Source: https://openjurist.org/491/us/299/consolidated-rail-corporation-v-railway-labor-executives-association
Timestamp: 2018-03-22 00:38:04
Document Index: 363949996

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 61', '§ 219', '§ 184', '§ 5', '§ 183', '§ 5']

491 U.S. 299 - Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Railway Labor Executives' Association
491 US 299 Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Railway Labor Executives' Association
491 U.S. 299
In this case, the Union appears to agree that the "arguably justified" standard generally is the appropriate one for distinguishing between major and minor disputes. Brief for Respondents 35, n. 29. But it argues that the dispute in this case, properly viewed, is neither a major dispute nor a minor dispute. According to the Union, where an employer has made a clear "change [in] . . . working conditions . . . as embodied in agreements," but asserts that it has made the change "in the manner prescribed in such agreements," § 2 Seventh, because it has a contractual right to make the change, the ensuing dispute is a "hybrid case." Brief for Respondents 34-35, 40, n. 32.
This approach unduly constrains the freedom of unions and employers to contract for discretion. Collective-bargaining agreements often incorporate express or implied terms that are designed to give management, or the union, a degree of freedom of action within a specified area of activity. See NLRB v. American National Insurance Co., 343 U.S. 395, 72 S.Ct. 824, 96 L.Ed. 1027 (1952); Rutland Railway Corp. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 307 F.2d 21, 35-36 (CA2 1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 954, 83 S.Ct. 949, 9 L.Ed.2d 978 (1963). Cf. Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 580, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 1351, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); see generally Cox & Dunlop, Regulation of Collective Bargaining by the National Labor Relations Board, 63 Harv.L.Rev. 389, 401 (1950). We have held under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that no principle of labor law prohibits "[b]argaining for . . . flexible treatment" and requires instead that, for each working condition, the employer "agre[e] to freeze a standard into a contract." American National Insurance Co., 343 U.S., at 408, 72 S.Ct., at 831. We find no difference between the NLRA and the RLA in this respect. Yet the Union would subject to especially strict scrutiny the bona fides of contractual claims arising out of contract terms that grant management the power to respond flexibly to changing circumstances. The effect of a selectively heightened level of scrutiny (a "clear and patent" rather than an "arguably justified" standard) would be to limit the enforceability of such contract terms, by requiring employers rigidly to maintain the status quo pending arbitration of their right to be flexible. That result is odd in itself, cf. Rutland Railway Corp., 307 F.2d, at 40 (requiring parties to negotiate over whether they have a duty to negotiate is "a solution sounding a lot like an exercise in theoretical logic"), and has unacceptable implications. To accept the bifurcated standard the Union advocates would, in effect, be impermissibly to "pass upon the desirability of the substantive terms of labor agreements," American National Insurance Co., 343 U.S., at 408-409, 72 S.Ct., at 831-832, by affording flexible terms a less favored status, cf. International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers v. Northeast Airlines, Inc., 473 F.2d 549, 555 (CA1), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 845, 93 S.Ct. 48, 34 L.Ed.2d 85 (1972).7
The effect of this ruling, of course, will be to delay collective bargaining in some cases until the arbitration process is exhausted. But we see no inconsistency between that result and the policies of the RLA.8 The core duties imposed upon employers and employees by the RLA, as set forth in § 2 First, are to "make and maintain agreements" and to "settle all disputes . . . in order to avoid any interruption to commerce." Referring arbitrable matters to the Board will help to "maintain agreements," by assuring that collective-bargaining contracts are enforced by arbitrators who are experts in "the common law of [the] particular industry." Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S., at 579, 80 S.Ct., at 1351. Full utilization of the Board's procedures also will diminish the risk of interruptions in commerce. Failure of the "virtually endless" process of negotiation and mediation established by the RLA for major disputes, Burlington Northern R. Co. v. Maintenance of Way Employes, 481 U.S. 429, 444, 107 S.Ct. 1841, 1850, 95 L.Ed.2d 381 (1987), frees the parties to employ a broad range of economic self-help, which may disturb transportation services throughout the industry and unsettle employer-employee relationships. See TWA, Inc. v. Flight Attendants, 489 U.S. 426, 109 S.Ct. 1225, 103 L.Ed.2d 456 (1989). Delaying the onset of that process until the Board determines on the merits that the employer's interpretation of the agreement is incorrect will assure that the risks of self-help are not needlessly undertaken and will aid "[t]he peaceable settlement of labor controversies." Virginian R. Co. v. Railway Employees, 300 U.S. 515, 552, 57 S.Ct. 592, 601, 81 L.Ed. 789 (1937).
This case, then, turns on whether the inclusion of drug testing in periodic and return-from-leave physical examinations is arguably justified by the parties' collective-bargaining agreement. Neither party relies on any express provision of the agreement; indeed, the agreement is not part of the record before us. As the parties acknowledge, however, collective-bargaining agreements may include implied, as well as express, terms. See, e.g., Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Air Line Pilots Assn. Int'l, 442 F.2d 251, 253-254 (CA8), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 871, 92 S.Ct. 70, 30 L.Ed.2d 116 (1971). Furthermore, it is well established that the parties' "practice, usage and custom" is of significance in interpreting their agreement. See Transportation Union v. Union Pacific R. Co., 385 U.S. 157, 161, 87 S.Ct. 369, 371, 17 L.Ed.2d 264 (1966). This Court has observed: "A collective bargaining agreement is not an ordinary contract for the purchase of goods and services, nor is it governed by the same old common-law concepts which control such private contracts. '. . . [I]t is a generalized code to govern a myriad of cases which the draftsmen cannot wholly anticipate. . . . The collective agreement covers the whole employment * MESSAGE(S) *MORE SECTIONS FOLLOWrelationship. It calls into being a new common law—the common law of a particular industry or of a particular plant.' " Id., at 160-161, 87 S.Ct., at 371 (citation omitted) (quoting Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S., at 578-579, 80 S.Ct., at 1350-1351).
The essential facts regarding Conrail's past practices—the facts in support of the positions of both Conrail and the Union are not disputed.9 Since its founding in 1976, Conrail routinely has required its employees to undergo physical examinations under the supervision of its health services department. The parties agreed in the Court of Appeals, and the District Court found, that Conrail's authority to conduct physical examinations is an implied term of the collective-bargaining agreement, established by longstanding past practice and acquiesced in by the Union.
On February 20, 1987, Conrail implemented the Medical Standards Manual in all of its regions, requiring drug testing as part of its periodic and return-to-duty physicals and, in addition, requiring follow-up examinations for all employees returning to duty after disqualification for any reason associated with drug use.10 An employee who tests positive for drugs will not be returned to service unless he provides a negative drug test within 45 days of the date he receives notice of the positive test. An employee whose first test is positive may go to Conrail's Employee Counseling Service for evaluation. If the evaluation reveals an addiction problem, and the employee agrees to enter an approved treatment program, the employee will be given an extended period of 125 days to provide a negative test.
In addition, Conrail has implemented the Federal Railroad Administration regulations recently upheld in Skinner against a Fourth Amendment challenge. Since March 1986, Conrail has required all employees covered by the Hours of Service Act, 45 U.S.C. § 61 et seq., to undergo postaccident drug and alcohol testing, pursuant to 49 CFR § 219 et seq. (1987).11
The dispute between the parties focuses on the meaning of these past practices. Conrail argues that adding urinalysis drug testing to its periodic and return-to-duty physicals is justified by the parties' implied agreement regarding physical examinations, as indicated by their longstanding practice of permitting Conrail unilaterally to establish and change fitness-for-duty standards, to revise testing procedures, and to remove from service employees who are deemed unfit for duty under those standards and testing procedures.12 Conrail contends, specifically, that past practice reflects that drug use has been deemed relevant to job fitness, and that Conrail's physicians have the discretion to utilize drug testing as part of their medical determination of job fitness. The expansion of drug testing in February 1987, Conrail argues, represents no more than a diagnostic improvement in its medical procedures, similar to diagnostic improvements Conrail unilaterally made in the past.13
There need be no "meeting of the minds" between the parties on the details of drug-testing methods or confidentiality standards for Conrail's current drug-testing program arguably to be justified by the parties' agreement. As we have noted, labor laws do not require all the details of particular practices to be worked out in advance. Conrail's claim that drug testing is an area in which Conrail retains a degree of discretion finds some support in the fact that the Union never before has intervened in the procedural details of Conrail's drug testing: such testing has been performed—like other medical tests—according to standards unilaterally promulgated by Conrail. Thus, the absence of a specific agreement between the parties regarding testing procedures and confidentiality does not sufficiently undermine Conrail's contractual claim to require that this dispute be classified as "major."
I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the reasons stated by that court. The routine medical examinations Conrail relies on as precedent for its drug-testing program could result, at most, in an employee being held out of service until his or her health improved. Conrail would have us believe that, in accepting such medical testing, the Union (arguably) agreed to testing for use of an illegal substance that could result in the employee's firing. It is unsurprising that the Union agreed to nonpunitive medical testing, and that it acquiesced in the employer making such unilateral changes in testing procedures as it determined were advisable on the basis of current medical technology. But it is inconceivable to me that in so doing the Union was also agreeing to the systematic, suspicionless testing, on such terms and in such manner as the employer alone prescribed, of all employees for evidence of criminal activity that, under the employer's plan, could result in discharge.* Such a contention, in my view, is not "arguable"—it is frivolous. I agree with the Court of Appeals that "[u]ltimately, Conrail's argument rests on the premise that testing urine for cannabis metabolites is no different in kind from testing urine for blood sugar. This ignores considerable differences in what is tested for and the consequences thereof." 845 F.2d 1187, 1194 (CA3 1988).
In the airline industry, also covered by the RLA, there is no national adjustment board; a minor dispute is resolved by an adjustment board established by the airline and the unions. 49 Stat. 1189, 45 U.S.C. § 184. See Machinists v. Central Airlines, Inc., 372 U.S. 682, 83 S.Ct. 956, 10 L.Ed.2d 67 (1963). In both the airline and railroad industries, the National Mediation Board has a limited role to play in resolving a minor dispute: under § 5 Second, the Board may be called upon by a party to interpret "any agreement reached through mediation under the provisions of this Act." See also 49 Stat. 1189, 45 U.S.C. § 183 (applying § 5 to airlines).
The Court rests its holding that the purpose of Conrail's drug tests is—arguably—medical rather than disciplinary solely on the ground that Conrail will not discharge an employee on the basis of one positive drug test standing alone and that it will permit the employee "a period of rehabilitative treatment" prior to a second test. Ante, at 319. I do not agree that these factors even arguably bring Conrail's drug-testing program within the realm of the existing medical examinations. Beyond this, however, I note that under the Court's reasoning the outcome of the case should be different if the employer's policy were indeed "to discharge an employee because of a single positive drug test." Ibid.