Bechtel Const., Inc. v. Laborers' Intern. Union of North America, AFL-CIO

• Decision Date: 25 February 1987
• Docket Number: AFL-CI,No. 86-1846,R,86-1846
• Citation: 812 F.2d 750
• Parties: 124 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2785, 106 Lab.Cas. P 12,221 BECHTEL CONSTRUCTION, INC., Petitioner, Appellant, v. LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA,espondent, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 750

812 F.2d 750

124 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2785, 106 Lab.Cas. P 12,221

BECHTEL CONSTRUCTION, INC., Petitioner, Appellant, v. LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL-CIO Respondent, Appellee.

No. 86-1846.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Argued Jan. 8, 1987.

Decided Feb. 25, 1987.

Thomas J. Grooms, with whom Larry P. Malfitano and Bond, Schoeneck & King, Syracuse, N.Y., were on brief, for petitioner, appellant.

Paul F. Kelly with whom Shelley B. Kroll and Segal, Roitman & Coleman, Boston, Mass., were on brief, for respondent, appellee.

Before COFFIN and SELYA, Circuit Judges, and GIGNOUX, ^* Senior District Judge.

GIGNOUX, Senior District Judge.

Petitioner-appellant Bechtel Construction, Inc. ("Bechtel") filed a petition in the District Court of Massachusetts for a permanent stay of arbitration pursuant to section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a) (1982), and the United States Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. Secs. 1-14. Respondent-appellee Laborers' International Union of North America, AFL-CIO (the "International") counterclaimed for an order compelling arbitration. The district court, finding that both the underlying dispute and Bechtel's defenses to arbitration were arbitrable, denied Bechtel's petition for a permanent stay of arbitration without acting on the International's counterclaim. Bechtel appeals from the district court's order, contending (1) that the district court erred in concluding that the parties had agreed to arbitrate the dispute and (2) that the district court erroneously refused to rule on the merits of Bechtel's defenses to arbitration. We affirm.

I.

Bechtel and the International are parties to a collective bargaining agreement known as the General Presidents' Project Maintenance Agreement ("GPPMA") in connection with work performed by International members at Boston Edison's Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The laborers employed by Bechtel at Pilgrim are members not only of the International but also of Laborers' Local 721 ("Local 721"), an affiliate of the International. Although the International rather than Local 721 is the GPPMA signatory, the laborers at Pilgrim are referred out of the Local 721 hiring hall, and the Local 721 Business Manager, Louis Palavanchi, Jr., served as the laborers' jobsite representative, with rights of jobsite access, pursuant to Article XI of the GPPMA.

In June 1985, after Palavanchi allegedly instigated strikes by laborers at the Pilgrim plant, Bechtel notified the International that Palavanchi would no longer be recognized as the laborers' jobsite representative and would not be granted access to the job site. Bechtel requested that the International designate a new representative. Local 721 filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, but the Board refused to issue a complaint. Thereafter, on October 8, 1985, the International filed a grievance, pursuant to Article VII of the GPPMA, ¹ that challenged Bechtel's denial of job site access to Palavanchi. The grievance progressed through Steps I and II of the grievance procedure.

On March 12, 1986, the International and Bechtel entered into an agreement (the "March 12 agreement") addressing various problems at the Pilgrim jobsite. The agreement provided in pertinent part:

1. Effective Monday, March 17, 1986, employees represented by Laborers Local 721 at the Pilgrim Nuclear Station are placed under the jurisdiction of the International Union for the duration of the [Bechtel] contract with Boston Edison unless this understanding is vacated by mutual consent of both parties. The International Union will designate an International Representative who will act as the representative for the Union.

2. Effective March 17, 1986, Local Union 721 will no longer have any relationship with the Pilgrim Project and representatives will no longer have any responsibilities toward the project.

3. It is understood that all references in the G.P.P.M.A. that refer to "local union" and "local union representatives" are hereby replaced by "International Union" and "International Union Representatives."

The agreement also expressly provided that Bechtel and Local 721 would withdraw legal actions that each was then pursuing against the other.

On March 31, 1986 the International wrote to the GPPMA Administrator requesting that he submit the Palavanchi jobsite access grievance to the General Presidents Committee and a Bechtel representative in accordance with Step III of the grievance procedure. The Administrator determined, however, that in view of the March 12 agreement "it would not be appropriate to submit this issue" to the General Presidents' Committee; the Administrator suggested that the International and Bechtel "exercise some other procedure, such as binding arbitration, to vacate" the March 12 agreement, if that was the International's desire. Thereafter, on June 16, 1986, the International attempted to process the grievance to Step IV by filing a demand for arbitration with the American Arbitration Association.

On July 11, 1986, Bechtel petitioned the district court for a permanent stay of arbitration, arguing that the March 12 agreement constituted an agreement not to arbitrate the Palavanchi jobsite access grievance. Bechtel also raised three defenses to arbitration, two of which are at issue in this appeal. First, Bechtel argued that the March 12 agreement completely resolved the grievance, leaving nothing to arbitrate. Second, Bechtel argued that the grievance had not been properly processed through Step III (consideration by the General Presidents' Committee and a Bechtel representative) and thus could not proceed to Step IV (arbitration). On August 9, 1986, the district court denied the petition, concluding that both the underlying grievance and Bechtel's defenses to arbitration were arbitrable. We consider in turn Bechtel's challenges to each of these conclusions.

II.

In the recent case of AT & T Technologies, Inc. v. Communication Workers, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 1415, 89 L.Ed.2d 648 (1986), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the four basic principles governing courts and labor arbitrators that were first announced more than twenty-five years ago in the Steelworkers Trilogy: Steelworkers v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960); Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960). First, " 'arbitration is a matter of contract and a party cannot be required to submit to arbitration any dispute which he has not agreed so to submit.' " AT & T Technologies, 106 S.Ct. at 1418 (quoting Warrior & Gulf, 363 U.S. at 582, 80 S.Ct. at 1353). Second, "the question of arbitrability--whether a collective-bargaining agreement creates a duty for the parties to arbitrate a particular grievance--is undeniably an issue for judicial determination." Id. Third, "in deciding whether the parties have agreed to submit a particular grievance to arbitration, a court is not to rule on the potential merits of the underlying claims." 106 S.Ct. at 1419. Finally, "where the contract contains an arbitration clause, there is a presumption of arbitrability in the sense that '[a]n 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.' " Id. (quoting Warrior & Gulf, 363 U.S. at 582-83, 80 S.Ct. at 1353). " '[I]n the absence of any express provision excluding a particular grievance from arbitration, ... only the most forceful evidence of a purpose to exclude the claim from arbitration can prevail.' " Id. (quoting Warrior & Gulf, 363 U.S. at 584-85, 80 S.Ct. at 1354).

Bechtel does not argue that any express provision of the GPPMA excludes the instant grievance from arbitration. Bechtel instead asserts that the March 12 agreement constitutes "the most...