Syllabus

Respondent filed a charge with a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (Board), alleging that petitioner Union (Union) had procured his discharge by a company from his position as a "supervisor" because he was not a member in good standing with the Union. Supervisors are expressly excluded from the definition of "employee" under the National Labor Relations Act. The Union's conduct allegedly violated § 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act, which proscribes unions from coercing employees in the exercise of their rights under § 7 to engage in concerted action, and § 8(b)(1)(B), which prohibits unions from coercing employers in the selection of their representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining or the adjustment of grievances. The Regional Director refused to issue a complaint, concluding that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the Union had caused respondent's discharge or had coerced the company in the selection of its bargaining representative. Instead of appealing to the Board's General Counsel, respondent filed suit against the Union and others in a Georgia state court, alleging that the Union had interfered with his employment contract by coercing the company into breaching the contract. The trial court dismissed the complaint, concluding that the common-law tort action was pre-empted because the subject matter of the complaint was arguably within the Board's exclusive jurisdiction, but the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of the case against the Union.

Held: Respondent's state-court action against the Union is pre-empted by the National Labor Relations Act. Pp. 675-684.

(a) If the conduct that a State seeks to regulate or to make the basis of liability is actually or arguably prohibited or protected by the Act, otherwise applicable state law and procedures are ordinarily pre-empted. However, when the conduct at issue is only a peripheral concern of the Act or touches on interests so deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility that, in the absence of compelling congressional direction, it cannot be inferred that Congress intended to deprive the State of the power to act, the state regulation or sanction is not pre-empted. Pp. 675-676.

(b) Here, the Union arguably violated § 8(b)(1)(A), because it is not unusual for workers in the construction industry, such as respondent, to fluctuate between supervisory and nonsupervisory positions and, in view of the low-level supervisory position that respondent held, it was not unlikely that he would from time to time serve in a nonsupervisory position and that he might be intimidated by the Union's conduct once he again became a statutory employee. The Union's conduct also arguably violated § 8(b)(1)(B), since it was at least arguable that respondent was a "supervisor" within the Act's meaning, his complaint filed with the Regional Director having indicated that he would have collective-bargaining responsibilities. It was for the Board, not the state courts, to decide whether respondent was the kind of supervisor who could invoke § 8(b)(1)(B). Cf. Iron Workers v. Perko, 373 U.S. 701, 83 S.Ct. 1429, 10 L.Ed.2d 646. Pp. 678-680.

(c) Pre-emption cannot be avoided on the theory that the Regional Director concluded that the Board lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the complaint because of respondent's supervisory status, since the Regional Director instead addressed the merits of the complaint. Nor did the Regional Director's rejection of the complaint for insufficient evidence satisfy all of the federal-law interests involved, so as to clear the way for a state cause of action. The pre-emption doctrine not only mandates substantive pre-emption by the federal law in the areas to which it applies, but also protects the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board over matters arguably within the Act's reach. Nor can pre-emption be avoided on the asserted grounds that the state cause of action and the § 8(b)(1)(B) unfair labor practice charge were not sufficiently alike, Sears Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, 98 S.Ct. 1745, 56 L.Ed.2d 209, distinguished; or that respondent should be permitted to proceed in the state court because he could be awarded punitive damages and attorney's fees there, whereas he would be limited to backpay if his complaint had gone forward before the Board. Pp. 680-684.

Appeal dismissed and certiorari granted; 159 Ga.App. 693, 285 S.E.2d 30, reversed.

Laurence Gold, Washington, D.C., for appellants.

Elinor Hadley Stillman, Washington, D.C., for N.L.R.B. as amicus curiae by special leave of Court.

Robert F. Gore, Springfield, Va., for appellee.

WHITE, Justice.

This case presents the question whether a state-court action brought by one who is a "supervisor"1 within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act § 2(11), 29 U.S.C. § 152(11), for interference by a union with his contractual relationships with his employer is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA or the Act).

* Respondent2 Robert C. Jones was offered a supervisory position by the Georgia Power Company (Company). Jones reported for work on June 12, 1978. By agreement, he took vacation time after his second day on the job and reported for work again on June 20, 1978. On this latter date he was discharged.

Jones believed that the Company had been persuaded to discharge him by the union bargaining agent, Local 926 of the International Union of Operating Engineers (Union). The reason for the Union's hostility, he believed, was his decision years ago to work for a non-union employer. On June 28, 1978, Jones filed a charge with the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (Board) against the Union, alleging that the Union had "procured" his discharge, "and thereby coerced [the Company] in the selection of its supervisors and bargaining representative, because [Jones] had not been a member in good standing of said labor organization." Allegedly, this action violated § 8(b)(1)(A) and (B) of the Act.3 Appendix to Jurisdictional Statement at 25a.

In a letter dated July 19, 1978, the Regional Director said that further proceedings on respondent's charge were unwarranted and that he would not issue a complaint.4 He explained that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the Union had caused Jones' discharge; there was also a lack of evidence indicating that the Union had restrained or coerced the Company in the selection of its representative for purposes of collective bargaining. The Regional Director had instead come to the conclusion that Jones' discharge had been a part of changes in the Company's supervisory structure and that the Union had merely participated in discussions regarding the changes.

Instead of appealing to the General Counsel,5 Jones proceeded to state court, suing both the Union and the Company. Count 1 of his complaint claimed that the Union had interfered with the contract between him and the Company. The allegations were simple. He pled that he had been a member of Local 926 from 1969 to 1974, when he resigned from the Union. More recently, the Company had offered him the job of Equipment Supervisor at one of its plants, and he and the Company had entered into a contract in reliance on which he had terminated his prior employment. The crucial allegation was that petitioner Thomas D. Archer, the business agent and representative of the Union, had "maliciously and with full intent, intimidated and coerced Georgia Power Company, or caused Georgia Power Company to be intimidated and coerced, into breaching its employment contract with plaintiff." Respondent prayed for a judgment of $80,000 against petitioners, to be composed of $25,000 in lost wages, $50,000 in punitive damages, and $5,000 in attorney's fees, interest, and costs. Count 2 of his complaint sought relief against the Company and alleged that the Company had breached its employment contract.

The Georgia trial court dismissed the complaint, concluding that the common-law tort action had been preempted because the subject matter of the complaint was arguably within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board. The court observed that there was no justification for allowing joint federal-state control over the alleged conduct, since the state interest in protecting state citizens from the alleged conduct was insignificant and the risk of interference with the Board's jurisdiction was substantial.

The Georgia Court of Appeals, 159 Ga.App. 693, 285 S.E.2d 30, reversed the dismissal of the case against the Union.6 Following Georgia precedent it considered to be controlling, Sheet Metal Workers International Association v. Carter, 133 Ga.App. 872, 212 S.E.2d 645 (1975), and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Briscoe, 143 Ga.App. 417, 239 S.E.2d 38 (1977), the state Court of Appeals held the cause of action not preempted because Georgia had a deep and abiding interest in protecting its citizens' contractual rights and because the cause of action, which sounded in tort, was so unrelated to the concerns of the federal labor laws that it would not interfere with the administration of those laws. As an additional reason for not finding preemption, the court stated that the Union's acts were not even arguably within the ambit of § 7 or § 8 of the NLRA, thus purporting to distinguish Iron Workers v. Perko, 373 U.S. 701, 83 S.Ct. 1429, 10 L.Ed.2d 646 (1963). The Georgia Supreme Court denied review, and petitioner appealed.

We postponed to the merits consideration of our appellate jurisdiction. Petitioners now acknowledge that this is not a mandatory appeal.7 We agree, but, treating the papers as a petition for writ of certiorari, we grant the petition. Concluding that the Georgia Court of Appeals erred, we reverse.

II

The issue before us "is a variant of a familiar theme." San Diego Unions v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 239, 79 S.Ct. 773, 776, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959). The Court has often been asked to determine whether particular state causes of action or regulations may coexist with the comprehensive amalgam of substantive law and regulatory arrangements that Congress set up in the NLRA to govern labor-management relations affecting interstate commerce. E.g., Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, 436 U.S. 180, 98 S.Ct. 1745, 56 L.Ed.2d 209 (1978); Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U.S. 290, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 51 L.Ed.2d 338 (1977); Linn v. Plant Guard Workers, 383 U.S. 53, 86 S.Ct. 657, 15 L.Ed.2d 582 (1966); Garmon, supra. Our approach to the preemption issue has thus been stated and restated. First, we determine whether the conduct that the state seeks to regulate or to make the basis of liability is actually or arguably protected or prohibited by the NLRA. Garmon, supra, 359 U.S., at 245, 79 S.Ct., at 779; see Sears, supra, 436 U.S., at 187-90, 98 S.Ct., at 1752-54. Although the "Garmon guidelines [are not to be applied] in a literal, mechanical fashion", Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, supra, at 188, 98 S.Ct., at 1752, if the conduct at issue is arguably prohibited or protected otherwise applicable state law and procedures are ordinarily preempted. Farmer, supra, 430 U.S., at 296, 97 S.Ct., at 1061. When, however, the conduct at issue is only a peripheral concern of the Act or touches on interests so deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility that, in the absence of compelling congressional direction, it could not be inferred that Congress intended to deprive the state of the power to act, we refuse to invalidate state regulation or sanction of the conduct. Garmon, supra, 359 U.S., at 243-244, 79 S.Ct., at 778. The question of whether regulation should be allowed because of the deeply-rooted nature of the local interest involves a sensitive balancing of any harm to the regulatory scheme established by Congress, either in terms of negating the Board's exclusive jurisdiction or in terms of conflicting substantive rules, and the importance of the asserted cause of action to the state as a protection to its citizens. See Sears, supra, 436 U.S., at 188-89, 98 S.Ct., at 1752; Farmer, supra, 430 U.S., at 297, 97 S.Ct., at 1061.8

Not only is this case a variant of a familiar theme, but we have heard this same tune before. In Iron Workers v. Perko, 373 U.S. 701, 83 S.Ct. 1429, 10 L.Ed.2d 646 (1963), the Court considered whether a common-law tort action for interference with a contract of employment was prempted by the NLRA. Perko, a member of the Iron Worker's Union, was employed at times as a superintendent and at other times as a foreman. While acting as a superintendent, he violated a Union rule, and his membership was suspended in consequence. Union representatives then told Perko's employer that because of Perko's transgression union members would no longer take orders from him. Some weeks thereafter he was discharged on account of his dispute with the Union.

We concluded that Perko's common-law cause of action was preempted because it was founded on conduct that for several reasons was arguably within the ambit of § 7 or § 8. First, Perko was discharged both as a superintendent and a foreman. Even conceding that the position of superintendent was supervisory and beyond the reach of the Act, the foreman's position was arguably non-supervisory and covered by the Act. Hence, Perko's discharge arguably violated the proscription of § 8(b)(1)(A) against a union interfering with the protected rights of employees and that of § 8(b)(2) against causing an employer to discriminate against an employee contrary to § 8(a)(3). Second, the Union arguably violated § 8(b)(1)(A), since causing the discharge of a supervisor might coerce employees, who would fear meeting their supervisor's fate, into foregoing their § 7 rights to engage in concerted action. Third, the Union's conduct might also have violated § 8(b)(1)(B), which prohibits unions from restraining or coercing "an employer in the selection of his representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining or the adjustment of grievances." Perko, we concluded, may well have had sufficient grievance-handling responsibilities to come within the realm of supervisors whose selection the Union could not seek to dictate.

Since Jones, unlike Perko, had a job only as a supervisor and not also as an employee, the Union does not rely on the first reason given in Perko for finding the challenged conduct arguably subject to the proscriptions of the Act. It is urged that the other two reasons given in Perko for such a holding are fully applicable here. The Union adds that Jones' cause of action threatens to punish the worker's arguably protected conduct in protesting, non-coercively, the selection of people for supervisory positions whether or not they entail collective bargaining responsibilities. For these reasons, the Union submits that Jones' state-court action is preempted. We agree.

III

In Perko, the Court thought the Board could reasonably construe § 8(b)(1)(A) to prohibit the discharge of a supervisor for failure to observe Union rules because the discharge would inevitably tend to coerce non-supervisory employees to submit to Union regimentation and hence coerce them in the exercise of their § 7 rights. In that event, the Board could also order the Union to reimburse the supervisor for his lost wages. The Board's subsequent holdings apply a variant of this approach in the construction industry, where it is not unusual for workers to fluctuate, as Perko did, 373 U.S., at 706, 83 S.Ct., at 1431 between supervisory and non-supervisory positions. In Local Union No. 725, Plumbers, 225 NLRB 138 (1976), enforced, 572 F.2d 550 (CA5 1978), the union caused the employer to breach a promise to hire the charging party as a supervisor. For two reasons, the Board held that the Union had violated § 8(b)(1)(A) and was liable to the charging party for backpay. First, it was found that certain employees depending on Union job referrals had learned of the Union's conduct and were thereby intimidated in the exercise of their rights under the Act. Second, the Board reasoned that "because workers in the construction industry frequently cycle in and out of supervisory jobs, discrimination against [an individual] in his attempt to become a supervisor would carry over to intimidate him once he again became a statutory employee." See 572 F.2d, at 552. The Board's "fluctuating status" approach is arguably applicable to this case. Jones was employed in the construction industry, and, in view of the low-level supervisory position he held, it was not unlikely that he would from time to time serve in a non-supervisory position.9 It also is as clear here as it was in Perko that the Union's conduct was arguably prohibited by § 8(b)(1)(B), which forbids a union to coerce an employer in the choice of his bargaining representative. In Perko, there was some doubt whether Perko was a supervisor within the meaning of the Act; here there is no doubt in that respect. Of course, not every supervisor is a "representative for the purpose of collective bargaining or the adjustment of grievances" for purposes of § 8(b)(1)(B), Florida Power & Light v. Electrical Workers, 417 U.S. 790, 811 n. 21, 94 S.Ct. 2737, 2748 n. 21, 41 L.Ed.2d 477 (1974). But in this case, Jones was to occupy the position of equipment superintendent; it is enough if in this position he would be authorized or expected to deal with grievances arising under the collective bargaining agreement, American Broadcasting Co. v. Writers Guild, 437 U.S. 411, 427 n. 25, 98 S.Ct. 2423, 1757 n. 25, 57 L.Ed.2d 313 (1978);10 and Jones' complaint filed with the Regional Director indicated that he would have collective bargaining responsibilities. It is as least arguable that this was the case; and it was for the Board, not the state courts, to decide whether Jones was the kind of a supervisor who could invoke § 8(b)(1)(B). We thus agree with the Union and the Board that the Union, if it was responsible for Jones' discharge, arguably coerced the company in the choice of its collective bargaining representative.

IV

For several reasons, none of them sound in our view, the Georgia Court of Appeals thought that the Act did not preempt the cause of action that Jones submitted to the state courts. First, the Court of Appeals may have interpreted the Regional Director's letter as indicating that the Board lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate Jones' complaint because of Jones' supervisory status. That is plainly not the case, for the Regional Director's statement did not decline jurisdiction but addressed the merits of the complaint. See generally Garmon, supra, 359 U.S., at 245-46, 79 S.Ct., at 779-80.

Second, the Court of Appeals believed that the Regional Director's rejection of the complaint for insufficient evidence of a violation satisfied all of the interests of the federal law and cleared the way for a state cause of action. If this position was grounded on the notion that supervisors do not have a cause of action in any circumstances, it is contrary to Board cases and to Perko. If, as seems more likely, the argument is that the complainant adequately submitted his dispute to the Board, it is untenable. Jones did not exhaust his administrative remedies, for he did not appeal to the General Counsel. Beyond that, the Garmon preemption doctrine not only mandates the substantive preemption by the federal labor law in the areas to which it applies, but also protects the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB over matters arguably within the reach of the Act. Even if Jones had satisfied ordinary primary jurisdiction requirements, which he did not, he would not have taken adequate account of the decision of Congress to vest in one administrative agency nationwide jurisdiction adjudicate controversies with the Act's purview. Matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Board are normally for it, not a state court, to decide. This implements the congressional desire to achieve uniform as well as effective enforcement of the national labor policy.

In addition to relying on the reasoning of the Georgia Court of Appeals, Jones argues that there should be no preemption because the state cause of action and the unfair labor practice charge are not sufficiently alike. Jones relies on Sears, Roebuck & Co., supra, where we said that "the critical inquiry" in deciding whether a state claim is preempted because the challenged conduct is arguably prohibited by the federal labor laws is "whether the controversy presented to the state court is identical to . . . or different from . . . that which could have been, but was not, presented to the Labor Board." 436 U.S., at 197, 98 S.Ct., at 1757. Jones asserts that a § 8(b)(1)(B) unfair labor practice claim is made out only by proving coercion of an employer in the selection of its bargaining representative, whereas, he explains, to make out his state cause of action he need only be shown that the Union caused, either coercively or noncoercively, the employer's selection of a supervisor. Because federal law does not forbid non-coerced, but Union-caused discharges, it is said that the state cause of action is as distinct from the federal unfair labor practice claim as were the causes of action this Court found not preempted in Linn v. Plant Guard Workers, 383 U.S. 53, 86 S.Ct. 657, 15 L.Ed.2d 582 (1966); Farmer v. Carpenters, 430 U.S. 290, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 51 L.Ed.2d 338 (1977); and Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpenters, supra.11

We reject this argument. First, the argument concedes that the state cause of action is preempted to the extent that it covers coercive influence on the employer; and we note that Jones' complaint in the state court alleged that the Union agent had "intimidated and coerced" Georgia Power into breaching its contract with Jones. Jones thus sought to prove a coerced discharge and breach of contract, the very claim that is concededly preempted. Second, permitting state causes of action for non-coercive interference with contractual relationships to go forward in the state courts would continually require the state court to decide in the first instance whether the Union's conduct was coercive, and hence beyond its power to sanction, or non-coercive, and thus the proper subject of a state suit. Decisions on such questions of federal labor law should be resolved by the Board.

Third, even if the Georgia law reaches non-coercive interference with contractual relationships, a fundamental part of such a claim is that the Union actually caused the discharge and hence was responsible for the employer's breach of contract. Of course, this same crucial element must be proved to make out a § 8(b)(1)(B) case: the discharge must be shown to be the result of Union influence. Even on Jones' view of the elements of his state-law cause of action, the federal and state claims are thus the same in a fundamental respect, and here the Regional Director had concluded that the Union was not at fault.

This was not the case in Sears. There the state court action was for trespass. It challenged only the location of the Union picketing. The unfair labor practice charge, however, would have focused on whether the picketing had recognitional or work reassignment objectives, issues "completely unrelated to the simple question whether a trespass had occurred." 436 U.S., at 198, 98 S.Ct., at 1758. Permitting the trespass action to go forward accordingly created "no realistic risk of interference with the Labor Board's primary jurisdiction to enforce the statutory prohibition against unfair labor practices." Id. The same cannot be said here. The Regional Director concluded that the Union had in no way been responsible for Jones' discharge. That same issue of causation would have been presented for decision had Jones's case come before the Board, just as the issue would recurringly be at the core of § 8(b)(1)(B) cases. Despite the Regional Director's determination, and the Board's undoubted jurisdiction to decide the issue had a complaint issued, Jones sought to relitigate the question in the state courts. The risk of interference with the Board's jurisdiction is thus obvious and substantial.

We thus cannot agree that Jones' efforts to recover damages from the Union for interference with his contractual relationships with his employer was of only peripheral concern to the federal labor policy. Our decisions in Perko and its companion case, Plumbers Union v. Borden, 373 U.S. 690, 83 S.Ct. 1423, 10 L.Ed.2d 638 (1963), refute Jones' submission. They also foreclose any claim that Jones' action against the Union for interference with his job is so deeply rooted in local law that Georgia's interest in enforcing that law overrides the interference with the federal labor law that prosecution of the state action would entail.

Beyond this is the proposition, pressed by the union, that although an employer may not be coerced in its choice of a collective bargaining agent employees have the protected right to exert noncoercive influence on the choice of low-level supervisor.

"[C]ourts have generally held over Board protest than employees strikes over changes in even low level supervisory personnel are not protected. See Henning & Cheadle, Inc. v. NLRB, [522 F.2d 1050, 1055 (7th Cir.1975) ]; American Art Clay Co. v. NLRB, [328 F.2d 88, 90-91 (7th Cir.1964) ]; Dobbs Houses, Inc. v. NLRB, [325 F.2d 531, 538-39 (5th Cir.1963) ]. On the other hand, courts have found protected the writing of letters expressing opposition, NLRB v. Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co., 167 F.2d 983 (7th Cir.) cert. denied, 335 U.S. 845 [69 S.Ct. 68, 93 L.Ed. 395], . . . (1948), or the simple voicing of complaints, NLRB v. Guernsey-Muskingum Elec. Coop., Inc., 285 F.2d 8 (6th Cir.1960). By thus examining both the substantive interest and the means of advancing it, courts have balanced more finely the competing interests involved. The result is a general absence of per se rules." Abilities and Goodwill, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 612 F.2d 6, 9 (CA1 1979).

Thus, had Jones' complaint come before the Board, his complaint would arguably have been rejected on the ground that the Union's conduct in this case was protected activity.

Finally, the argument is made that Jones should be permitted to go forward in the state court because he could be awarded punitive damages and attorney's fees, whereas he would be limited to backpay if his complaint had gone forward before the Board. But such a claim was squarely rejected in San Diego Union v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 246-247, 79 S.Ct. 773, 780, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959).

The judgment below is accordingly

Reversed.

Justice REHNQUIST, with whom Justice POWELL and Justice O'CONNOR join, dissenting.