Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/258

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WOODDELL v. ELECTRICAL WORKERS Opinion of the Court

Therefore, we held, the suit by the local union was for a violation of a contract between two unions within the meaning of § 301. It is clear in this case that petitioner charged a violation of a contract between two unions within the meaning of § 301.5 His amended complaint alleged that the constitution of the IBEW requires “all Local Unions to live up to all collective bargaining agreements” and that the IBEW Constitution and the bylaws of Local 71 “are contracts which are binding upon Local 71.” 6 App. 12–13. In its amended answer, Local 71 admitted these allegations, i. e., conceded that it had promised to comply with the collective-bargaining contracts. Petitioner also alleged generally that the defendants had breached the above-mentioned contracts; more specifically, he alleged that he had been discriminated against in hiring-hall job referrals, contrary to the applicable collective-bargaining agreements and contrary to the IBEW Constitution. Nevertheless, respondents submit that § 301 jurisdiction reaches only suits by the parties to the interunion contract; third-party suits seeking to enforce a violation of the contract are beyond the jurisdictional grant. Smith v. Evening News, however, is to the contrary. There an individual employee brought suit against his employer to enforce a collective-bargaining contract between the employer and the union collective-bargaining agent. We held that § 301 suits 5

It is not disputed that the IBEW, as well as Local 71, is a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce. 6 The Joint Appendix 21–41 sets out selected provisions of the IBEW Constitution. Included is a section entitled “Rules for Local Unions.” Among the 23 rules prescribed, in addition to the rule requiring local unions to honor their contracts, is a rule requiring IBEW approval of all bylaws adopted and all agreements entered into by local unions. There is a reference in these rules to a “charter” of a local union, but if Local 71 has a charter or a constitution, or both, neither is a part of the record in this case. The complaint refers to bylaws of the local, but the record also omits setting out the relevant bylaws.