Opinion ID: 519963
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the role of the courts in dealing with major and

Text: 10 MINOR DISPUTES UNDER THE RLA RLA 11 The RLA establishes a dual framework for resolving disputes between airline management and employee representatives. A court's possible involvement in these disagreements depends on the type of dispute at issue. If the dispute is a major one--that is, a dispute over the formation of a collective bargaining agreement or efforts to change the terms of one, Elgin, Joliet & E. Ry. Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, 723, 65 S.Ct. 1282, 1290, 89 L.Ed. 1886 (1945), adhered to on reh'g, 327 U.S. 661, 66 S.Ct. 721, 90 L.Ed. 928 (1946); Detroit & Toledo Shore Line R.R. Co. v. United Transp. Union, 396 U.S. 142, 148, 90 S.Ct. 294, 298, 24 L.Ed.2d 325 (1969)--either party may ask the court to issue an injunction preserving the status quo while the parties pursue the RLA's elaborate machinery for negotiation, mediation, voluntary arbitration, and conciliation. Shore Line, 396 U.S. at 148-49, 90 S.Ct. at 298-99. See 45 U.S.C. Sec. 156; ALPA v. Eastern, 863 F.2d 891, 895 (D.C.Cir.1988). If, however, the dispute is a minor one--one that contemplates the existence of a collective agreement and relates either to the meaning or proper application of a particular provision with reference to a specific situation or to an omitted case, Elgin, 325 U.S. at 723, 65 S.Ct. at 1290--the courts do not have jurisdiction to issue status quo injunctions. See ALPA v. Eastern, 863 F.2d at 895-96; ALPA v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 627 F.2d 272, 275 (D.C.Cir.1980). Rather, in seeking to resolve minor disputes, the parties must take their grievances to binding arbitration, see 45 U.S.C. Sec. 184 (1982); ALPA v. Eastern, 863 F.2d at 895, and each is free to act under its interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement until the arbitrator rules otherwise, 2 see, e.g., Burlington N. R.R. Co. v. United Transp. Co., 862 F.2d 1266, 1272 (7th Cir.1988); Brotherhood of Locomotive Eng'rs v. Boston & Maine Corp., 788 F.2d 794, 797 n. 5 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 829, 107 S.Ct. 111, 93 L.Ed.2d 59 (1986). 12 The court's jurisdiction to issue a status quo injunction thus depends on whether the dispute is major or minor, which in turn depends on whether an existing agreement covers the subject in controversy. If the dispute is arguably resolved by reference to the collective bargaining agreement, it is a minor dispute over which the courts have no jurisdiction. Burlington, 862 F.2d at 1272. In determining whether a dispute is major or minor under the RLA, [t]he court does not consider the merits of the underlying dispute; its role is limited to determining whether the dispute can be characterized as involving the proper application or meaning of a contract provision. Railway Labor Exec. Ass'n v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 833 F.2d 700, 704 (7th Cir.1987). If so, the dispute is a minor one that must be submitted to arbitration, even if the court believes that one party's interpretation of the contract lacks merit. Moreover, if there is any doubt as to whether a dispute is major or minor a court will construe the dispute to be minor. Railway Labor Exec. Ass'n, 833 F.2d at 705; accord International Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Washington Terminal Co., 473 F.2d 1156, 1172-73 (D.C.Cir.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 906, 93 S.Ct. 1530, 36 L.Ed.2d 195 (1973). 13