Sysco Minnesota, Inc. v. Teamsters Local 120, No. 18-3491 (8th Cir. 2020)
Annotate this CaseSysco Minnesota filed suit against Local 120 under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) for violating their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The Eighth Circuit held that Local 120 waived its right to the CBA's prescribed non-judicial grievance procedures, including arbitration. In this case, Local 120's failure to seek relief under the CBA’s prescribed grievance procedures in a timely manner caused the parties to complete all discovery and litigate the merits of Sysco Minnesota's breach claim. Furthermore, the district court did not err in finding that Local 120 violated the picket line clause in the CBA; Local 120 waived the right to engage in sympathy strikes; and the court was not persuaded that Local 120 did not authorize, participate in, or ratify the picket line.
Court Description: [Grasz, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Stras, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Labor Management Relations Act. The district court did not err in concluding Local 120 waived its right to the Collective Bargaining Agreement's prescribed non-judicial grievance procedure, including arbitration by acting inconsistently with the right to proceed under the grievance procedures and by failing to ask for arbitration in a timely manner; the district court did not err in finding Local 120 violated the picket line clause of the CBA; Local 120 argued the refusal to cross another union's picket line was a statutorily-protected sympathy strike, but it waived that protection in the CBA; the Local's officers expressly authorized members to respect the other union's picket line and it could be held liable for its members' actions.
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