880
Breyer, J., dissenting
not be required to exhaust an arbitration remedy before bringing their claims in federal court.
* * *
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is
Affirmed.
Justice Breyer, with whom Justice Stevens joins, dissenting.
In Teachers v. Hudson, 475 U. S. 292 (1986), this Court held that
"the constitutional requirements for the Union's collection of agency fees include an adequate explanation of the basis for the fee, a reasonably prompt opportunity to challenge the amount of the fee before an impartial decisionmaker, and an escrow for the amounts reasonably in dispute while such challenges are pending." Id., at 310 (emphasis added).
The Court added that, if the "impartial decisionmaker" is an arbitrator, that arbitrator's decision would not bind a court in a subsequent court action. Id., at 308, n. 21 ("arbitrator's decision would not receive preclusive effect in any subsequent § 1983 action"). Cf. ante, at 874-875, and n. 3 (treating procedural requirements set forth in Hudson, a 42 U. S. C. § 1983 case, as "transfer[ing] fully" to Railway Labor Act cases such as this one).
I read Hudson as implying approval, not disapproval, of a union rule that would require initial participation in "prompt," but non-binding, arbitration. Indeed, Justice White, joined by Chief Justice Burger, concurring in the Court's judgment and opinion in Hudson, specifically stated that
"if the union provides for arbitration and complies with the other requirements specified in our opinion, it should
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