Adkins v. Times-World Corp., TIMES-WORLD

• Decision Date: 23 August 1985
• Docket Number: TIMES-WORLD,No. 83-1882,83-1882
• Citation: 771 F.2d 829
• Parties: 120 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2216, 103 Lab.Cas. P 11,668 Lonnie L. ADKINS; Philip Peterson; D.W. Thompson; G.R. Gibson; B.W. Payne; J.E. Smith; C.R. Mowbray; J.H. Thompson; J.J. Haskins; G.R. Wertz; R.E. Cooper; W.H. Morton; A.L. Hartwell; A.F. Cameresi; B.L. Fuller and L.W. Via, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellees, v.CORPORATION, Appellant, and Roanoke Typographical Union # 60 and International Typographical Union, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 829

771 F.2d 829

120 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2216, 103 Lab.Cas. P 11,668

Lonnie L. ADKINS; Philip Peterson; D.W. Thompson; G.R Gibson; B.W. Payne; J.E. Smith; C.R. Mowbray; J.H Thompson; J.J. Haskins; G.R. Wertz; R.E. Cooper; W.H Morton; A.L. Hartwell; A.F. Cameresi; B.L. Fuller and L.W. Via, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellees, v. TIMES-WORLD CORPORATION, Appellant and Roanoke Typographical Union # 60 and International Typographical Union, Defendants.

No. 83-1882.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued May 7, 1985.

Decided Aug. 23, 1985.

D. Gerald Coker, Atlanta, Ga. (Paul D. Jones, Ford & Harrison, Atlanta, Ga., on brief), for appellant.

T. Keister Greer, G. Carter Greer, Rocky Mount, Va. (Greer & Greer, Rocky Mount, Va., on brief), for appellees.

Before PHILLIPS and SPROUSE, Circuit Judges, and WARD, United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

SPROUSE, Circuit Judge:

Lonnie L. Adkins and fifteen other journeymen printers brought this action against Times-World Corporation, Roanoke Typographical Union Local No. 60 (Local), and the International Typographical Union (International) under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185 (1982). Times-World is a newspaper publisher in Roanoke, Virginia, and is a party to a collective bargaining agreement with the Local of which the printers are members. The printers seek $42 million in damages, contending that Times-World violated a contractual agreement to provide them with lifetime employment. The printers also contend that the Local and the International were guilty of unfair representation because they did not adequately represent the printers in the pursuit of this action. Times-World and the unions contend that the issues involved in this action are all subject to arbitration and that this action cannot be maintained in the district court until arbitration proceedings have been exhausted. The trial court disagreed and, upon the printers' motion, issued an order staying arbitration proceedings pending pursuit of the district court action. Times-World and the unions appeal from the trial court's order staying arbitration. We reverse.

Times-World and the Local have entered into a collective bargaining agreement on four separate occasions over the past ten years. The threat of automation to job security became a primary concern of the printers in 1975. Consequently, at the completion of the 1975 collective bargaining agreement Times-World and the Local agreed to an addendum, guaranteeing job security until retirement age to certain journeymen printers employed in the composing room of Times-World. The guarantee was conditioned on the maintenance of certain levels of advertising revenue by Times-World. The addendum was negotiated and reexecuted in 1976, 1979, and 1983 in conjunction with each subsequent collective bargaining agreement.

This dispute had its genesis in Times-World's action laying off three printers, Lonnie L. Adkins, Jonathan Willis, and John Synan. It was apparent in late 1982 that a reduction in the number of printers at Times-World was necessary. During negotiations for the 1983 agreement, Times-World and the Local agreed to a reduction in force program, under which Times-World offered to pay each of any five printers who voluntarily terminated their employment a lump sum severance based on the number of months remaining until normal retirement. Times-World publisher Walter Rugaber wrote Local president Willis on February 7, 1983, notifying him that there had been a continuing decline in full-run ROP (run of the press) advertising and extending until February 11 the deadline for employees to take advantage of the severance pay provision. Apparently, Times-World did not achieve the desired reduction in force, and on February 11 it notified Adkins, Willis, and Synan that they would be laid off effective February 27.

On February 14 the Local filed a grievance concerning the layoff of these three printers, contending that the layoffs breached the addendum to the contract and invoking the grievance and arbitration provisions of the collective bargaining agreement. At the Local's request, the International assigned a representative to assist with the arbitration. The Local subsequently requested that the unsettled grievance be advanced to the Joint Standing Committee as provided in the agreement, and Times-World agreed. The parties attempted to settle the layoff grievances but were unsuccessful, and on March 16 Times-World and the Local agreed that the matter should go to binding arbitration as provided in the collective bargaining agreement. The parties selected an arbitrator and scheduled a hearing for June 23. The Local subsequently voted at a meeting in late March to rescind its agreement to arbitrate the dispute. At the next meeting in April, however, the Local reversed itself and voted to submit the layoff dispute to arbitration.

Meanwhile, this action was filed in district court on March 15. Times-World filed a motion to dismiss or alternatively for summary judgment, contending that the dispute was subject to mandatory arbitration. The printers filed a motion on June 16 to stay arbitration proceedings. The district court denied Times-World's motion to dismiss and granted the printers' motion to stay arbitration until its further order. In the meantime, the printers amended their complaint, adding both unions as defendants. Times-World and the unions appeal the district court's order staying arbitration.

All the parties candidly acknowledge the well-recognized policy of federal labor law favoring arbitration of labor disputes. The Supreme Court in the Steelworkers Trilogy made clear that, except for matters specifically excluded from arbitration in the collective bargaining agreement, all questions on which the parties disagree must be submitted to arbitration. United Steelworkers 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 Manufacturing Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960). The collective bargaining agreement in the instant case does not specifically exclude from arbitration the guarantee...