Aircraft Service International, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 117

Aircraft Service International, Inc., doing business as Aircraft Service International Group (“ASIG”), sought and obtained a preliminary injunction from the district court in October 2012 prohibiting ASIG’s employees from striking at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (“Sea-Tac”). Section 8 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act (“NLGA”) strips district courts of jurisdiction to enter such an injunction unless the party seeking relief has made “every reasonable effort to settle such dispute either by negotiation or with the aid of any available governmental machinery of mediation or voluntary arbitration.” 29 U.S.C. § 108 . Because the district court failed to consider whether ASIG satisfied this provision and the record lacks any evidence that ASIG did so, we reverse and vacate the preliminary injunction.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

ASIG is responsible for refueling about 75 percent of the airplanes at Sea-Tac. The dispute at issue arose when ASIG indefinitely suspended one of its fuelers, Aex Popescu, on September 14, 2012. Po-pescu and other ASIG fuelers allege that he was suspended “in retaliation for his leadership on workplace safety issues, including testifying at a…

with whom Judges PAEZ and GRABER join, concurring:

I agree with the majority that the district court erred in granting an injunction, as Aircraft Service International Group (“ASIG”) has not complied with its duty under Section 8 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act (“NLGA”) to make “every reasonable effort to settle [its] dispute” with the fuel-ers before seeking an injunction prohibiting the planned work stoppage. 29 U.S.C. § 108 . I write only to explain that, in my view, even if ASIG had complied with its duty under Section 8, ASIG still would not have been entitled to an injunction.

The conflict underlying this case is un-disputably a “labor dispute” for purposes of the NLGA. 1 As I explain below, it is not a dispute governed by any of the specific dispute resolution provisions of the Rail *1080 way Labor Act (“RLA”), 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. As the disagreement between ASIG and the fuelers falls wholly outside the RLA’s regulatory framework, there is no federal labor statute that supersedes the NLGA’s otherwise applicable prohibition on federal court injunctions during labor disputes. The district court therefore lacks authority to enjoin the prospective work stoppage, even if ASIG…

joined by O’SCANNLAIN, SILVERMAN and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges dissenting:

We should affirm. The district court and the panel opinion got it right. •

The Railway Labor Act protects the public from the consequences of some labor strife with an especially grave impact on those other than the companies and employees involved. That is why it mandates extensive negotiation, mediation, and arbitration procedures in any major transportation dispute 1 before allowing lockouts or strikes. The anti-injunction provisions of the later Norris-LaGuardia Act cannot be read into the Railway Labor Act before that settlement process is undertaken, without gutting the Railway Labor Act. By expanding the reach of the Norris-La-Guardia Act this way, the majority creates a circuit split. 2 Shutting down the Se *1086 attle-Tacoma International Airport (“Sea-Tac”) amounts to the blockade of a major American port which imposes harms on nonparticipants in the labor dispute that vastly outweigh the interests of the company and its employees. That is why injunctions are available to enforce the Railway Labor Act notwithstanding the Norris-La-Guardia Act.

The injunction, together with the Railway Labor Act…

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

ASIG is responsible for refueling about 75 percent of the airplanes at Sea-Tac. The dispute at issue arose when ASIG indefinitely suspended one of its fuelers, Alex Popescu, on September 14, 2012. Popescu and other ASIG fuelers allege that he was suspended “in retaliation for his leadership on workplace safety issues, including testifying at a public hearing of the Seattle Port Commission.” ASIG counters that Popescu was suspended “so it could investigate reports that [he] had engaged in inappropriate conduct at the workplace.”

After his suspension, Popescu and other ASIG fuelers decided to organize a “group response” to press for his reinstatement. Working Washington, a local coalition “united

AIRCRAFT SERVICES INT’L V. WORKING WASH. 5

in support of quality jobs and a fair economy,” was heavily involved in this effort. Jonathan Rosenblum is Working Washington’s “Campaign Director.” After unsuccessfully advocating for Popescu’s reinstatement for two weeks, and at Working Washington’s recommendation, the fuelers began distributing strike ballots on September 28. “[B]y an overwhelming margin,” the fuelers voted to approve a strike to…