Employees Labor Association of the Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co. v. Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co.

172 F. Supp. 210, 44 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2051, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3408
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedApril 22, 1959
DocketNo. KC-940
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 172 F. Supp. 210 (Employees Labor Association of the Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co. v. Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Employees Labor Association of the Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co. v. Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co., 172 F. Supp. 210, 44 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2051, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3408 (D. Kan. 1959).

Opinion

STANLEY, District Judge.

This action was instituted by the plaintiff, The Employees Labor Association of The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company (now known as The Independent Soap and Chemical Workers of Kansas City, Kansas), and seeks to compel the defendant, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, to specifically perform a provision in the collective bargaining agreement entered into between the plaintiff and the defendant on or about March 12, 1956, which provides for arbitration of grievances.

The plaintiff is a local labor organization which represents the employees of the defendant. For some years this unincorporated association has represented the employees and had entered into several earlier contracts with the defendant.

At some date subsequent to the execution of the collective bargaining agreement of March 12, 1956, the defendant purchased a fork-lift tractor known as a “Buda” machine and placed it into operation at its plant located in Kansas City, Kansas. At the time of its purchase, the defendant instructed several employees as to its operation and did not assign any certain employee exclusively to the task of operating it. It was made available for use by any department of the plant.

It is the contention of the plaintiff that the purchase and operation of the Buda machine created a “new job” which, by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, should have been posted so that employees might bid for the job. The steps provided in the agreement for the handling of a grievance were followed, but settlement of the dispute was not achieved. A request for arbitration, made by the plaintiff, was refused by the defendant. It is the plaintiff’s contention that such conduct by the defendant amounted to a refusal to perform the agreement. The defendant has taken the position that there is nothing to be presented to an arbitration board and that the parties did not agree to submit to arbitration the question here involved.

The action is brought in this court under the provisions of § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C.A. § 185. Since the decision of the Supreme Court in Textile Workers Union of America v. Lincoln Mills, 1957, 353 U.S. 448, 77 S.Ct. 912, 1 L.Ed.2d 972, there can be no question [212]*212concerning the jurisdiction of this court to entertain an action for specific performance of a collective bargaining agreement. Engineers Ass’n v. Sperry Gyroscope Co., 2 Cir., 251 F.2d 133, certi-orari denied, 1957, 356 U.S. 932, 78 S.Ct. 774, 2 L.Ed.2d 762.

This court in the first instance must determine whether or not the question of arbitrability has been left to the arbitrator or to the court, a question of contract interpretation. The next question, dependent upon the answer to the first, is whether the dispute or grievance is one which is arbitrable. Local 205, United Elec. Radio and Mach. Workers of America (U E) v. General Electric Company, 1 Cir., 1956, 233 F.2d 85, affirmed 1957, 353 U.S. 547, 77 S.Ct. 921, 1 L.Ed.2d 1028; International Union United Auto Aircraft v. Benton Harbor Malleable, Ind., 6 Cir., 242 F.2d 536, certiorari denied 1957, 355 U.S. 814, 78 S.Ct. 15, 2 L.Ed.2d 31.

The agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant contains provisions concerning grievances. Article VI of the agreement provides in part:

“1. Definition A grievance is defined to be any difference between the Employer and the Union * * as to any matter involving the interpretation or application of any provision of this agreement, or any matter directly affecting the employee in respect to hours of work, wages, working conditions or any rights under this agreement.” ******
“3. Arbitration In the event that this procedure does not accomplish speedy and satisfactory adjustment, any grievance having to do with the interpretation or application of any provision of this Agreement may be submitted to a Board of Arbitration. The Board of Arbitration shall confine its consideration to any issue or issues stipulated by the Employer and the Union, and shall neither add to nor subtract from the written provisions of this Agreement in reaching their decision. The Union and the Employer will make a sincere, good-faith effort to arrive at the issue. In the event that arbitration is called for by either party hereto, the Employer and the Union shall each appoint one arbitrator within fifteen (15) days after such request. * * * ” (Emphasis supplied).

It is apparent that the parties by the terms of their agreement did not leave the question of arbitrability to the arbitrators. They are empowered to consider only issues submitted by stipulation. The decision as to whether a matter is in fact arbitrable rests with others than the arbitrators, namely the parties or the courts. The arbitrators are given authority to determine only such disputes over the interpretation or application of the provisions of the agreement as may be submitted, and then are limited to consideration of issues stipulated by the parties.

In the present case, there is a dispute over whether or not a “new job” was created by management when it purchased the Buda machine and placed it into operation. The agreement provides that when a new job is created notice thereof shall be posted and employees permitted to bid for it. There is nothing in the agreement with respect to determining when a new job has been created —the only provision is that when one is created it shall be posted. It is conceded that a job was not posted when the Buda machine was brought into the plant.

The actual controversy in this case is whether the conduct of the management in purchashing the Buda machine and placing it into operation in the plant created, first, a “job”; and second, whether the job, if created, was a “new job.”

The plaintiff relies principally upon Engineers Ass’n v. Sperry Gyroscope Co., supra [251 F.2d 136] which concerned wage increases given to several employees upon their transfer to a different plant. By the terms of the agreement wage increases were to be given on a [213]*213merit basis only. The union contended that the increases given were not for merit but as an inducement to transfer and desired arbitration upon the matter. The arbitration clause was similar to the one in the case at bar in requiring that the grievance to be arbitrated arise out of the “interpretation or application of the provisions” of the agreement. The arbitration clause of the Sperry contract provided that such grievances “shall” be arbitrated at the request of either party. Although the determination of when merit increases were to be made was within the sole discretion of management, the court found the question to be whether such increases as had in fact been made

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172 F. Supp. 210, 44 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2051, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/employees-labor-association-of-the-procter-gamble-manufacturing-co-v-ksd-1959.