compl. ¶ 9; Defs.’ Mot. 1 Ex. 2.) The 2007 RA provided that the “UAW-Delphi Supplemental Agreement dated April 29, 2004 .,. shall continue in full force and effect, as modified herein, for its stated duration,.... ” (2007 RA, Part A.) The 2007 RA included provisions under which GM agreed to absorb employees at some Delphi plants, and it also included retirement, buy out and buy down provisions, discussed in further detail, below.

Plaintiffs allege that pursuant to the 2007 RA, 1000 employees were to be “transferred to GM as permanent employees, keeping their same wage rates, same seniority and same spot on the wage progression scale (which governed pay increases).” (Compl. ¶ 9.) Plaintiffs allege that this should have included all Plaintiffs. The 2007 RA also included a designation for what it called “Footprint Sites”, and the Flint East site was one of these footprint sites. (Compl. 118.) The 2007 RA provided that Flint East employees would transfer to employment with a third party by December 31, 2008, and if not, GM and the UAW would “implement a solution such that these bargaining unit employees will no longer remain as Delphi employees.” (Compl. ¶ 18; Defs.’ Mot. Ex. 2 at 3-4.)

By March, 2008, only 230 employees were transferred to GM from Delphi. (Compl. ¶ 10.) On January 5, 2009, GM hired all Delphi employees, including Plaintiffs, pursuant to the 2007 RA. (Compl. ¶ 11; Defs.’ Mot. 1-2, 7.) Those employees were paid at Tier II wage levels from 2009 to present. (Comp. ¶¶ 13, 14.) Plaintiffs argue that with migration to GM they should have gained greater seniority and Tier I wages, in part because they had Delphi seniority that predated GM’s introduction of its own two tier wage system in 2007. (Compl. ¶ 14.)

B. Plaintiffs’ Grievance Process

On December 13, 2010, Plaintiffs filed a group grievance with Local 651. (Compl. ¶¶ 16-22.) There is no dispute that Plaintiff Young filed the grievance on behalf of a group. Plaintiffs allege that on October 13, 2011, nearly one year later, Plaintiff Young wrote letters to Jeff Austin, Chairman of Local 651, and Mike DiCosola, Servicing Representative of UAW Region 1C (International), inquiring about the status of the grievance. (Compl. ¶ 23.) According to Plaintiffs Complaint:

Plaintiff Young, who was a committee person for the Local at the time, said in her letter that she had been told on September 21, 2011 by local President Art Reyes that the grievance was “dead,” but plaintiff Young stated in her letter that no one had ever informed her verbally or in writing that the grievance was no longer active. (Compl. ¶ 23.)

On October 19, 2011, Mr. Austin wrote a letter “in response” to Ms. Young’s inquiry [609]*609regarding “Grievance # 90104 that was issues (sic) on behalf by you [Ms. Young] on behalf of the hourly workers.”4 (Compl. ¶ 24; Pis.’ Response Ex. B to Young Aff. at Ex. A.) The letter states that “[m]anagement as you are well aware denied the grievance and they gave their formal decision to the union on 1-27-11.” The letter laid out the path that the grievance took after management’s denial, including that the grievance was not settled as of a June 1, 2011 meeting and was “placed on hold.” It concluded that “[a]s to the current status of that grievance it has been relinquished to the Regional office and it is still in the possession of Mike DiCosola.” (Pis.’ Resp. Ex. B to Young Aff. Ex. A.)

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148 F. Supp. 3d 602, 205 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3019, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161006, 2015 WL 7733449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-v-international-union-mied-2015.