Opinion ID: 2824665
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: board proceedings against southwest

Text: SW General, Inc. (Southwest) provides ambulance services to hospitals in Arizona. Its emergency medical technicians, nurses and paramedics are represented by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-60, 2 The NLRA also authorizes the appointment of a temporary Acting General Counsel. See 29 U.S.C. § 153(d); see also S. REP. NO. 105-120, at 16 (FVRA does not override appointment provision in NLRA (referencing 5 U.S.C. § 3347(a)(1)(A))). The President did not invoke the NLRA when appointing Solomon, however—perhaps because the FVRA allows an acting officer to serve for a longer period of time. Compare 29 U.S.C. § 153(d) (permitting service for 40 days, tolled while nomination is pending before Senate), with 5 U.S.C. § 3346 (permitting service for 210 days, tolled while first or second nomination is pending before Senate). 7 AFL-CIO (Union). The most recent collective bargaining agreement between Southwest and the Union contained a “Longevity Pay” provision, guaranteeing annual bonuses to Southwest employees who had been with the company for at least ten years. In December 2012—after the collective bargaining agreement expired but before the parties negotiated a replacement—Southwest stopped paying the longevity bonuses. The Union immediately filed a ULP charge with the NLRB. Regional Director Cornele Overstreet issued a formal complaint on January 31, 2013, alleging that Southwest had unilaterally discontinued longevity payments in violation of sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1), (5). After a hearing, an administrative law judge (ALJ) agreed that Southwest had committed a ULP. Southwest filed fifteen exceptions to the ALJ’s decision, the second of which challenged the ULP complaint on the ground that Acting General Counsel Solomon was serving in violation of the FVRA. See Resp’t’s Exceptions to ALJ Decision at 1 ¶ 2, No. 28-CA-094176 (Sept. 5, 2013). In May 2014, the NLRB adopted the ALJ’s recommended order with only minor modifications, see 360 N.L.R.B. No. 109 (2014), and it did not address Southwest’s FVRA challenge. Southwest petitioned this Court for review and the Board cross-petitioned for enforcement. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 160(f), (e).