Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. v. Local 302 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 180 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 332 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 340 IBEW Local 442 IBEW Local 551 IBEW Local 591 IBEW Local 595 IBEW Local 617 IBEW Local 684 IBEW

The appellant, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Golden Gate Chapter (“ABC”), is an organization of non-union construction contractors. The defendants are local unions affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“IBEW unions”), AFL-CIO. ABC claims that the IBEW unions’ “job targeting programs,” which provide payments by the unions to signatory contractors for bidding on ‘targeted’ projects, violate California law. The district court held that ABC’s state-law claims are completely preempted by § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a). We disagree.

I.

“Job Targeting Programs” (“JTPs”) have engendered much controversy. In brief, these programs entail collecting wages from workers on public works projects and distributing them as subsidies to other union-signatory contractors who bid on targeted projects. Unions initiated JTPs as part of an effort to maintain and improve their share of certain construction markets. Job targeting is accomplished by union members voting to pay dues 1 which are used to subsidize union-signatory contractors to enable them to bid low enough to obtain jobs on which union members will be…