What applies...Labor Law or Contract Law?

[zulululu]

What is the name of your state? California

What Controls...Labor Law or Contract Law?

John Doe purchases a truck and agrees to haul for Jane Doe under a contract that specifies that the relationship is that of owner-operator / independent contractor.

The contract also contains other clauses including dispute resolution, non-competition, hours of operation, weekly payment, etc.

John decides he would like to join the teamsters union.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is charged with administrating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Following a hearing, the NLRB determines that pursuant to the NLRA, John Doe is a statutory employee and not an independent contractor.

What now happens to the contract? Do the other conditions within the contract remain enforceable? What are the jurisdictional limits of the NLRB?

If an action were brought under state or federal law for breech of contract or specific performance, would the local court decide it, or would it be referred back to the NLRB? Does the NLRA grant the authority to decide such issues?

 

[John/nyc]

What is the name of your state? California

What Controls...Labor Law or Contract Law?

John Doe purchases a truck and agrees to haul for Jane Doe under a contract that specifies that the relationship is that of owner-operator / independent contractor.

The contract also contains other clauses including dispute resolution, non-competition, hours of operation, weekly payment, etc.

John decides he would like to join the teamsters union.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is charged with administrating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Following a hearing, the NLRB determines that pursuant to the NLRA, John Doe is a statutory employee and not an independent contractor.

What now happens to the contract? Do the other conditions within the contract remain enforceable? What are the jurisdictional limits of the NLRB?

If an action were brought under state or federal law for breech of contract or specific performance, would the local court decide it, or would it be referred back to the NLRB? Does the NLRA grant the authority to decide such issues?

Is John now a member of the Teamsters?

Are the Teamsters recognized as the representative for John's bargaining unit?

Is there a collective bargaining agreement in place?

The NLRB has jurisdiction to determine whether John's bargaining unit employees do, indeed, desire to be represented by the Teamsters, and, thereafter, to determine if both the union and employer are bargaining in good faith and, further, to determine if the agreement reached conforms to the NLRA.

I am not sure of the status of the the Independant Contractor Agreement (ICA) provisions that do not speak to John's independant contractor status. However, it would be good to keep in mind that the NLRA allows for bargaining over "terms and conditions of employment" and any provisions of the ICA that deal with those areas are probably in the ambit of the NLRA.

 

[zulululu]

Labor Law or Contract Law...What prevails?

Labor Law or Contract Law...What prevails?California and Federal Law question.

John is not a teamster. Never has been. John was an independent contractor for many years in an unrelated field. He also hauled for Jane Doe for many years as an independent contractor / owner operator (ICOO) persuent to this contract.

The NLRB does not have jurisdiction over ICOO's. However, in this case they are nevertheless taking jurisdiction anyway by finding statutory employee status regardless of the existing ICOO relationship.

The Teamsters are recognized as representative for Johns bargaining unit.

John is not a teamster. Never has been. John was an independent contractor for many years in an unrelated field. He also hauled for Jane Doe for many years as an independent owner operator (ICOO). The NLRB does not have jurisdiction over ICOO's. However, in this case they are nevertheless taking jurisdiction anyway by finding ICOO status regardless of the relationship.

The Teamsters are recognized as representative for Johns bargaining unit.

There is no collective bargaining agreement in place. The ICOO determination was received recently and the election has not been scheduled yet.

If the NLRB does have jurisdiction over the items you mention, does the NLRB also have jurisdiction over other items specified within the contract that are not specifically covered in the NLRA such as weekly payment for services, buy sell of equipment, non competition, etc?

Although the NLRB allows the parties to bargain over terms, does it have the authority to change conditions already agreed to in the existing contract?

I realize that this question is somewhat contract specific, but in general terms, what type of conditions does NLRB not have jurisdiction over?

 

[John/nyc]

Labor Law or Contract Law...What prevails?California and Federal Law question.

John is not a teamster. Never has been. John was an independent contractor for many years in an unrelated field. He also hauled for Jane Doe for many years as an independent contractor / owner operator (ICOO) persuent to this contract.

The NLRB does not have jurisdiction over ICOO's. However, in this case they are nevertheless taking jurisdiction anyway by finding statutory employee status regardless of the existing ICOO relationship.

The Teamsters are recognized as representative for Johns bargaining unit.

John is not a teamster. Never has been. John was an independent contractor for many years in an unrelated field. He also hauled for Jane Doe for many years as an independent owner operator (ICOO). The NLRB does not have jurisdiction over ICOO's. However, in this case they are nevertheless taking jurisdiction anyway by finding ICOO status regardless of the relationship.

The Teamsters are recognized as representative for Johns bargaining unit.

There is no collective bargaining agreement in place. The ICOO determination was received recently and the election has not been scheduled yet.

If the NLRB does have jurisdiction over the items you mention, does the NLRB also have jurisdiction over other items specified within the contract that are not specifically covered in the NLRA such as weekly payment for services, buy sell of equipment, non competition, etc?

Although the NLRB allows the parties to bargain over terms, does it have the authority to change conditions already agreed to in the existing contract?

I realize that this question is somewhat contract specific, but in general terms, what type of conditions does NLRB not have jurisdiction over?

First things first:

I am not an attorney! There are people who post to these boards that claim to be attorneys but you have no way to know whether their claims are true. Therefore, TAKE NO LEGAL ACTION based on anything you read here. I have some knowledge and education in the labor relations area of law but that is not a substitute for professional legal advice. That said:

It sounds like John is in the process of trying to get Teamster representation in his dealings with Jane. If there is still an election pending then the Teamsters are not as yet the bargaining agents for John or the other folks in John's bargaining unit. The results of the secret ballot election will determine that.

However, neither Jane nor the Teamsters may take any action that is coercive (no threats or promises of favors---nothing either way) during the time that the election is pending. This may include attempts to enforce provisions of the prior Owner/Operator contract. Ask the lawyer who argued your side of the question before the NLRB about this.

The NLRB does not determine, out of a clear blue sky, that a person is not an independant contractor. There are things that they look for in the relationship between the employer and the alleged independant contractor. One of those things is actual independence. Your plumber who fixes your sink at home is an independant contractor; he has many "employers" and he can schedual his time among them as need dictates. Perhaps there wasn't enough independance in the ICOO agreement or in the actual day to day work relationship between Jane and John.

The compensation that John recieves is definitely a subject for collective bargaining as are the conditions (both physical and contracual) of Johns employment.