When can an employee bring an action for breach of a collective bargaining agreement?

An employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement is bound by its terms, including those setting out the required method of enforcement of the contract's rights. Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 184 (1967). Therefore, "[a]s a general rule, members of a collective bargaining unit must first exhaust contractual grievance procedures before bringing an action for breach of the collective bargaining agreement." Carr v. Pac. Maritime Ass'n, 904 F.2d 1313, 1317 (9th Cir. 1990); Vaca, 386 U.S. at 184 ("[I]t is settled that the employee must at least attempt to exhaust exclusive grievance and arbitration procedures established by the bargaining agreement."). For this reason, if a "wrongfully discharged employee himself resorts to the courts before the grievance procedures have been fully exhausted, the employer may well defend on the

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ground that the exclusive remedies provided by such a contract have not been exhausted." Vaca, 386 U.S. at 184.