United Auto., Aerospace and Agr. Implement Workers of America, Local 33 v. R.E. Dietz Co.

• Decision Date: 17 June 1993
• Docket Number: No. 1419,D,1419
• Citation: 996 F.2d 592
• Parties: 143 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2580, 62 USLW 2048, 125 Lab.Cas. P 10,747, 16 Employee Benefits Cas. 2715, Pens. Plan Guide P 23880D UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 33, and Kirk Golden, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. R.E. DIETZ COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee. ocket 92-9368.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 592

996 F.2d 592

143 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2580, 62 USLW 2048,

125 Lab.Cas. P 10,747,

16 Employee Benefits Cas. 2715,

Pens. Plan Guide P 23880D

UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 33, and Kirk Golden, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. R.E. DIETZ COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 1419, Docket 92-9368.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued April 28, 1993.

Decided June 17, 1993.

Thomas J. Giblin, New York City (Giblin & Lynch, Leonard R. Page, Detroit, Michigan, of counsel), for plaintiffs-appellants United Auto., Aerospace and Agr. Implement Workers of America, Local 33, and Kirk Golden, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated.

Renee L. James, Syracuse, NY (John T. McCann, of counsel), for defendant-appellee R.E. Dietz Co.

Before: NEWMAN, MAHONEY, Circuit Judges, and EGINTON ^*, District Judge.

EGINTON, Senior District Judge:

Appellants United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America ("U.A.W."), Local 33, and Kirk Golden, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, brought this action under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185, § 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1132, and 28 U.S.C. § 1331 seeking to recover vacation pay requested by Golden and other Local 33 members while they were on strike in 1989. Pursuant to several dispositive motions, the district court dismissed all three counts of the complaint. This is an appeal from the district court's ruling.

FACTS

R.E. Dietz Company ("Dietz") and Local 33 were parties to a three-year collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") that expired on June 26, 1988. The union members, however, continued to work until the end of the year while negotiations for a new contract were being conducted. Pursuant to its obligation under § 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(5), Dietz indicated by a letter to its employees dated July 1, 1988 ("post-expiration letter") that during the negotiation period it would honor all the terms of the expired CBA, except for the terms relating to union security and checkoff provisions. Appellants contend that Dietz was not merely following its obligation under § 8(a)(5), but rather had entered into an interim agreement with the union.

In January 1989, the union and Dietz reached an impasse in their negotiations and the union threatened to strike. Having been informed that Dietz would stop paying wages to and contributing to health care and other fringe benefit programs for all striking workers, the employees nevertheless decided to strike. In June 1989, Dietz locked out the union.

Subsequently, appellant Kirk Golden and the other locked-out employees requested one week's vacation pay allegedly due under the expired CBA for work performed in 1988. Article XX of the expired CBA contains provisions regarding vacation and vacation pay. ¹ Under Article XX, employees were required to take their vacation in the calendar year or it was lost. However, certain employees who resigned or were discharged were entitled to receive vacation pay in lieu of vacation.

Appellants characterize their request for vacation pay as a grievance, although no formal grievance was filed, and argue that a request to arbitrate the vacation pay dispute would have been futile since Dietz had indicated that it would not arbitrate any grievances. In fact, Dietz had stated in a letter that it would not arbitrate disputes involving events occurring after June 26, 1992, because it was not obligated to arbitrate grievances that did not arise under the terms of the expired CBA. The expired CBA required arbitration of disputes involving wages, hours, or working conditions arising out of the interpretation or application of the CBA. When Dietz refused appellants' request for vacation pay allegedly due under the expired CBA, appellants filed the instant action instead of arbitrating the dispute.

The complaint alleges that Dietz's failure to pay appellants their vacation benefits constitutes a breach of contract and a violation of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132. Jurisdiction is claimed under § 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185, § 502 of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132, and federal common law, 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

After extended hearings, the district court, in a series of rulings, dismissed all counts of the complaint. The district court first dismissed all three counts pursuant to Dietz's Motion to Dismiss and/or for Summary Judgment. Then upon reconsideration, the court reinstated appellants' ERISA claim. After discovery and hearings on a second round of dispositive motions, the court dismissed the ERISA claim, denied as moot appellants' motion for class certification, and sanctioned appellants for late filing of a motion for reconsideration of the court's order dismissing the other counts of the complaint.

DISCUSSION

§ 301 Claim

The first count of appellants' complaint is brought under § 301 of the LMRA and alleges that Dietz violated the CBA by failing to pay vacation benefits. Because the CBA expired in June, 1988, we initially address whether appellants' claim for vacation benefits that accrued after the expiration of the CBA is covered by § 301. Section 301 covers suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization. 29 U.S.C. § 185. Jurisdiction under § 301 is limited by the plain language of the statute to "contract[s] between an employer and a labor organization representing employees." Section 301 has no application in the absence of a currently effective collective bargaining agreement. Because the alleged post-expiration contract in this case is founded on a letter from Dietz to its employees, it is not the type of contract covered by § 301. Derrico v. Sheehan Emergency Hospital, 844 F.2d 22, 26 (2d Cir.1988).

Further, the language of the post-expiration letter from Dietz to its employees merely recites Dietz's intention to honor its obligations under § 8(a)(5) of the NLRA. It does not offer new terms of employment. Dietz's failure to pay vacation benefits after the expiration of the CBA might constitute a violation of its obligation to maintain the status quo under § 8(a)(5), but would not give rise to a § 301 claim. See Derrico, 844 F.2d at 26 (after expiration of the CBA and before impasse in bargaining, it is a § 8(a)(5) unfair labor practice for an employer unilaterally to alter the status quo as defined by expired contract).

Because the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") generally has exclusive jurisdiction over unfair labor practice claims, the district court would not have jurisdiction over this claim. See San Diego Bldg. Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 244-45, 79 S.Ct. 773, 779-80, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959); Buckley v. American Fed'n of Television & Radio Artists, 496 F.2d 305, 312 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1093, 95 S.Ct. 688, 42 L.Ed.2d 687 (1974). An exception to this rule is permitted when federal laws other than the NLRA or federal policies are implicated. See Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Ass'n Local Union No. 6, 493 U.S. 67, 73-84, 110 S.Ct. 424, 429, 107 L.Ed.2d 388 (1989); International Org. of Masters v. Trinidad Corp., 803 F.2d 69, 73-74 (2d Cir.1986); American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO v. United States Postal Serv., 766 F.2d 715, 720 (2d Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1046, 106 S.Ct. 1262, 89 L.Ed.2d 572 (1986). In this case, any post-expiration obligation for the payment of vacation pay accruing from June 27 to December 31, 1988 was imposed solely by the NLRA. The district court properly dismissed appellants' post-contract breach claim for lack of jurisdiction.

By contrast, the claim for vacation benefits for January 1 through June 26, 1988, the period prior to the expiration of the CBA, clearly falls within § 301 as a suit for violation of a contract "between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce." 29 U.S.C. § 185(a). The issue presented with respect to this claim, however, is whether it is barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

Because there is no statute of limitations prescribed under § 301, courts typically apply the most closely analogous state statute of limitations to § 301 claims. International Union, United Automobile Workers v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp., 383 U.S. 696, 86 S.Ct. 1107, 16 L.Ed.2d 192 (1966); McKee v. Transco Products, Inc., 874 F.2d 83, 85-86 (2d Cir.1989). In Del Costello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 172 103 S.Ct. 2281, 2294-95, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1982), the Supreme Court made an exception to this general rule and applied a federal statute of limitations to a case brought under both § 301 and § 8(b) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b), and involving an arbitration agreement. The presence of the arbitration clause in the collective bargaining agreement and the hybrid nature of the claims distinguished the case from a straightforward breach of contract case. The claims were of a hybrid nature because, to succeed against either the employer or the union, the employees had to show both that the employer breached the collective bargaining agreement and that the union breached its duty of fair representation. Applying the six-month statute of limitations provided under § 10(b) of the NLRA, the Court explained that "when a rule from elsewhere in federal law clearly provides a closer analogy than available state statutes, and when the federal policies at stake and the practicalities of litigation make that rule a significantly more appropriate vehicle for interstitial lawmaking," the federal statute of limitations should be applied. Del Costello, 462 U.S. at 172, 103 S.Ct. at 2294-95.

Following Del Costello, this court in McKee held that the mere presence of an arbitration clause is sufficient to render an employee's claim a...