By Martina Barash 2020-08-21T19:08:16000-04:00
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union succeeded Friday in persuading the District of
Columbia Circuit to overturn a National Labor Relations Board ruling in favor of a rival union that
sought to represent several dozen port workers.
Three successive companies employed the workers, who maintain shipping equipment in Oakland,
Calif., according to the court.
The NLRB ruled that ILWU committed unfair labor practices when it accepted recognition from the
third employer.
That employer, Ports America, which was in bankruptcy, and a related company, MTC Holdings,
settled with the rival union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFLCIO/
CLC, over alleged unfair labor practices arising out of Ports America’s recognition of ILWU as the
Oakland port mechanics’ union. The companies agreed to pay the Machinists $3 million.
An administrative law judge approved the deal, and the NLRB declined to review it.
But the NLRB didn’t get its merits ruling on the commission of unfair labor practices right, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said.
Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, “a successor employer inherits the collective-bargaining
obligations of its predecessor only if the previously recognized bargaining unit remains appropriate
under the successor,” Judge Gregory G. Katsas said for the court. That analysis “ignores workplace
changes caused by unfair labor practices of the successor,” he said.
But here, “the NLRB extended that rule to ignore changes caused by unfair labor practices of the
predecessor” and didn’t adequately explain its decision, he said.
The dispute will return to the NLRB.
Judge Merrick Garland also served on the panel. “The late Senior Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams
was a member of the panel at the time the case was argued and participated in its consideration
before his death on August 7, 2020,” but his vote was not counted, the court said in a footnote.
Leonard Carder, LLP represented ILWU. The NLRB represented itself. Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld
represented the Machinists, which was an intervenor in the appeal.
The case is Int’l Longshore & Warehouse Union v. NLRB , 2020 BL 318648, D.C. Cir., No. 18-1124,
8/21/20 .
To contact the reporter on this story: Martina Barash in Washington at mbarash@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rob Tricchinelli at rtricchinelli@bloomberglaw.com;
Meghashyam Mali at mmali@bloombergindustry.com
Reproduced with permission. Published 8/21/2020. Copyright 2022 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bloombergindustry.com