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There are four telephone company employees (employees) represented by the Communications Workers of America(CWA or Union) in collective...

There are four telephone company employees (employees) represented by the Communications Workers of America(CWA or Union) in collective bargaining with their respective employers. They are not members of the Union and have objected to paying CWA a mandatory agency fee above the amount necessary to compensate it for the costs of representing them. The employees allege that the Union has breached its duty of fair representation by providing inadequate notice to workers of their right to object and by using improper procedures to calculate the portion of its expenses attributable to collective bargaining and to processing objections.
The Union is the petitioner's exclusive representative under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA authorizes the Union to require as part of its collective bargaining agreement with employers that all nonmember employees represented by it "shall as a condition of employment pay or tender to the Union amounts equal to the periodic dues applicable to members. To opt out of subsidizing union expenses unrelated to worker representation, a nonmember employee must affirmatively object each year to paying an amount equivalent to the dues paid by member employees.
CWA informs nonmembers of their right to object by a notice distributed yearly to all employees. The notice appears in the Union newsletter. The notice provides a general description of the Union's procedure for receiving and handling objections and the classes of expenses it considers both "chargeable" (related to collective bargaining and other employee representation activities) and "non chargeable" (related to other union activities). Id. The Union distributes the notice in March and objectors may file at any time through mid-June. CWA's fee year begins in July. The Union accepts late objections only from new employees or those with a "reasonable excuse. At the beginning of the fee year an objector receives from the Union an "advance reduction" payment equal to the amount attributable to non chargeable expenditures that will be deducted from his paychecks during the coming year. Along with the payment the Union provides a detailed accounting of its expenses and a description of the expenses it considers chargeable and nonchargeable. The description is more detailed than the one included in the Union's general notice.
The amount of advance reduction payment is calculated by an outside accounting firm. The firm bases its calculation on the portion of time Union employees spent on activities not related to collective bargaining during the preceding year. It obtains the data underlying its calculation from time sheets distributed to the Union staff once every thirteen weeks. Any employee who challenges the amount of the advance reduction must do so within 30 days of receiving the payment. Under CWA policy the objection is then referred to arbitration. In October 1987 the employees brought suit against CWA in district court. Their complaint alleged that the Union's objection procedures violated its duty of fair representation arising under the NLRA.

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Your Brief

No. 15-1204
In the Supreme Court of the United States
DAVID JENNINGS, ET AL., PETITIONERS
v.
ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ, ET AL...

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Opposition Brief

No. 15-1539
In the Supreme Court of the United States
BRIAN P. KALEY, PETITIONER
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ...

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Lower Court Judgment

PREGERSON, Circuit Judge:
South Bay Beer Distributors, Inc. (South Bay) fired Henry Mack. Mack was subsequently denied state...

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