Circuit Judge Andre B. Mathis, writing for a panel that included Judges Karen Nelson Moore and R. Guy Cole Jr., enforced a National Labor Relations Board order against Rieth-Riley Construction Company for multiple unfair labor practices committed in 2021 and 2022. The dispute stems from an eight-year labor conflict with Local 324, International Union of Operating Engineers, which 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, ongoing litigation, and a strike that continues today. The NLRB held that Rieth-Riley committed unfair labor practices including unilaterally raising wages twice without bargaining with the union, withdrawing recognition from Local 324, refusing to negotiate, and failing to provide requested information.
The court was particularly critical of Rieth-Riley's justification for its conduct. "The NLRA does not grant us jurisdiction—not even indirectly under § 9(d)—to provide the judicial review Rieth-Riley seeks," Judge 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 dispute escalated when employee Rayalan Kent filed petitions to decertify the union in 2020. A Regional Director ultimately 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 of the decertification petitions 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 informed the union it would not comply with pending or future information requests.
The enforcement of the Board's order requires Rieth-Riley to recognize and bargain in good faith with Local 324, cease unfair labor practices, and provide requested information to the union. This represents the company's third appearance before the Sixth Circuit in this protracted dispute.