Opinion ID: 465035
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Impact on Collective Bargaining

Text: 30 As we have noted at the outset, in Section A of this part, the hybrid claims in DelCostello involve economic matters related to the union member's employment, as do the unfair labor practice claims from which the Court in DelCostello borrowed the six month limitations period. In contrast, the free standing Title I claim alleges a violation of union democracy and is concerned about the internal operation of the union. Although both types of claims may involve allegations of discrimination, discrimination in a hybrid claim or unfair labor practice charge is likely to center on unequal employment status, allegedly caused by the union's discriminatory treatment, in contrast to internal discrimination, e.g., depriving some individuals of the right to vote on certain union matters, disciplining without due process or in retaliation for speech, or refusing access to books and records. On the one hand, the complaint is first, and foremost, that of an employee; on the other, it is that of an organization member. See generally R. Gorman, Labor Law 699-701 (1976) (union member's protection under NLRA includes freedom from unfair, irrelevant or invidious treatment at the hands of the statutory bargaining representative in matters affecting the employment relationship , id. at 699) (emphasis added). 31 We acknowledge that the National Labor Relations Board has occasionally gone beyond this rationale to find violations of Section 8(b)(1)(A) of the NLRA for actions not directly implicating employment. See, e.g., East Texas Motor Freight, 1982-1983 NLRB Dec. p 15,002; Western Renaissance Corp., 1983-1984 NLRB Dec. p 15,931. The fact that there is an overlap between Section 8(b)(1)(A) and Secs. 411 and 412 of the LMRDA does not make the exception prove the rule. The labor-management relationship is still the core of the NLRA, as it is the core of the hybrid section 301/fair representation claim, and as distinguished from the LMRDA. Moreover, we see no significant problem if a union member, whose unfair labor practice charge has been barred by the statute of limitations, is allowed to file a timely LMRDA claim based on the same deprivation of a speech or voting right, if such has not affected his employment. At least in the case of a free standing claim which could fit either under section 8(b)(1)(A) or sections 411 and 412, we see no more reason to apply exclusively section 10(b)'s limitations period than to hold that a similar claim falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board. Cf. Boilermakers v. Hardeman, 401 U.S. 233, 238, 91 S.Ct. 609, 613, 28 L.Ed.2d 10 (1971). Indeed, the added opportunity for a remedy is consistent with Title I's focus on individual rights. 32 The difference in focus between the union democracy claims under Title I and the employment claims at issue in DelCostello leads to several concrete differences in the suits filed under these statutes. A Title I suit cannot be brought against the employer. It in no way challenges the stable relationship between the employer and the union. It does not affect any interpretation or effect any reinterpretation of the collective bargaining agreement and so, unlike the hybrid actions, a Title I claim does not attack a compromise between labor and management. Moreover, another factor in the DelCostello equation is lacking. There is no erosion of the finality of private settlements, for in free standing LMRDA cases the union member is not attempting to attack any such settlement. As in Auto Workers v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp., this case does not involve either  'the formation of the collective agreement [or] the private settlement of disputes under it.'  462 U.S. at 163, 103 S.Ct. at 2289. 33 We conclude, therefore, that the interests served by a rather short statute of limitations in DelCostello, stable labor-management relationships and finality in privately grieved and arbitrated settlements, are virtually, if not entirely, absent in the case at bar.