Opinion ID: 725406
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Applicability of Preemption Analysis

Text: 9 In his reply brief, Montag contends that he is not a member of the union or the bargaining unit and therefore is not subject to the CBA. This court ordinarily will not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued in an appellant's opening brief. Officers for Justice v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 979 F.2d 721, 726 (9th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 1004 (1993). Even if we address Montag's contention, the contention is unavailing. Although Montag is not a member of the union, this does not mean that he is not subject to the CBA. The CBA covers all members of the bargaining unit. It defines the bargaining unit to include all regular non-supervisory MTS Level III employees, whether or not they are members of the union. As an engineer, Montag was a non-supervisory MTS Level III employee. Thus, he was a member of the bargaining unit and covered by the CBA. 10 Montag contends that because he never executed a written authorization upon entering employment and Aerospace never deducted union dues from his earnings, he is not a member of the bargaining unit. However, section 308 of the CBA, upon which Montag relies for this assertion, merely states that [d]eductions will only be made from the earnings of a member of the bargaining unit who has executed and delivered to the Company a written authorization each time the employee enters or re-enters the bargaining unit. This means that Aerospace cannot deduct dues without a written authorization, but it does not mean that an employee does not become a member of the bargaining unit without written authorization. 1 11 In his reply brief, Montag also contends that his complaint is not subject to LMRA preemption because preemption violates the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. Even if we were to reach the merits of this contention, but see Officers for Justice, 979 F.2d at 726, the contention would fail. Congress has the power to preempt state law pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Federal Constitution. Allis-Chalmers, 471 U.S. at 208. Moreover, a plaintiff bringing a proper claim under the LMRA is not barred from receiving a jury trial. See Teamsters v. Terry, 494 U.S. 558, 561 (1990) (holding that an employee who seeks relief in the form of backpay for a union's breach of its duty of fair representation has a Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury); Zuniga v. United Can Co., 812 F.2d 443 (9th Cir.1987) (describing jury trial in plaintiff's section 301 action against his employer for breach of the CBA and against the union for breach of the duty of fair representation).