Page:Alaska Airlines v. Judy Schurke - Panel Opinion.pdf/11

 statute on the collective bargaining agreement is established by its command that leave “shall be governed” by the collective bargaining agreement or employer policy.

Masserant's claim can be resolved as a grievance under the collective bargaining agreement. It provides that “any controversy. . . as to the meaning of any of the terms of this agreement” shall be presented as a grievance to a designated individual, with that person’s decision appealable to the Flight Attendants’ Board of Adjustment (two members appointed by the union, two by the company) and to mediation or arbitration (National Mediation Board under the Railway Labor Act provides a list of seven names, and each party strikes three). The question is not whether Masserant and her union could proceed with the grievance procedure, but whether the state agency is an alternative procedure available to them despite Railway Labor Act preemption.

“The Railway Labor Act was enacted. . . [t]o avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier engaged therein.” The Act requires that carriers make agreements and settle disputes with their employees to avoid interruption to commerce. It covers airlines as well as railways. And it includes "a mandatory system of dispute