Bechtel Corp. v. Local 215, Laborers' Intern. Union of North America, AFL-CIO
| Citation | 544 F.2d 1207 |
| Decision Date | 12 November 1976 |
| Docket Number | AFL-CIO,No. 76-1048,76-1048 |
| Parties | 93 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2860, 79 Lab.Cas. P 11,745 BECHTEL CORPORATION and Bechtel Power Corporation, Appellants, v. LOCAL 215, LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA,et al. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) |
Haggerty & McDonnell, Scranton, Pa., Bond, Schoeneck & King, Syracuse, N. Y., for appellants.
Ira H. Weinstock, James L. Cowden, Handler, Gerber & Weinstock, Harrisburg, Pa., for appellees.
Before ADAMS, ROSENN and GARTH, Circuit Judges.
This appeal presents several important issues pertaining to the proper forum for the determination of an employer's claim for damages growing out of two separate work stoppages allegedly in violation of labor contracts. The work stoppages resulted from jurisdictional disputes between Local 215, Laborers International Union of North America, AFL-CIO ("Local 215" or "the Union") and two other unions over assignment of work at a construction site in Berwick, Pennsylvania, where Bechtel Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary Bechtel Power Corporation ("Bechtel") are engaged in the construction of two nuclear power plants.
The power plants are known collectively as the Susquehanna Steam Electric Generating Station and their construction commenced in October 1973 and is scheduled for completion in 1981. Bechtel employs approximately 1200 manual building trades employees at the two construction sites and has contracted with subcontractors who employ approximately 100 additional persons. Wages, hours, and working conditions for Bechtel's employees are governed by the terms of several collective bargaining agreements entered into between Bechtel or its representative and various unions, including Local 215.
Bechtel alleges that in November 1974 a jurisdictional dispute arose between Local 215 and Local 489 of the Ironworkers Union concerning the performance of certain work on the power plants. 1 Thereafter, on December 16 and 17, 1974, representatives of Local 215 induced a work stoppage and picketing at the project, resulting in the refusal to work of a majority of Bechtel's employees. In February 1975, a second jurisdictional dispute arose, this time between Local 215 and the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union, Local 254. This controversy also resulted in a work stoppage and picketing, for which Bechtel alleges the defendant Local 215 was responsible.
On February 24, 1975, Bechtel, as plaintiff, filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging claims for damages because of Local 215's violations of its contractual obligations with Bechtel and of the Labor Management Relations Act. One claim was asserted under section 301 and the other under section 303 of the Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 185, 187 (1970), ("the Act"). 2 Local 215, the defendant, filed motions to dismiss both causes of action and a motion for a more definite statement. 3 By its motions to dismiss, Local 215 contended that (1) the proper forum for resolving Bechtel's section 301 claim is arbitration under the contracts, not the district court, and (2) the section 303 action should be dismissed pending arbitration of the section 301 claim.
The district court denied the Union's motion to dismiss but it entered an order directing the parties to submit the breach of contract claims to arbitration in accordance with the collective bargaining agreements entered into between the parties. It also stayed Bechtel's section 303 claim pending arbitration or until further order of the court. In staying Bechtel's section 303 claim, the district court indicated that the underlying jurisdictional dispute between the unions also should be arbitrated and that the arbitration should also determine whether Local 215 was entitled to the work in dispute. Bechtel appealed to this court. 3A We affirm, although our reason for staying the section 303 action differs significantly from that set forth by the district court.
On appeal, Bechtel contends that the district court erred (1) in directing arbitration of its section 301 claim in the face of the express exclusion of such claims from arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement, and (2), in staying the trial of its claim under section 303 pending a determination by an arbitrator as to which union is entitled to the work for which Local 215 struck, and (3) in concluding that a union which strikes over an assignment of work may not be held liable for damages under section 303 if the striking union is ultimately determined to be entitled to the disputed work.
Bechtel claims in the action it instituted in the district court that the work stoppages induced by the union violated a "no-strike" provision of the collective bargaining agreement between it and the union and it seeks damages in the sum of $60,000. The Union concedes in its brief in this court that section 301 of the Act "permits a party to a labor contract to sue in federal court for breaches of that contract." An action under section 303 also lies when an employer in an industry affecting interstate commerce sustains damages when a union engages in a jurisdictional strike that is unlawful under section 8(b)(4)(d) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4)(d). 4 The Company alleged that the work stoppages and strike were conducted in violation of section 8(b)(4)(d) and that it suffered damages as a result of the union's conduct. The resolution of the issues depends in large part on the interpretation of two separate collective bargaining agreements entered into between Bechtel and the Union.
On October 2, 1973, Bechtel entered into a written collective bargaining agreement with various trade unions representing employees on the power plants project. Among the signatories to that contract ("Local Agreement") were Local 215 and Bechtel. Article XI specifically prohibited "strikes, work stoppages, or slowdowns of any kind, for any reason, by the Unions or employees" and Article XII 5 provided for the assignment of work by the employer and the settlement of jurisdictional disputes specifically by the National Joint Board. The arbitration article of the contract, Article XIII, however, was qualified and provided:
(T)he parties hereby agree that all questions or grievances involving the meaning, interpretation, and application of this Agreement other than trade jurisdictional disputes arising under Article XII or damages arising from any work stoppage or lockout, shall be handled (by arbitration). (Emphasis supplied.)
In defining the scope of the "Local Agreement," the parties provided in Article II thereof:
The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to the construction of the Susquehanna Steam Electric Generating Station notwithstanding provisions of local or national union agreements which may conflict or differ with the terms of this Agreement . . ..
On November 1, 1973, one month after Bechtel and Local 215 signed the Local Agreement, the Laborers International Union of N.A. entered into a collective bargaining agreement (the "National Agreement") with the National Constructors Association ("Association"). Local 215 is a unit of the International Union and Bechtel is a member of the Association. In contrast with Article II of the Local Agreement, Article I of the National Agreement provides that its provisions "shall prevail" where "the provisions of Local Union agreements conflict." In contradistinction to Article XIII of the Local Agreement, Article XV of the National Agreement provides for arbitration of all disputes, excepting jurisdictional disputes. It reads:
It is specifically agreed that there shall be no strikes, lockouts or cessation or slowdown of work or picketing over any dispute over the application or interpretation of this Agreement, and that all grievances and disputes, excluding jurisdictional disputes, shall be handled (by arbitration). (Emphasis supplied.)
As to jurisdictional disputes, Article XIV of the National Agreement set forth the following procedure:
It is agreed that the assignment of work and the settlement of disputes shall be in accordance with the "Plan for the Settlement of Disputes in the Construction Industry," dated June 1, 1973, or its successor.
There shall be no stoppage of work or slowdown by employees because of jurisdictional disputes.
In construing the Local and National Agreements, the learned district judge held that in view of the conflicting terms of the arbitration articles in the agreements and despite the provisions in each for the superiority of its terms and provisions, the National Agreement, as the contract executed last in time, "prevails." He therefore concluded that the action for damages resulting from a breach of the collective bargaining agreement was arbitrable under the National Agreement.
Our primary task is (1) to determine whether the two agreements do in fact conflict on the question of the arbitration of damage claims; and (2) if the agreements are in conflict, determine whether the district court erred in holding that the National Agreement prevails.
In deciding these questions, the substantive law we must apply to suits under section 301 is federal law. "Federal interpretation of the federal law will govern, not state law." Textile Workers Union v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U.S. 448, 456-57, 77 S.Ct. 912, 918, 1 L.Ed.2d 972 (1957). It is well settled that the question of the scope of the parties' agreement to arbitrate is, under that law, a question committed to the court. 6 Atkinson v. Sinclair Refining Co., 370 U.S. 238, 241, 82 S.Ct. 1318, 8 L.Ed.2d 462 (1961). The terms of the contracts before us are also to be construed according to substantive federal law. Textile Workers, supra, 353 U.S. at 457, 77 S.Ct. 923. See also Jersey Central Power & Light Co. v. Local 327, IBEW, 508 F.2d 687, 699 n. 32 (3d Cir. 197...
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