Opinion ID: 159869
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Time Limitation

Text: Triple C contends that the Board improperly applied the six-month period of limitations set forth in § 10(b) of the NLRA to preclude Triple C’s attack on the majority status of the Union at the time the parties entered into the collective bargaining agreement. The Board and Union argue that the Board’s application of a rule “limiting the circumstances in which a construction industry employer that grants Section 9(a) recognition to a union can subsequently challenge the union’s majority status” is rational and should be upheld. Intervenor’s Br. at 24; see Petitioner’s Br. at 25-26. 4 Triple C argues that the Board is applying the pre-Deklewa conversion doctrine if a 9(a) relationship can be established without extrinsic evidence contemporaneously showing majority support. We disagree. Under the preDeklewa conversion doctrine, an 8(f) relationship automatically would convert into a 9(a) relationship when the union obtained a majority of employees. According to the record in this case, conversion would have occurred in September 1993. However, under Member Hurtgen’s analysis, even if Triple C could challenge the Union’s majority status when the contract was first signed in 1993, we think that a valid § 9(a) relationship was formed in July 1994 when Triple C executed a new contract which contained the 9(a) recognition language stating that Triple C had recognized the Union as the exclusive § 9(a) representative based on a clear showing of majority support. See R., Vol. II, Resp. 2 at 2. Because a majority of Triple C’s employees had signed authorization cards when Triple C signed the new contract in 1994, Triple C cannot argue that there was no majority support. -18- Strictly speaking, § 10(b) requires that challenges to unfair labor practices must be made within six months after the commission of the alleged unfair labor practice. 5 See 29 U.S.C. § 160(b); Local Lodge No. 1424 (Bryan Mfg.) v. NLRB, 362 U.S. 411, 419 (1960). Accordingly, the provision precludes an employer who fails to object to the union’s majority status within six months after a collective bargaining agreement is executed from attacking the lawfulness of the agreement on that basis thereafter. While the literal language of § 10(b) refers only to the issuance of complaints, the Board and courts have used the reasoning of Bryan Manufacturing to extend the time limitation to prevent a defense to an unfair labor charge based exclusively on conduct which occurred in the pre-10(b) period and which would be barred under § 10(b) if it were alleged as a complaint. See, e.g., Viola Indus., 979 F.2d at 1387; NLRB v. Tragniew, Inc., 470 F.2d 669, 673 (9th Cir. 1972); NLRB v. District 30, United Mine Workers of Am., 422 F.2d 115, 122 (6th Cir. 1969); Sewell-Allen Big Star, Inc, 294 N.L.R.B. 312, 313 (1989), enforced, 943 F.2d 52 (6th Cir. 1991). The overriding purpose of the six-month statute of limitations is “to stabilize existing [collective] bargaining relationships” by preventing lawsuits 5 Section 10(b) reads in pertinent part: “[N]o complaint shall issue based upon any unfair labor practice occurring more than six months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board and the service of a copy thereof upon the person against whom such charge is made . . . .” 29 U.S.C. § 160(b). -19- long after an unfair labor practice has occurred. Bryan Mfg., 362 U.S. at 419; see also Auciello, 517 U.S. at 785 (“The object of the . . . Act is industrial peace and stability, fostered by collective-bargaining agreements providing for the orderly resolution of labor disputes between workers and employees.”). Specifically, § 10(b) was enacted “to bar litigation over past events ‘after records have been destroyed, witnesses have gone elsewhere, and recollections of the events in question have become dim and confused.’” Bryan Mfg., 362 U.S. at 419 (citation omitted). In Bryan Manufacturing, the union committed an unfair labor practice by entering into a collective bargaining agreement that contained a union security clause at a time when the union did not represent a majority of the employees. See id. at 412-13. The agreement’s union security clause required employees to join the union within forty-five days. More than six months after execution of the collective bargaining agreement, employees filed unfair labor practice charges challenging the continued enforcement of the union security clause. See id. at 414. The Supreme Court held that the charges were time-barred by § 10(b). See id. at 415. It rejected the notion that the ongoing enforcement of the agreement was a continuing violation, because “the entire foundation of the unfair labor practice charged was the Union’s time-barred lack of majority status when the original collective bargaining agreement was signed.” Id. at 417. The Court -20- reasoned that enforcement of the union security clause itself was permissible and that the charges were based on a time-barred occurrence, i.e., the execution of the collective bargaining agreement with a security clause at a time when the union did not have majority status. See id. at 417-19. The Court refused to vitiate the policies behind the limitations period by converting enforcement of a collective bargaining agreement, perfectly lawful on its face, to an unfair labor practice by reference to an event that, because of a time limitation, could not be the subject of an unfair labor practice complaint. See id. at 419. Although § 10(b) was promulgated in the context of the non-construction industry where minority recognition is unlawful, the Board and several courts of appeals have extended it or a similar limitations period to the construction industry. For example, in Casale Industries, 311 N.L.R.B. at 952-53, the Board determined that, while the parties clearly intended a 9(a) relationship, it was unclear whether a 9(a) relationship was successfully created because a privately conducted election did not adequately show that the union had majority support. However, the Board refused to allow the employer to challenge the union’s majority status at the time of recognition because more than six months had passed since that recognition. The Board stated that “if a construction industry employer extends [§] 9(a) recognition to a union, and [six] months elapse without a charge or petition, the Board should not entertain a claim that majority status -21- was lacking at the time of recognition.” Id. at 953. The Board reasoned that, because unions should not have less favored status with construction industry employers than with non-construction employers, the 10(b) six-month time limitation should apply to construction cases. See id. In short, the Board’s rationale was to avoid disparity between the construction and non-construction industries. In addition to its decision in Casale Industries, the Board has applied the six-month limitations period in two other cases involving construction industry employers. In Triple A Fire Protection, 312 N.L.R.B. at 1089, the Board held that the six-month limitations period precluded the employer’s attempt to challenge the union’s showing of majority status approximately four years after the employer signed a contract recognizing a 9(a) relationship. Because the parties intended to establish a bargaining relationship under § 9(a) but waited four years to object, the Board concluded that it would “not at this late date inquire into the Union’s showing of majority status.” Id. The Eleventh Circuit enforced the Board’s decision, stating that the Board’s application of the 10(b) limitations period was reasonable and not erroneous. See NLRB v. Triple A Fire Protection, Inc., 136 F.3d 727, 736-37 (11th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1067 (1999). The court reasoned that the employer had granted § 9(a) recognition to the union and that “[i]t has long been recognized that section 10(b) prohibits employers -22- from waiting more than six months to attack the majority status of union representation at the time of recognition.” Id. at 736; see also Viola Indus., 979 F.2d at 1387. It also relied on the notion established in Deklewa that unions in the construction industry should not have less favored status than unions outside the construction industry. See Triple A Fire Protection, 136 F.3d at 737. The Board again applied a time-bar in MFP Fire Protection, 318 N.L.R.B. at 842. There the Board refused to inquire into the union’s showing of majority status after four years had passed since the most recent agreement was executed by the employer which voluntarily recognized the union as a 9(a) representative. See id. This court enforced that decision, holding that the Board did not err in applying § 10(b)’s six-month limitations period to bar “the employer from retrospectively asserting the absence of a § 9(a) relationship” after such a long period of time had passed since recognition. MFP Fire Protection, Inc. v. NLRB, 101 F.3d 1341, 1344 (10th Cir. 1996); see also Goodless Elec., 124 F.3d at 329 (reading Board precedent to require that “when a union claims it has attained majority status and the parties, based on that claim, agree to a Section 9(a) relationship, the employer must challenge that status within a reasonable period of time (six months), or be bound by its agreement”). But see American Automatic Sprinkler, 163 F.3d at 218 n.6 (allowing the party against whom the complaint has been filed to defend itself by challenging the validity of evidence of effective -23- voluntary recognition despite § 10(b)). 6 In light of these decisions by the Board and this court, as well as those by the First and Eleventh Circuit courts, we see no reason why the Board’s application of a time bar to challenges to the formation of a bargaining relationship based on a lack of majority status is unreasonable. In each instance where the Board properly precluded a challenge to the union’s majority status in the construction industry context, a substantially longer span of time than six months had passed since the grant of § 9(a) recognition. See, e.g., MFP Fire Protection, 318 N.L.R.B. at 842 (four years); Triple A Fire Protection, 312 N.L.R.B. at 1088 (four years); Casale Indus., 311 N.L.R.B. at 953 (six years). Likewise in this case, even if § 10(b) itself does not explicitly apply because there is no statutory prohibition on minority recognition in the construction industry, the policy behind § 10(b) certainly applies. It is reasonable to bar a challenge to the Union’s majority status and the formation of the contract after more than three years had passed. Other facts also support the reasonableness of the Board’s application of a 6 Although the Fourth Circuit notes in American Automatic Sprinkler, 163 F.3d at 218 n.6, that its analysis of whether § 10(b) applies to construction industry cases is contrary to this court’s decision in MFP Fire Protection, 101 F.3d at 1343-44, and the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Triple A Fire Protection, 136 F.3d at 736-77, we believe the Fourth Circuit’s decision is distinguishable on other grounds. See infra note 2. -24- limitations period. Not only did Triple C enter into a collective bargaining agreement which contained language unequivocally granting § 9(a) recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of a majority of the appropriate employees but it also executed a series of three additional contracts, all of which contained language identical to the first contract. Similar to the situation in Bryan Manufacturing, the entire foundation of Triple C’s defense against the unfair labor practice charges in this case is the Union’s lack of majority status when the original collective bargaining agreement was signed. Cf. Bryan Mfg., 362 U.S. at 417. In fact, we think it is unreasonable to allow a party defending against unfair labor practice charges to challenge the validity of a collective bargaining agreement, which is perfectly lawful on its face, based on a three-year old event, i.e., majority status recognition. Moreover, we agree with the Union that “the application of a rule limiting the circumstances in which an employer can challenge a union’s majority status [at the time of recognition] cannot depend on whether the union did or did not actually have majority status.” Intervenor’s Br. at 10. Finally, the manner in which the burdens are allocated to the collective bargaining parties demonstrates the reasonableness of applying a period of limitations in the construction industry. Initially, under Deklewa, we presume that a contract formed between a union and an employer primarily engaged in the -25- construction industry is governed by § 8(f). Once the party asserting a 9(a) relationship demonstrates that the employer has recognized the 9(a) status of the union, then the presumption in favor of § 8(f) dies and a 9(a) relationship exists. However, a second presumption comes into play when a 9(a) relationship is established: Where a union has demonstrated, at least facially, that a 9(a) relationship exists, it enjoys a presumption of majority status for the duration of the contract or for a reasonable period. In order to reconcile these two presumptions, we hold that if a party challenges the union’s majority status within a reasonable period of time from the date of recognition, then the burden remains on the union to prove its majority support in accordance with the initial § 8(f) presumption. 7 After a reasonable period of time has passed since the 9(a) recognition, and in keeping with the 9(a) presumption of majority status, it is then reasonable to preclude an attack on the 9(a) relationship based on a lack of majority support. This allocation of burdens also preserves the NLRA’s goals of uniformity and stability. 7 We note that a time limitation such as the one in § 10(b) is unique to both the employer and the employee. Thus, it does not begin to run until the parties have notice of the alleged illegal § 9(a) recognition (or other alleged illegal action). For example, with respect to employees, § 10(b)’s six-month limitations period would not begin to run until at least one statutory employee was hired or otherwise had notice of the employer’s illegal actions. See Texas World Serv. Co. v. NLRB, 928 F.2d 1426, 1437 (5th Cir. 1991); R.J.E. Leasing Corp., 262 N.L.R.B. 373, 381-82 (1982). This accrual rule preserves the Act’s goal of employee free choice. -26- We hold that it was not unreasonable for the Board to bar Triple C’s challenge to the Union’s majority status because a reasonable period of time had passed since Triple C had extended § 9(a) recognition, the parties were on notice that a 9(a) relationship was intended–as evidenced by the language of the contract, and the contract is facially valid. The salutory effect of our holding furthers the overwhelming intent of the NLRA to achieve uniformity and stabilize bargaining relationships.