Local No. 644, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners v. Walsh Construction Co.

335 F. Supp. 711, 79 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2150, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15728
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 3, 1972
DocketCiv. A. No. P-3298
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 335 F. Supp. 711 (Local No. 644, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners v. Walsh Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Local No. 644, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners v. Walsh Construction Co., 335 F. Supp. 711, 79 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2150, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15728 (S.D. Ill. 1972).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROBERT D. MORGAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff has brought this suit pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 4 and 29 U.S.C. § 185, for an order compelling defendant to submit to an arbitrator a dispute arising under a collective bargaining agreement which binds both parties, a copy of which is attached to the complaint. The union alleges that the company has violated the agreement by subcontracting “bargaining unit work.” The complaint also seeks an order directing the company to cease such subcontracting pending a decision of the arbitrator. The company, on the other hand, contends that the only existing dispute involves disputed “jurisdiction” over certain work between two craft unions — plaintiff Carpenters and the Iron-workers; and that such “jurisdictional disputes” are excluded from the general arbitration provision, being covered by a separate settlement provision in the agreement. Presently before the court is the company’s motion for summary judgment under Rule 56(b), F.R.Civ.P. The parties have submitted affidavits and written briefs, respectively, in support of and in opposition to the motion.

The bargaining agreement states that “Any and all disputes, stoppages, suspension of work, and any and all claims, demands or actions resulting therefrom or involved therein” shall be settled by arbitration;1 but the same section entitled “Arbitration,” goes on to say, “It is hereby agreed by all parties to this contract that any and all jurisdictional disputes shall be processed under the ‘Procedural Rules and Regulations of the National Joint Board for the Settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes.’ ” Such rules and regulations are not before the court, but are apparently available to the parties to this suit. Given this language, and another contract provision limiting subcontracting, it is clear to the court that the parties intended to require general arbitration for determination of disputes over subcontracting generally, but to settle disputes over union jurisdiction through the “Joint Board,” thus providing non-disruptive and mutually exclusive arbitration-type procedures for both types of disputes. The basic question to be determined here, therefore, is in which category does the dispute here fall.

[713]*713On a motion for summary judgment it is clear that the movant can prevail only by showing that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that [it] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Rule 56(c), F.R.Civ.P. It appears clear to the court, on careful analysis in the light of established federal labor law, that there are no material issues of fact for decision here, that the only thing for an arbitrator to decide if the matter were submitted to him would be a “jurisdictional dispute,” and, hence, that it should go to the “Joint Board” and that defendant is entitled to a judgment of dismissal here as a matter of law.

The task of the court in a suit to compel arbitration was extensively treated in the Steelworkers Trilogy (United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 80 S. Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960); United Steelworkers of America v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S. Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); United Steelworkers of America v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (I960)). As stated by the Supreme Court in Warrior, “[T]he judicial inquiry under [29 U.S.C. § 185] must be strictly confined to the question whether the reluctant party did agree to arbitrate the grievance . . ..” 363 U.S. at 582, 80 S.Ct. at 1353. This protects a party from an order to arbitrate something he has not agreed to arbitrate ; but, if the parties did so agree, then the merits of the dispute are reserved for the arbitrator rather than the court.

The easiest case is the one in which the parties have specified what, for lack of a better term, we will call “general” arbitration as the means for settling all disputes arising under the agreement. In such a case the American decision held that the trial court “is confined to ascertaining whether the party seeking arbitration is making a claim which on its face is governed by the contract.” 363 U.S. at 568, 80 S.Ct. at 1346.

On the other hand, when the arbitration clause contains express exclusions, as in Warrior and the instant case, the court’s inquiry must necessarily be somewhat broader; and the court must explore whether the dispute in question falls within the exclusion. In the circumstance of a vague exclusion, the Warrior Court said:

“An order to arbitrate the particular grievance should not be denied unless it may be said with positive assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute. Doubts should be resolved in favor of coverage.” 363 U.S. at 582-583, 80 S.Ct. at 1353 (footnote omitted).

Two points are made very clear by the Steelworkers Trilogy. First, it is clear that ■ the court must decide the question of arbitrability. 363 U.S. at 583 n. 7, 80 S.Ct. 1347. Second, it is clear that the court should not delve into the merits of the dispute. 363 U.S. at 568, 569, 585, 598-599, 80 S.Ct. 1343. Indeed, in Warrior, speaking of an attempt to show that the parties’ purpose had been to exclude certain grievances from arbitration, the Court said:

“Since any attempt by a court to infer such a purpose necessarily comprehends the merits, the court should view with suspicion an attempt to persuade it to become entangled in the construction of the substantive provisions of a labor agreement, even through the back door of interpreting the arbitration clause, when the alternative is to utilize the services of an arbitrator.” 363 U.S. at 585, 80 S.Ct. at 1354.

It has also been said that the court need only look at the face of the claim in deciding the issue of arbitrability. See 363 U.S. at 585, 80 S.Ct. 1347. See also Local Union No. 483, Int’l. Bro. of Boilermakers Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, A.F.L.C.I.O v. Shell Oil Co., 369 F.2d 526 (7th Cir. 1966). Here the asserted claim re[714]*714lates to the subcontracting clause of the collective bargaining agreement, and the union argues, not without logic in view of some judicial dicta, that a dispute over such a claim is clearly for the arbitrator.

However, the instant case differs from Warrior and other previous cases because the jurisdictional dispute exception from general arbitration here is in no sense vague; it clearly and specifically excludes jurisdictional disputes from the general arbitration plan. Moreover, the Joint Board procedure established here is itself simply a different and specialized arbitration forum for particular disputes.

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Related

Local No. 644 v. Walsh Construction Co
478 F.2d 1405 (Seventh Circuit, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
335 F. Supp. 711, 79 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2150, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/local-no-644-united-brotherhood-of-carpenters-joiners-v-walsh-ilsd-1972.