Opinion ID: 399272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the legality of selective discipline for union officials

Text: 29 As noted above, the collective bargaining agreement effectively waived Fournelle's rights to escape any discipline for his actions at the union hall. Thus, we uphold the conclusion of the Board that Bethlehem acted permissibly in suspending Fournelle for five days, the same punishment imposed on the other strikers. We turn now to a consideration of the Board's ruling that Bethlehem violated the NLRA by suspending Fournelle for an additional five days. Our analysis of this second issue proceeds in two stages. First, we consider whether the parties to a collective bargaining agreement may legitimately agree that union officials may be more severely punished than other employees for violation of a contractual no-strike clause; on this point, we conclude that the parties may reach such an agreement. Second, in section IV, we consider whether a clear arbitration ruling by the parties' own permanent umpire, holding that selective discipline is permissible under the parties' collective agreement, should be given the same effect as clear contractual language permitting disparate discipline; on this second issue, we conclude that in this case the arbitrator's ruling should be considered authoritative. 30 We are not called upon in this case to decide whether an employer may selectively discipline a union official in a situation where the collective bargaining agreement is neutral on the question (i.e., the contract contains only a general no-strike clause) and there is no clear arbitration decision construing the contract to allow for selective discipline. In such a situation, if the union official is not otherwise a leader of the unprotected strike, selective discipline may run afoul of sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the NLRA. 15 However, we need not decide this question. In the present case we need only inquire whether the parties may, through the collective bargaining process, create higher duties for union officials during strikes and whether the parties may thus waive the rights of union officials to escape selectively greater discipline for their violation of those higher duties. 31 The Board has been notably inconsistent in answering this question. In Super Valu Xenia, 228 N.L.R.B. 1254 (1977), the Board sustained an employer's disciplinary discharge of two union stewards who participated in a strike in violation of the contractual no-strike clause. The Board, adopting the reasoning of the ALJ, noted that the collective bargaining agreement imposed on the union an obligation to undertake every reasonable means to induce (striking) employees to return to their job, and gave the employer the right to discharge union stewards who failed to fulfill this obligation. Id. at 1259. Hence the Board rejected the contention that the employer violated Section 8(a)(1) and (3) of the Act by 'impos(ing) a greater duty on its stewards to end unauthorized strikes.'  Id. It found that the stewards were discharged because they joined and participated in the unauthorized work stoppage and consequently failed to fulfill their obligations as stewards.... not in response to or in retaliation for legal or protected activities engaged in by them as a consequence of their union stewardships. Id. Counsel for the Board expressed the view at oral argument that the Super Valu Xenia decision remains authoritative Board precedent for the proposition that the parties may contractually impose higher duties on union officials during strikes, and that an employer may discharge officials who disregard those duties. Counsel's assertion is rendered dubious, however, by the Board's decisions in Precision Castings Co., 233 N.L.R.B. 183 (1977), and Gould Corp., 237 N.L.R.B. 881 (1978), enforcement denied, 612 F.2d 728 (3d Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 890, 101 S.Ct. 247, 66 L.Ed.2d 115 (1980). In Precision Castings, the Board held that an employer violated section 8(a)(3) by selectively disciplining union stewards who participated in a walkout in breach of contract. The Board found it immaterial that the parties had included in their collective bargaining agreement a provision requiring the union to take all reasonable steps to restore normal operations in the event of a strike. 233 N.L.R.B. at 183. Regardless of the existence of this clause, the Board held, discrimination directed against an employee on the basis of his or her holding union office is contrary to the plain meaning of Section 8(a)(3) and would frustrate the policies of the Act if allowed to stand. Id. at 184. Similarly, in Gould, the Board held that the discharge of a union steward who had joined a work stoppage in violation of contract was not validated by a contract clause that specifie(d) the responsibilities of union officers during strikes. 237 N.L.R.B. at 881. The Board buttressed its reliance on Precision Castings with the wholly unconvincing argument that the contract term setting higher duties for union officials was binding between the Employer and the union, but (did) not grant the employer the power to enforce it by discharging union officials. 16 Id. 32 Until recently, therefore, the Board appeared to have adopted a per se rule forbidding the selective discipline of union officials, regardless of whether the parties had collectively bargained for a different result. This per se rule, however, as we discuss below, has been unanimously rejected by the courts of appeals that have considered it. In light of this rejection, the Board appears to have retreated from the extreme position taken in the Precision Castings and Gould cases. In Armour-Dial, Inc., 245 N.L.R.B. 959 (1979), enforcement denied, 638 F.2d 51 (8th Cir. 1981), the Board found unlawful an employer's selective discipline of union officials, but noted specifically that the no-strike clause of the contract contained no clause imposing higher duties on union officials. The Board noted that it did not reach the issue of whether a union could, by contract, waive an employee's right to engage in protected concerted activity through the holding of union office by providing for the discipline of union officials. 245 N.L.R.B. at 960 n.8. The Board's current position with respect to the per se rule of Precision Castings is thus unclear. 17 33 Although the Board has vacillated in its adherence to the per se rule, the courts of appeals considering the rule have firmly rejected it. The Third Circuit, on petition for review of the Board's decision in Gould, Gould, Inc. v. NLRB, 612 F.2d 728 (3d Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 890, 101 S.Ct. 247, 66 L.Ed.2d 115 (1980), rejected the Board's conclusion that it was an unfair labor practice for an employer to discharge union officials who disobeyed a contract term requiring union officials to take positive steps to terminate contractually forbidden strikes. As the same court later noted, in a summary of the Gould decision, where a collective bargaining agreement explicitly requires union officers and representatives to use every reasonable effort to terminate an unauthorized 'work stoppage,' an employer may single out for disciplinary discharge a union steward who fails to take affirmative steps to terminate that work stoppage. Hammermill Paper Co. v. NLRB, 658 F.2d 155, 163 (3d Cir. 1981) (holding that where contract does not authorize employer's selective discharge of union officials, discharge violates section 8(a)(3)). 34 The Seventh Circuit has reached the same conclusion. That court, in Indiana & Michigan Electric Co. v. NLRB, 599 F.2d 227 (7th Cir. 1979), refused to enforce the Board's finding that an employer had violated the Act by selectively disciplining union officials who engaged in a strike where the contract contained language that the court interpreted as imposing special duties on union officials. See id. at 228, 230; C. H. Heist Corp. v. NLRB, 657 F.2d 178, 183 (7th Cir. 1981) (characterizing the contractual basis for the union officials' higher duty in Indiana & Michigan Electric as tenuous and refusing to infer such a duty from a generally worded no strike clause). 18 35 This unanimous rejection of the Board's per se rule is also supported by the general principles of waiver that we have examined above. If union officials have a right, in the absence of a contract term to the contrary, to escape harsher punishment for their participation in unauthorized strikes, this is a right in the economic area, subject to contractual waiver under Mastro Plastics, supra, and not a right pertaining to the choice of the bargaining representative protected from waiver by Magnavox, supra. The parties to a collective bargaining agreement may seek to increase the effectiveness of a no-strike clause by providing for heightened efforts on the part of union officials to avoid or reduce the disruptive effects of strikes during the contract term. Provision of harsher penalties for union officials who disobey these duties may spur union officials to honor those duties. Allowing the parties to give effect to such contractual terms furthers the strong national labor policy of substituting peaceful dispute resolution for industrial strife, and the equally strong policy of freedom of contract. See H. K. Porter Co. v. NLRB, 397 U.S. 99, 107, 90 S.Ct. 821, 825, 25 L.Ed.2d 146 (1970). Thus, the Board should not attempt in this area to meddle with the legitimate products of the collective bargaining process. 36 That one group of employees is treated differently from another group under such a contract term is not in itself objectionable. As the Supreme Court said in Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman, 345 U.S. 330, 338, 73 S.Ct. 681, 686, 97 L.Ed. 1048 (1953) (upholding a contract term that provided seniority credits for employees with military service): 37 Inevitably differences arise in the manner and degree to which the terms of any negotiated agreement affect individual employees and classes of employees. The mere existence of such differences does not make them invalid. The complete satisfaction of all who are represented is hardly to be expected. A wide range of reasonableness must be allowed a statutory bargaining representative in serving the unit it represents, subject always to complete good faith and honesty of purpose in the exercise of its discretion. 38 The contract's specific limitation on the exercise of section 7 rights by union officials is likewise not objectionable. The First Circuit, in NLRB v. Wilson Freight Co., 604 F.2d 712 (1st Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 962, 100 S.Ct. 1650, 64 L.Ed.2d 238 (1980), considered whether a union steward could be discharged for protesting certain statutory violations by his employer through channels disapproved by the contract. The court recognized that section 7 protects the rights of employees to be free from retaliation for their resort to administrative and judicial forums in an effort to improve working conditions, id. at 724 (citing Eastex, Inc. v. NLRB, 437 U.S. 556, 566, 98 S.Ct. 2505, 2512, 57 L.Ed.2d 428 (1978)). But the court held that where the collective bargaining agreement limited the powers of union officials to depart from specified channels in presenting complaints, the employer could discharge the union official who acted in disregard of the contract. The court saw nothing contrary to sound collective bargaining principles in the contract term. Id. at 726. An individual employee's normal right, derived from § 7, to complain to officials and legislators does not prevent the parties to a collective bargaining relationship from placing limits upon the powers of particular union officials in order to lessen the danger of wildcat strikes and work stoppages and smooth the process of collective bargaining. Id. 39 Similarly, the Board and courts have upheld contract terms that provide limited superseniority for union officials when such superseniority furthers the effective administration of bargaining agreements on the plant level by keeping the steward on the job. Teamsters Local 20 v. NLRB, 610 F.2d 991, 993 (D.C.Cir.1979) (citing Dairylea Cooperative, Inc., 219 N.L.R.B. 656, 658 (1975), enforced sub nom. NLRB v. Milk Drivers Local 338, 531 F.2d 1162 (2d Cir. 1976)). Such terms may have the effect of encouraging employees to become union officials, as would normally be forbidden by section 8(a)(3), but when they serve a substantial and legitimate business purpose-the effective administration of bargaining agreements-they are permissible. Likewise, contract terms that provide for greater punishment of union officials who participate in strikes in violation of a no-strike clause are permissible because they promote the effective enforcement of the contractual no-strike clause. 40 For the reasons indicated, we hold that where the collective bargaining process has imposed higher duties upon union officials than the rank and file, the officials may be more harshly punished than the rank and file for their conduct in violation of the no-strike clause and an employer's selective discipline of the offending union official will not constitute an unfair labor practice. 41