Opinion ID: 387940
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Nature of the Agreement

Text: 13 The agreements entered into between Precision and the Union are pre-hire agreements, permitted in the construction industry by section 8(f) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(f). Such agreements allow an employer to bargain with a union before the union has attained majority status under section 9 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 159. To avoid imposing union representation on non-consenting employees, the Act provides that the agreements shall not be a bar to decertification petitions filed pursuant to section 9(c)(1)(A) of the Act. 29 U.S.C. § 158(f). Such agreements permit use of eight-day union security clauses, such as the one used here. Id. 1 III. Effect of the Section 8(f) Agreement 14 An employer's duty to bargain and honor a section 8(f) agreement is contingent upon the Union's obtaining majority support in the bargaining unit. 2 NLRB v. Local 103, International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers (Higdon), 434 U.S. 335, 345, 98 S.Ct. 651, 657, 54 L.Ed.2d 586 (1978); Authorized Air Conditioning Company v. NLRB, 606 F.2d 899, 907 (9th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 950, 100 S.Ct. 1598, 63 L.Ed.2d 785 (1980). 3 When the Union obtains majority support, the parties' pre-hire agreement becomes a collective-bargaining agreement executed by the employer with the Union representing a majority of the employees in the unit. Higdon, 434 U.S. at 350, 98 S.Ct. at 660; Authorized Air Conditioning, 606 F.2d at 905. The pre-hire agreement is thus transformed into a section 9(a) contract. Upon transformation the contract bar rule applies. That rule prohibits challenges to an incumbent union's majority status during the term of an agreement of three years or less. Pioneer Inn Associates v. NLRB, 578 F.2d 835, 838 (9th Cir. 1978). 15 In this case the Board determined that the Union possessed majority support among Precision's employees because a majority of those employees were union members. The Union contends it was entitled to an irrebuttable presumption of majority status flowing from the existence of a valid labor agreement. We disagree. This position is inconsistent with the Act, inconsistent with prior decisional law, and irrational. 16 The Board has previously concluded that there is no basis, either in logic or in policy, to extend to the union which is party to (a section 8(f) agreement) an irrebuttable presumption of majority status. Indeed, we conclude that any such presumption would be irreconcilable with the final proviso to Section 8(f). R. J. Smith Construction Co., 191 NLRB 691, 695 (1971), enforcement denied, 480 F.2d 1186 (D.C.Cir.1973), remand accepted, 208 NLRB 615 (1974). 4 The Board also recognized that: It is possible that, in some situations, at least a rebuttable presumption of majority will arise from an 8(f) contract. This might occur, for example, when a union-security agreement is present in the 8(f) contract and has been enforced. Id. at 695 n.5. 17 Courts have followed the Board's position that a majority of the employees having become union members pursuant to a union security clause creates only a rebuttable presumption of the union's majority status. Higdon, 434 U.S. at 351 n.12, 98 S.Ct. at 660 n.12; Authorized Air Conditioning, 606 F.2d at 905-06. 5 18 It is irrational to hold that majority union membership obtained pursuant to a union security clause creates an irrebuttable presumption of majority union support. A union security clause operates to compel new employees to join the union, because union membership is the price for obtaining a job. NLRB v. Forest City/Dillon-Tecon Pacific, 522 F.2d 1107, 1109 (9th Cir. 1975). This court has previously stated that: It is well established that union membership is not always an accurate barometer of union support. Authorized Air Conditioning, 606 F.2d at 906; NLRB v. Tahoe Nugget, Inc., 584 F.2d 293, 307 (9th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 921, 99 S.Ct. 2847, 61 L.Ed.2d 289 (1979); Sahara-Tahoe Corp. v. NLRB, 581 F.2d 767, 772 (9th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2837, 61 L.Ed.2d 284 (1979). In this case the existence of majority union membership is insufficient by itself to raise an irrebuttable presumption of majority support. See NLRB v. Band-Age, Inc., 534 F.2d 1, 4 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 921, 97 S.Ct. 318, 50 L.Ed.2d 288 (1976).