Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. Allegiant Air, LLC

• Decision Date: 08 June 2015
• Docket Number: No. 14–16465.,14–16465.
• Citation: 788 F.3d 1080
• Parties: INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, AIRLINES DIVISION ; Airline Professionals Association of the IBT, Local Union No. 1224, Plaintiffs–Appellees, v. ALLEGIANT AIR, LLC; Allegiant Travel Company, Defendants–Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

788 F.3d 1080

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, AIRLINES DIVISION ; Airline Professionals Association of the IBT, Local Union No. 1224, Plaintiffs–Appellees

v.ALLEGIANT AIR, LLC; Allegiant Travel Company, Defendants–Appellants.

No. 14–16465.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Feb. 2, 2015.

Filed June 8, 2015.

Douglas W. Hall, Ford Harrison LLP, Washington D.C., for Defendants–Appellants.

Edward M. Gleason Jr., Law Office of Edward Gleason, PLLC, Washington, D.C.; Michael A. Urban and Nathan R. Ring (argued), The Urban Law Firm, Las Vegas, NV; James Petroff, Barkan Meizlish LLP, Columbus, OH, for Plaintiffs–Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Andrew P. Gordon, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 2:14–cv–00043–APG–GWF.

Before: RICHARD C. TALLMAN and JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges, and STEPHEN JOSEPH MURPHY, III, District Judge.^*

OPINION

MURPHY, District Judge:

I. INTRODUCTION

Allegiant Air is an airline operating from Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2004, Allegiant's employees organized a pilot advocacy group (the Allegiant Air Pilots Advocacy Group, or “AAPAG”) and elected representatives to bargain with the airline on their behalf. Over the next few years, AAPAG and Allegiant negotiated and agreed to several different Pilot Work Rules, detailed documents that outlined Allegiant's policies and work conditions. In 2012, some pilots decided they wanted to unionize. The Teamsters expressed interest in representing the pilots and petitioned the National Mediation Board (the Board) to certify them as the pilots' bargaining representative under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The Board conducted a secret ballot of the pilots and then certified the Teamsters as the pilots' RLA representative. Shortly thereafter, Allegiant changed several policies contained in the Work Rules without consulting the Teamsters.

The Teamsters brought suit. They sought a preliminary injunction that would prevent Allegiant from making any policy changes to the Pilot Work Rules while they negotiated a new contract. The Teamsters contend the AAPAG, its predecessor negotiating on behalf of the pilots, was a representative under the RLA. They argue that the Pilot Work Rules were a collective bargaining agreement. And they assert here that the district court properly enjoined Allegiant from altering the agreement until the parties complete the RLA mandated mediation process.

Allegiant disagrees. It contends the district court did not have jurisdiction to determine whether AAPAG was an RLA representative when it executed the Work Rules. It argues that even if the district court did have jurisdiction, AAPAG was not an RLA representative, but merely an informal employee advocacy group. It contends that the Work Rules are not a collective bargaining agreement, the policy modifications are at most differing interpretations of those Work Rules, and an injunction is inappropriate because the Teamsters have not demonstrated irreparable harm.

The district court found that it had jurisdiction over the dispute. It determined the AAPAG was an RLA representative, reasoning that the employees had elected AAPAG for the purpose of negotiating terms of employment with the carrier. It therefore enjoined Allegiant from making several policy changes until the parties had completed RLA mandated mediation. And it ordered the parties to create a Board of Adjustment to arbitrate the remaining issues.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). We conclude that AAPAG was not an RLA representative. We therefore vacate the injunction and remand the case.

II. BACKGROUND

In 2004, Allegiant grew tired of having “50–odd pilots constantly trumping through the office” with individual complaints. To solve the problem, management approached several senior pilots and asked them to form an organization that could channel employee grievances and provide pilot input. The senior pilots talked with their colleagues and a short while later thirty-five pilots met at PT's Pub in Las Vegas to create AAPAG.

Over the next few years, Allegiant grew rapidly, doubling the number of pilots and expanding its flights to new destinations. AAPAG grew with the company. The pilots annually elected officers who helped interview applicants, advocated for employees during grievance disputes, and discussed pay and work conditions with Allegiant's management.

AAPAG's stated mission was to communicate pilot concerns to management, and it described itself as a “consulting agency on issues relating to the pilot group.” For several years, pilots and management enjoyed a good relationship. Allegiant allowed AAPAG to give Power Point presentations to new hires. When pilots had pay or leave problems, AAPAG officers advocated on the pilots' behalf, and Allegiant always resolved the issue in a way that “was satisfactory for all involved.”

AAPAG and Allegiant also negotiated Pilot Work Rules, documents articulating company policies on leave, pay, scheduling, and other issues that mattered to the parties. For example, AAPAG negotiators and management agreed that the pilots would get an additional five dollars per hour in exchange for less guaranteed flight time. Before implementing the policy change, AAPAG conducted a secret ballot of the pilots, who “overwhelmingly approved” the change. During that period, Allegiant adhered to the Work Rules; when a question arose about the meaning or application of the Work Rules, Allegiant and AAPAG worked together to find a solution, and Allegiant typically made the aggrieved party whole.

The parties negotiated the most recent Work Rules in 2010.¹ The forty-nine page document was signed by both AAPAG's President and Allegiant's Vice President of Flight Operations. In the introduction, it states that “[t]he Flight Operations Department of Allegiant Air will develop, refine, and clarify changes to the Pilot Work Rules, Benefits and Compensation in coordination with the Allegiant Air Pilot's Advocacy Group (AAPAG), the elected and representative body of the pilot group of Allegiant Air.” It also states Allegiant would “meet with AAPAG to consider revisions and updates to the Work Rules” and that they would “coordinate with AAPAG” to resolve questions about the Work Rules application. Bold lettering at the bottom of the page reads: “Nothing contained in these Work Rules should interpreted as giving rise to a contract or a promise of employment for any period of time.”

In 2012, many pilots wanted to unionize with the Teamsters. AAPAG's officers agreed and campaigned on the Teamsters' behalf. Some AAPAG officers joined the Teamsters' Organizing Committee. AAPAG's president provided the pilots with a brochure stating they were operating “without a current contract,” that the pilots needed more than “a legal version of our 40 page work rules,” and outlined the benefits of Teamsters representation. During the unionization campaign, AAPAG took the position that the pilots did not have a legally binding contract with the company. And when the Teamsters petitioned the Board to certify it as the pilots' RLA representative, it listed the pilots as presently unrepresented. None of AAPAG's officers serving on the Teamsters' Organizing Committee contested that categorization.

The Board held an election among the pilots, who voted to unionize with the Teamsters. The Board then certified the Teamsters as the pilots' RLA bargaining representative. Two weeks after the certification, the Teamsters notified Allegiant that it intended to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. The notice stated that the Teamsters expected Allegiant not to unilaterally change any of the conditions in the Work Rules while they negotiated a new contract. Shortly thereafter, Allegiant changed its policies regarding pilots who lose their medical certificate due to being sick or hurt, eliminated pay protection for employees engaged in collective bargaining, altered how many days new parents could take off to spend with their children, and created a new scheduling system. The Teamsters then filed suit, seeking to enjoin the changes while the parties negotiated a collective bargaining agreement.

III. OVERVIEW OF RAILWAY LABOR ACT

Congress passed the RLA to expediently help railroads and their employees resolve conflicts, before disagreements turned into strikes that would paralyze interstate commerce. See Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. N. Am. Airlines, 518 F.3d 1052, 1055–56 (9th Cir.2008). In 1936, Congress amended the RLA to include coverage of air carriers, 45 U.S.C. § 181, but otherwise, the same structure of the Act remained.

Under the Act, employees may designate a representative to negotiate agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, and working conditions. When a conflict arises “among a carrier's employees as to who are the representatives of such employees,” the Board has the sole power to determine when a group or person is a valid representative. Id. § 152, Ninth. The Board is authorized “to take a secret ballot of the employees,” and may take steps to “insure the choice of representatives by the employees without interference, influence, or coercion exercised by the carrier.” Id. After the Board determines the employees' preferred representative, the Board certifies the representative, and “the carrier shall treat with the representative so certified.” Id.

Judicial review of representation disputes is extremely circumscribed. Federal courts may not review the Board's certification decision or independently determine whether a group represents employees. Switchmen's Union of N. Am. v. Nat'l Mediation Bd., 320 U.S. 297, 300, 64 S.Ct. 95, 88 L.Ed. 61 (1943). Furthermore, the Board's “decisions regarding its methods of investigation, balloting procedures, and findings regarding employer interference, influence, or coercion, have been largely unreviewable.” Horizon Air Indus. Inc. v. Nat'l Mediation Bd., 232 F.3d 1126, 1132 (9th Cir.2000). Courts have...