Phoenix Electric Co. v. National Electrical Contractors Ass'n

This is an antitrust action against the union and the subcontractors who are parties to the collective bargaining agreement covering electrical subcontracting in Oregon. Plaintiffs are non-signatory electrical subcontractors, including Phoenix Electric and a non-signatory contractor association, Associated Builders and Contractors. The defendants include Local 48 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“union”) and the signatory contractor association, the Oregon Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (“ONECA”).

Plaintiffs filed this action to challenge a job subsidy program that the union and ONECA established through collective bargaining. The program was adopted as a response to the dramatic decline in the number of commercialized electrical jobs awarded to unionized subcontractors, and the decline in union membership, during the early 1980s. By the time the program went into effect, the percentage of work being awarded to unionized subcontractors in the Oregon area had fallen from a high of 95% in the late 1970s to between 55% and 65%. The program targets specific jobs for subsidies in order to enable union subcontractors to bid more…