Rieth-Riley Constr. Co. v. NLRB

── Rieth-Riley Constr. Co. v. NLRB ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: April 08, 2026 Category: General RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 26a0111p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ┐ RIETH-RILEY CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., │ Petitioner/Cross-Respondent, │ │ v. │ > Nos. 24-2123/25-1082 │ NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, │ Respondent/Cross-Petitioner, │ │ │ LOCAL 324, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING │ ENGINEERS, AFL-CIO, │ Intervenor (24-2123). │ ┘ On Petition for Review and Cross-Application for Enforcement of an Order of the National Labor Relations Board; Nos. 07-CA-234085; 07-CB-226531. Argued: February 26, 2026 Decided and Filed: April 8, 2026 Before: MOORE, COLE, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: Brian J. Paul, FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP, Indianapolis, Indiana, for Rieth-Riley. Eric Weitz, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Washington, D.C., for the NLRB. Amy E. Bachelder, LOCAL 324, IUOE, AFL-CIO, Bloomfield Township, Michigan, for Intervenor. ON BRIEF: Brian J. Paul, Stuart R. Buttrick, Ryan J. Funk, Alexander E. Preller, FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP, Indianapolis, Indiana, for Rieth-Riley. Eric Weitz, Ruth E. Burdick, Amy Ginn, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Washington, D.C., for the NLRB. Amy E. Bachelder, LOCAL 324, IUOE, AFL-CIO, Bloomfield Township, Michigan, for Intervenor.  Nos. 24-2123/25-1082 Rieth-Riley Constr. Co. v. NLRB Page 2 _________________ OPINION _________________ MATHIS, Circuit Judge. Rieth-Riley Construction Company and the union representative for some of its workers have been in a nearly decade-long conflict. The dispute began in 2018 when Local 324, International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO (the “Union”), sought to withdraw from a multiemployer bargaining arrangement so that it could negotiate individually with Rieth-Riley and the other employers. But what should have been typical collective-bargaining negotiations turned into several alleged unfair labor practices, a weeks-long employee lockout, and a strike that continues to this day. The National Labor Relations Board issued a decision ordering Rieth-Riley to bargain in good faith with the Union after finding that Rieth-Riley committed various unfair labor practices throughout the dispute. Rieth-Riley now challenges the Board’s decision, and the Board asks us to enforce it. For the reasons below, we deny Rieth-Riley’s petition for review and enforce the Board’s order. I. Rieth-Riley is an Indiana-based construction contractor that performs asphalt paving and other highway-and-road-construction work in Michigan. The company employs around 130 to 170 operating engineers in Michigan who have been represented by the Union since at least 1993. Historically, the Unio