John D. Sergeant v. Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific, an Incorporated Association

I

John Sergeant is a “casual” ticket agent at the Golden Gate Bridge and a member of the Inlandboatmeris Union of the Pacific (“IBU” or “Union”). The IBU represents the ticket agents employed by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District Ferry Transit Division (“the Bridge”). The terms of the ticket agents’ employment at the Bridge are governed by a collective bargaining agreement called the Memorandum of Understanding. The bylaws for the San Francisco Region of the IBU — the IBU division in which the Bridge is located — include a provision that restricts participation in the ratification of collective bargaining agreements to those members who are “directly involved.” For more than twenty years, the IBU has interpreted this provision to mean that certain Bridge casual employees known as non-seniority casuals are not permitted to vote on labor-management contracts.

Because Sergeant is a non-seniority casual employee, he was not eligible to vote on the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the Union and the Bridge. The agreement materially altered the way in which non-seniority casuals are selected and increased the number of regular part- and…