High Concrete Structures, Inc. of N.J. v. United Elec. Radio and Mach. Workers of America, Local 166
| Decision Date | 15 May 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-1823,88-1823 |
| Citation | 879 F.2d 1215 |
| Parties | 131 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3152, 112 Lab.Cas. P 11,351, 11 Employee Benefits Ca 1436 HIGH CONCRETE STRUCTURES, INC. of N.J., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 166, Defendant-Appellants. . Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Robin Alexander, General Counsel, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendant-appellants.
Arthur M. Brewer, Shawe & Rosenthal, Baltimore, Md., Donald K. Joseph, Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before GIBBONS, Chief Judge, MANSMANN and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges.
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Local 166 (the union) appeals from a summary judgment in favor of High Concrete Structures, Inc. (the employer) in the employer's suit to vacate the award of an arbitrator. The arbitrator's award resolved in the union's favor a grievance filed on behalf of Pietro Carini with respect to the number of years of credited service to be used in calculating his disability pension. We conclude that the award was within the terms of the parties' submission, and should be enforced. Thus, we will reverse the summary judgment in favor of the employer.
The statement of grievance giving rise to the arbitration reads:
[the] Company has violated Section 26 and the Agreement between U.E. Local 166 and High Concrete Structures of N.J. in that it failed to raise the credited service CAP for Disability Pension to 30 years as agreed upon during contract negotiations.
The remedy requested by the Union was that "this situation be corrected immediately with all back monies due for employees affected by Company's actions." When the grievance was denied by the employer, the union requested arbitration. The employer and the union then stipulated that the arbitrator was to resolve the following issue:
Should the CAP on disability retirement credited years of service be 25 or 30 years?
After a hearing, the arbitrator sustained the union's grievance, ruling:
The Company shall apply a 30 year CAP to disability retirement and credit employees accordingly for the term of the agreement. Employees who retired on disability who have been affected by the failure of the Company to apply the 30 year CAP in the computation of their pension benefits shall be paid any money due.
The employer then sued to vacate the arbitration award, contending that the arbitrator had exceeded his authority by rewriting the collective bargaining agreement.
The employer and the union have been parties to a series of collective bargaining agreements which have dealt, among other subjects, with normal and disability pensions by means of a defined benefit plan. The benefits are defined in part by credited years of service, with a maximum number of years of credited service, referred to as a CAP. The collective bargaining agreement covering the years 1980 to 1983 provided that the CAP for normal retirement would be 25 years, and that disabled employees having five years or more of actual service would be eligible for a disability pension and would receive credit for 25 years of service in calculating a disability pension. Several changes were made in the disability pension formula in the collective bargaining agreement for the years 1983 to 1986, including the raising of the required years of actual service from five to ten years.
In August of 1986, the employer and the union concluded negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement for the period September 1, 1986 to August 31, 1989. They signed a memorandum of the agreed-upon terms, and it contains the following relevant clause:
First year to pension--the Company will increase the pension multiplier from 11.75 to 12.25 per month, per year of service. The CAP will be increased to 30 years. (emphasis supplied).
The employer prepared a typewritten text of a new collective bargaining agreement purporting to reflect the terms agreed upon in the negotiations. When it was sent to the union a signed copy was returned to the company, together with a letter reading:
The Union has completed its review of the newly negotiated agreement and finds only one discrepancy. That discrepancy is the Company's refusal to raise the cap on disability pension to thirty (30) years. This is precisely the issue in dispute concerning Grienance [sic] # 312.
Enclosed find one (1) copy of a fully executed agreement which in no way shall be construed that the Union agrees with the Company's deletion 26 of the agreement. Accordingly, this matter can only be resolved through arbitration.
Grievance # 312 is that filed on behalf of Pietro Carini.
The typed version of Section 26 reads:
Section 26. The Company will amend its existing Union Pension Plan to $12.25 per month times the number of years of service upon retirement at age 65 with 10 years continuous and credited service; effective September 1, 1987, said monthly payment shall be increased to $12.75 per month and effective September 1, 1988 to $13 per month times the number of years of service. The maximum continuous of credited service shall be thirty (30) years. In the event an employee is permanently and totally disabled, he shall receive either Workman's Compensation or the Pension payment provided for in this Agreement, which ever is greater. For the purpose of the plan, a Participant is permanently and totally disabled when declared eligible to receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration after having been certified to be totally and permanently disabled by the Social Security Administration. A disability pension shall be available only to employees who are vested under the Plan. An employee's disability benefit shall be based on his credited service in accordance with the following schedule:
Completed Years of Seniority Credited Service For Disability Pension
10 13
11 15
12 18
13 20
14 22
15 or more 25
All employees presently receiving monthly pensions shall be entitled to the maximum pension set forth in this contract, when the same becomes effective. There shall be no compulsory retirement, but pension benefits shall be provided in accordance with and subject to the terms of the existing Pension Plan.
(emphasis supplied). The employer and the union agree that the italicized language accurately reflects their agreement with respect to the CAP on normal retirement service credit. The union contends, however, that Section 26 does not reflect the parties' agreement that the CAP be raised to 30 years both for normal and for disability pensions. Testimony before the arbitrator suggests that neither side at the negotiating table was explicit in differentiating the two different types of pension when the CAP was discussed.
Section 19 of the collective bargaining agreement provides in relevant part:
Section 19(a). All differences, disputes and grievances that may arise under or in connection with the terms of provisions of this contract, or in connection with or relating to the application or interpretation of any of the terms of provisions thereof shall be settled [by grievance and arbitration procedures]. ... (4) ... the arbitrator shall in each instance be bound by the provisions of this Agreement and shall not have the authority in any way to change, modify or add to the provisions of this agreement.
* * *
* * *
(c) Any question which may arise between the Union and the Company, or any employees and the Company may finally be disposed of by agreement between the Union and the Company. The Union and the Company may, at any time, by mutual agreement in writing, amend, alter, delete or add to the provisions of this contract.
Section 27 of the collective bargaining agreement sets forth an integration clause, stating that the agreement with any amendments thereof shall constitute settlement in full of all bargainable issues between the parties.
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