Opinion ID: 2806256
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Need For Certainty

Text: Employees, employers, and federal courts need certainty—prior to the advent of litigation—on whether an advocacy group is an RLA representative. For example, a court’s ability to enjoin a labor strike could turn on whether employees have designated a representative. Hypothetically, if AAPAG was not an RLA representative then the NorrisLaGuardia Act might prevent a court from enjoining an AAPAG-led strike. See Aircraft Serv. Int’l, Inc. v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters, 779 F.3d 1069, 1080S81 (9th Cir. 2015) (en banc) (Berzon, J., concurring). If, however, AAPAG was a representative, then the pilots would need to use the RLA dispute resolution mechanisms prior to engaging in economic coercion. See Bhd. of R.R. Trainmen v. Chi. River & Ind. R.R., 353 U.S. 30, 42 (1957) (finding courts can enjoin union strike while parties undergo mandatory arbitration). Resolution of the dispute would turn on whether AAPAG was the current bargaining representative, and that question is INT’L BHD. OF TEAMSTERS V. ALLEGIANT AIR 19 within the sole jurisdiction of the Board. See supra Section IV.A. In a similar hypothetical, if an employee had filed suit disputing Allegiant’s application of the Work Rules, the law and forum would turn on whether AAPAG was an RLA representative. If AAPAG was not a representative, and the Work Rules were therefore not a collective bargaining agreement, the employee’s remedy, if any, would be under state contract law. See Sw. Gas Corp. v. Vargas, 111 Nev. 1064, 1072 (1995) (explaining that employee handbooks can create an employment contract, even if the handbook includes a disclaimer). But if AAPAG was an RLA representative, the employee would have to use the Act’s arbitration procedures. 45 U.S.C. § 184. The forum, the law, and the remedy all turn on the status of the labor advocate, a status courts typically do not have jurisdiction to determine. Furthermore, many airlines establish employee advocacy groups as a way to facilitate employee input. The Board has repeatedly stated that employee committees are lawful under the RLA, unless the carrier uses the group to interfere with a Board election. Delta Airlines, 30 N.M.B. 102, 122 (2002); Am. Airlines, 26 N.M.B. 412, 453 (1999). Carriers often pay the advocacy group leaders for time spent advocating, as well as help set up elections, fund group programs, and provide management classes for group officers. See, e.g., Delta Airlines, 30 N.M.B. at 122–26. While carriers are free to organize channels of communication between pilots and management, those actions become illegal if the advocacy group unwittingly changes into an RLA representative. 45 U.S.C. § 152, Fourth. Those potentially negative legal consequences require employees to put the carrier on notice of a group’s representative status. 20 INT’L BHD. OF TEAMSTERS V. ALLEGIANT AIR Being an RLA representative also imposes legal obligations on the labor organization. Aside from the explicit obligations the Act lays out in Section 152, RLA representatives also have a duty of fair representation, Landers v. Nat’l R.R. Passengers Corp., 485 U.S. 652, 658 (1988) (citing Steele v. Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co., 323 U.S. 192, 204 (1944)). And representatives have a statutory duty to file reports with the Department of Labor, 29 U.S.C. §§ 402(j)(2), 431. It is important that employees act purposefully when choosing an RLA representative. When employees designate a representative, it affects the applicability of the RLA and the authority of federal courts to interfere on behalf of both employees and employers. The choice also imposes duties on both parties. This need for clarity compels us to hold that an entity becomes an RLA representative only when certified by the Board or voluntarily recognized by the employer.