Circuit Judge Andre B. Mathis, writing for a panel that included Circuit Judges Karen Nelson Moore and R. Guy Cole Jr., upheld the Board's determination that the company committed multiple unfair labor practices in 2021 and 2022 in its dispute with Local 324, International Union of Operating Engineers.
"The NLRA does not grant us jurisdiction—not even indirectly under § 9(d)—to provide the judicial review Rieth-Riley seeks," Mathis wrote. "And because Rieth-Riley's refusal to bargain cannot confer us with jurisdiction over the Board's affirmance of the dismissal of the decertification petitions, there is nothing technical about it. It is simply a violation of the NLRA."
The local represents around 130 to 170 operating engineers in Michigan. The conflict began in 2018 when the union withdrew from a multiemployer bargaining agreement to negotiate directly with Rieth-Riley, leading to a lockout and a strike that continues today.
The Board held that Rieth-Riley unilaterally raised wages twice without bargaining with the union, withdrew recognition from Local 324, refused to negotiate, and failed to provide requested information.
Employee Rayalan Kent filed petitions to decertify the union in 2020. A Regional Director dismissed both petitions, finding a causal nexus between Rieth-Riley's alleged unfair labor practices and employee dissatisfaction with the union. Ballots submitted by November 2020 remain unopened.
After the Board affirmed the dismissal on June 15, 2022, Rieth-Riley cancelled a scheduled bargaining meeting and announced it would "refuse to bargain" until it "obtain[ed] judicial review" of the Board's decision. The company also told the union it would not comply with pending or future information requests.
The court's order requires Rieth-Riley to recognize and bargain in good faith with Local 324, cease unfair labor practices, and provide requested information. It is the company's third appearance before the Sixth Circuit in the dispute.