International Ass'n of MacHinists & Aerospace Workers v. Aerojet-General Corp.

263 F. Supp. 343, 65 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2421, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10592
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedNovember 23, 1966
Docket66-1672
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 263 F. Supp. 343 (International Ass'n of MacHinists & Aerospace Workers v. Aerojet-General Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
International Ass'n of MacHinists & Aerospace Workers v. Aerojet-General Corp., 263 F. Supp. 343, 65 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2421, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10592 (C.D. Cal. 1966).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER CONFIRMING AWARD OF ARBITRATOR AND DENYING ENFORCEMENT THEREOF.

CRARY, District Judge.

On September 27,1966, petitioner filed in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles, petition to confirm arbitration award dated July 28, 1966. In its motion to confirm, petitioner prayed for order of this court confirming the award and “such further orders as may be just and proper.” The notice of hearing of the petition states that it will be made on the grounds “that the respondent Aerojet-General Corporation has failed to comply with the Final Award of the Impartial Arbitrators dated July 28,1966 * *

The respondent removed the petition to confirm to this court on October 17, 1966, on the grounds that this court had original jurisdiction under Section 301 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. § 185).

On October 3, 1966, respondent moved to dismiss the petition to confirm.

During oral argument of the petition to confirm and motion to dismiss both parties stipulated that the petition to confirm be also deemed a pleading to enforce the arbitration award in issue and petitioner agreed to so amend its petition. *345 The court deems the motion to dismiss to go to the petition, as amended.

The parties further agreed that the award is not ambiguous or indefinite but is clear and final. The petitioner urges that the award requires the company to “compensate all Electrical Bench Assemblers for all work performed in the bays * * * ” and that said award should be enforced or remanded to the arbitrator for determination as to the individual employees, by name, to whom the new classification in the award shall apply. Respondent urges that the petition to confirm be dismissed and there be a fresh invocation of the arbitration proceedings under the employer-employee contract because the dispute concerns which individual employees of the class involved, to wit, Electrical Bench Assemblers (EBA), actually qualify under the terms of the award for the new classification specified therein and back and future pay as provided in the award for said classification.

In the grievance submitted to arbitration which resulted in the award in issue, the Electronic Technicians asserted that they should be assigned to certain floor work in bays and alcoves which was being assigned to the lower job rated Electrical Bench Assemblers.

The issue to arbitrate was “Did the company improperly assign the specific work as alleged in grievances 1119-62, 1187-02 and 1091-62 ? If in the affirmative what is the appropriate remedy?”

The arbitrator handed down an interim award on May 28, 1966, holding that the level of difficulty of the work in issue was below that normally .performed by electrical technicians but was in fact improperly assigned to EBAs. The interim award directed the parties to establish a new classification and pay range, retaining jurisdiction in the arbitrator in case the parties could not reach agreement.

The parties were unable to agree on the issues submitted and the arbitrator, on July 28,1966, rendered his final award and opinion accompanying same. In the award he established a new job classification and job description therefor and rate range for same with the further provision that the EBAs at respondent’s Aetron facility who performed the work that was the subject of the grievances must be paid retroactively for such work at the rate of pay awarded.

On August 23, 1966, and October 5, 1966, the petitioner filed new grievances protesting the action of the company in reference to the interpretation and application of the arbitration award.

The court is not here confronted with an award ambiguous in nature or one which fails to determine the issues presented to the arbitrator. It does not appear in the instant matter that the question of which individual Electrical Bench Assemblers had performed the bay and alcove work, which entitled them to the new classification, was submitted to the arbitrator for determination. The award provided that all of the EBAs who did the specified work should be paid retroactively for such work at the rate of pay as set forth in the award for the new classification. It follows that the award is not self-executing on this point since there remains for determination the individual EBAs who performed the work that was the subject of the said grievances. The court concludes that the petitioner’s request for enforcement of the award should be denied.

The remaining question is whether the matter should be remanded to the arbitrator for amplification of his award as to the disputed issue or the dispute is one which will require new arbitration proceedings under the agreement between the parties.

The court in Todd Shipyards Corp. v. Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, 242 F.Supp. 606 (D.C.N.J., 1965), so strongly relied on by petitioner, states at pages 611-612 of its opinion:

“The opinion of Arbitrator Davis is clear and unambiguous, precisely covering the subject matter of the grievance presented * * *. An award of an arbitrator acting within the scope of his authority has the effect of a *346 judgment and is conclusive as to all matters submitted for decision at the instance of the parties.
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“Consonant with the limitation on the power of the Court to interfere with any determination of the arbitrator reasonably reached on the merits of a grievance, remand to the arbitrator is appropriate where there is reasonable ground for disagreement as to what he actually did decide. [Citing cases.] But the power to remand should not be exercised unless there is patent ambiguity in the decision of the arbitrator or the text of it is not germane to the issue presented as reflected by the record of the proceedings before him. To remand under any other circumstances would be to suggest to the arbitrator that the Court differed in opinion with the result on the merits which'had been reached by the arbitrator and would constitute an intrusion upon his exclusive function to pass upon the merits of the grievance.”

The court, having found the award was not ambiguous nor went beyond the issues of the grievances presented, held that its provision, which stated plaintiff had a right to discharge a named employee, should be enforced.

The above rules apply to the case at bar but here the award is not self-executing and a new dispute has developed as to the individual EBAs whose work has entitled them to the benefits of the new classification as set forth in the award.

In District 50, United Mine Workers of America v. Revere Copper and Brass, Inc., D.C., 204 F.Supp. 349, 352, the court held that where the award is not self-executing and the parties cannot agree on the application of the interpretation of the award by the arbitrator there would appear to be a basis for a “new grievance and fresh invocation of the grievance machinery * *

Transport Workers Union of Philadelphia, etc. v. Philadelphia Transportation Company, D.C., 228 F.Supp.

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263 F. Supp. 343, 65 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2421, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-assn-of-machinists-aerospace-workers-v-aerojet-general-cacd-1966.