Employment Agreement vs. Collective Bargaining Agreement

Mike

What takes precedence -- an employment agreement with an "at-will" statement or a labor agreement that calls for just cause or proper cause to discipline or terminate?

In a recent case (Trabling v. Kinko's, Inc 11/22/02) they Wyonimg Supreme Court addressed a similar issue regarding an employment agreement vs. the status of an employee handbook as an implied contract. The court said that the signed employment agreement, as an express contract, "supercedes any implied contract which otherwise may have existed by virtue of the employee handbook."

The question relative to a labor agreement becomes which of the two expressed contracts takes precedence? My guess is the labor agreement, but I am not certain.

Please help
Thanks
Mike

sandra_d

I am no attorney, but I too would guess, like you do, that the labor agreement supercedes the employee handbook.

LindaS

Last year we tried implementing an employee handbook for our bargaining unit employees with an "at-will" statement and were informed that it had to be removed due to the collective bargaining agreement which spells out, in more detail, terms and conditions of employment.

Hope this helps!

Don D

The Collective Bargaining Agreement supercedes. Be very careful what gets into it. Like grape juice on a white shirt, it will never come out.