Opinion ID: 563200
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Promise to Maintain the Status Quo

Text: 52 Finally, the Union argues that the preliminary injunction against the drug testing program must be affirmed, because it enforces an express promise made by the employer to maintain the status quo embodied in the zipper clause. 53 We reject the Union's argument. First, the language of the zipper clause does not transparently communicate Oxychem's intent (if such an intent is present) to refrain from self-help or to maintain the status quo. Rather, the clause states that neither party may request the other to negotiate on any subject for the duration of the agreement, whether or not the subject is contained in the CBA. 54 The Union maintains that the zipper clause modifies the relations between the parties, however, with the ultimate effect of barring Oxychem from making any unilateral changes for the duration of the CBA. Absent a zipper clause, the Union contends, Oxychem would first have to demand that the union bargain over the proposed change, and then, if the two bargained to impasse, Oxychem could unilaterally implement that change. Since the zipper clause waives Oxychem's right to demand such bargaining, the Union contends, impasse can never be reached and the change never implemented. Oxychem counters, however, that the drug testing program is a safety rule. As a safety rule, the drug program would be reserved to Oxychem's discretion under the management clause, not covered by the zipper clause. 55 The Union's request for an injunction based on the zipper clause would require the court to decide whether the drug program is a subject covered by that clause. Cf. International Union, U.A.W. v. N.L.R.B., 765 F.2d 175, 180 (D.C.Cir.1985). Such a decision would clearly usurp the arbitrator's function, impeding, rather than assisting, the agreed-upon dispute resolution process. Because the parties have not contracted for a judicial preview of the facts and the law, Buffalo Forge, 428 U.S. at 411, 96 S.Ct. at 3149, we decline to speculate on the application of the zipper clause (or the management rights clause) to this case. We leave the merits of that dispute to the arbitrator. 56 Our ruling on this issue is consistent with Buffalo Forge, in which the Supreme Court declined to enjoin a sympathy strike, in part on the grounds that the application of the no-strike clause was unclear. The Supreme Court reasoned that a judicial interpretation of the no-strike clause--required if an injunction were to be issued--would invade the province of the arbitrator. 57 We conclude that the preliminary injunction issued by the district court does not fall within the the Boys Markets/Buffalo Forge exception to the NLGA. Accordingly, we reverse the district court decision without reaching Oxychem's other arguments. 58 Injunction vacated.