ALLIED AVIATION DOES NOT MEET DEFINITION OF “CARRIER”
May 24, 2017
On April 18, 2017, a D.C. Circuit panel rejected aviation fueling service Allied Aviation Service Company’s (Allied) recent argument that it is a “carrier” subject to the National Mediation Board’s (NMB) jurisdiction under the Railway Labor Act (RLA).
The issue stems from 2012 when a group of Allied supervisors at Newark Liberty International Airport tried to organize with the local International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The National Labor Relation Act in part bars supervisors from unionizing. However, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) previously found that most of the supervisors were supervisors in name only. The NLRB found that the employees did not perform any actual tasks that would demonstrate actual supervisory authority.
In response to the NLRB decision, Allied argued that it was subject to the RLA due to its status as a “carrier”. The RLA gives the NMB jurisdiction over rail and air companies that transport passengers or cargo. In ruling on this theory, the D.C. Circuit panel used a two part test in determining whether Allied is a carrier (or to be so controlled by a carrier as to be outside the NLRB’s reach). First, the panel determined whether the company is “directly or indirectly owned or controlled by … a carrier or carriers.” Second, the panel would have weighed whether the company performs work that is “traditionally performed by employees of rail or air carriers.” However, the D.C. Circuit found Allied failed the control prong, without having to reach the function prong. The court held that “Allied presented no evidence that it was under contract with any common carrier, nor did it identify any case in which an employer without a carrier contract was subject to RLA jurisdiction.”
Judge Nina Pillard wrote, “[t]he record in this case confirms that the [NLRB] board’s factual findings regarding carrier control were supported by substantial evidence.” Further, “[a]llied presented no evidence that it was under contract with any common carrier, nor did it identify any case in which an employer without a carrier contract was subject to RLA jurisdiction.”
Allied will now have to negotiate with non-supervisory employees in further attempts to unionize. The D.C. Circuit ordered Allied to bargain with a unit certified by the National Labor Relations Board NLRB.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).
Share This Post
Authors
