United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners v. Metal Trades Department

We must decide whether the duty of fair representation requires unions to appoint and to remove stewards without regard to union affiliation.

I

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (“Carpenters”) represents half a million workers throughout North America, including plaintiffs-appellants Butch Parker, Scott Flannery, William Crawford, and Truman Jordan. The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, (“Metal Trades”) is a labor organization that negotiates, administers, and enforces collective bargaining agreements. The *848 Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council is a labor organization affiliated with the Metal Trades. Hundreds of Carpenters’ members, including the four named plaintiffs, are members of bargaining units represented by the Metal Trades.

In 2008, the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, (“Building Trades”) an umbrella labor organization, launched the “Push-Back-Carpenters Campaign” to force the Carpenters to reaffiliate with the Building Trades. 1 To pressure the Carpenters, the Building Trades enlisted the Metal Trades in its campaign, convincing the Metal Trades to expel the Carpenters from its membership. The Metal Trades…