Can a plaintiff bring a state law claim for breach of a collective bargaining agreement?

Section 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185, preempts any state law cause of action which is "intertwined with" or depends "substantially" upon consideration of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Paige v. Henry J. Kaiser Co., 826 F.2d 857, 863 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1054, 108 S.Ct. 2819, 100 L.Ed.2d 921 (1988). "The preemptive force of section 301 is so powerful as to displace entirely any state cause of action for violation of a collective bargaining agreement." Id. at 861. State law claims in the employment context thus are viable only if the alleged state law rights and duties exist independently of the collective bargaining

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