United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners v. Metal Trades Department

OPINION

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:

We must decide whether the duty of fair representation requires unions to appoint and to remove stewards without regard to union affiliation.

I

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (“Carpenters”) represents half a million workers throughout North America, including plaintiffs-appellants Butch Parker, Scott Flannery, William Crawford, and Truman Jordan. The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, (“Metal Trades”) is a labor organization that negotiates, administers, and enforces collective bargaining agreements. The *848Hanford Atomic Metal Trades…