Simms v. Int'l Longshoremen Ass'n, No. 16-60073 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, who is not a union member, was denied referral for employment because he refused to pay a fee to use the union's hiring hall. Plaintiff filed suit alleging that the fee was unlawful. The district court dismissed the complaint. The court rejected plaintiff's primary argument that section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. 164(b), allows enforcement of Mississippi’s right to work law, Miss. Code Ann. 71-1-47, thereby precluding the assessment of hiring hall fees to plaintiff. The court concluded that section 14(b) does not allow Mississippi to prohibit unions from requiring non-union members to pay a hiring hall fee, and thus Mississippi's right to work law is preempted by federal law to the extent that it prohibits non-union members from being required to pay hiring hall fees. The court also concluded that plaintiff fails to allege sufficient facts to state a cognizable claim for breach of the duty of fair representation. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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