Cite as: 525 U. S. 33 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
III
The Court of Appeals also correctly refused to exercise jurisdiction over petitioner's challenge to the 30-day grace period provision of the union security clause. Petitioner argues that all duty of fair representation claims are cognizable in federal court, and that because she couched her claim as a breach of the duty of fair representation, her claim by definition can be heard in federal court. Brief for Petitioner 24-25. For this proposition, petitioner relies on Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers, 493 U. S. 67 (1989). Petitioner's starting point correctly describes the law. When a plaintiff challenges an action that is "arguably subject to § 7 or § 8 of the [NLRA]," this challenge is within the primary jurisdiction of the NLRB. San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U. S. 236, 245 (1959). These claims are within the primary jurisdiction of the NLRB in part to promote the uniform interpretation of the NLRA. Id., at 242-243. But when a plaintiff alleges a breach of the duty of fair representation, this claim is cognizable in the first instance in federal court. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U. S., at 177-183; Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers, supra, at 73-84. In Breininger, we rejected the invitation to create exceptions to this rule based on the expertise of the NLRB, the subject matter of the complaint, or the presence of any other factor. 493 U. S., at 75-77. Thus, petitioner is on solid ground to argue that if her challenge to the grace period provision is a duty of fair representation claim, the lower courts erred in refusing to exercise jurisdiction over that claim.
The qualification—if her challenge is a duty of fair representation claim—is important. The ritualistic incantation of the phrase "duty of fair representation" is insufficient to invoke the primary jurisdiction of federal courts. As we noted in Beck, "[e]mployees . . . may not circumvent the primary jurisdiction of the NLRB simply by casting statutory claims as violations of the union's duty of fair representation." 487 U. S., at 743. When a plaintiff's only claim is
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