Allen

OVERVIEW

Plaintiffs-appellants, former employees of Hygrade Food Products Corporation and Sara Lee Corporation (“Hygrade”), bring this action under section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”), 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a), claiming their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 554 (“Union”), breached its duty of fair representation by conspiring with Hygrade to deprive them of their severance benefits. The district court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, concluding the plaintiffs’ claim was barred by the six-month statute of limitations. The plaintiffs appeal, contending the district court erred in determining the date the cause of action accrued. Because we find the plaintiffs’ cause of action accrued more than six-months prior to the date the present suit was initiated, we affirm.

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

Plaintiffs are former employees of Hy-grade, a corporation engaged in the manufacture of food products. In 1985, Hygrade announced it would be closing its antiquated Tacoma, Washington facility. The closure was avoided, however,, when the Union agreed to make…