IBTCWHA, Local Union No. 2707 v. Western Air Lines, Inc.
| Decision Date | 01 June 1987 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 87-5657,s. 87-5657 |
| Citation | 813 F.2d 1359 |
| Parties | 125 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2153, 106 Lab.Cas. P 12,264 IBTCWHA, LOCAL UNION NO. 2707, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WESTERN AIR LINES, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellees. AIR TRANSPORT EMPLOYEES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WESTERN AIR LINES, INC., Defendant-Appellee. /5667. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Robert A. Bush, Los Angeles, Cal., for Air Transport Employees Union plaintiff-appellant.
Scott Kruse, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court For the Central District of California.
Before GOODWIN, SCHROEDER, and POOLE, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs-Appellants are the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and Air Transport Employees (ATE), two unions which represent employees of Western Air Lines. They filed these actions, which we have consolidated on appeal, to require Western to arbitrate the unions' claims that Western's agreement to merge with Delta Air Lines violates collective bargaining agreements between Western and the unions.
The district court dismissed the actions because it viewed the disputes as representational disputes within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board (NMB or Board). See 45 U.S.C. Sec. 152. The unions, on the other hand, characterize the disputes as concerning the proper interpretation of terms of collective bargaining agreements, including specifically bargained for provisions on mergers, and thus arbitrable as minor disputes under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). See 45 U.S.C. Sec. 184. The unions point out that the Board lacks authority to enforce contracts, see Chicago & N.W. Ry. v. United Transportation Union, 402 U.S. 570, 91 S.Ct. 1731, 29 L.Ed.2d 187 (1971).
We granted both unions' requests for injunctive relief pending appeal and ordered arbitration to proceed on an expedited basis. All parties have requested an expedited hearing of the merits of the appeal, and we have granted such expedited treatment so that the issue of the arbitrability of the dispute can be resolved before the scheduled merger of the two airlines on April 1, 1987. We hold that the disputes are arbitrable (minor) disputes under the RLA because they center on the applicability and interpretation of collective bargaining agreements. The arbitrations cannot be completed prior to the date of the scheduled merger of the two airlines, however, and if the merger is consummated as planned there will be no entity with whom the unions may arbitrate. In order to preserve the status quo, see Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R.R., 363 U.S. 528, 531, 80 S.Ct. 1326, 1328, 4 L.Ed.2d 1379 (1960), we order Western Air Lines to take appropriate steps to see that a valid award of the arbitrator may be enforced.
ATE is the certified representative of Western's clerical, office, fleet, and passenger service employees. IBT represents Western's mechanics, stock clerks, and flight instructors.
Western's collective bargaining agreement with ATE states that the agreement shall be binding on any successor of Western and that the successor shall continue to apply the terms of the agreement until the agreement is changed in accordance with the RLA. Western's agreement with IBT similarly provides that the collective bargaining agreements are binding on Western's successors and that, in case of consolidation or merger, Western and IBT shall meet to negotiate provisions for protection of Western employees.
On September 1, 1984, IBT and Western signed a letter of agreement stating that if Western were the object of an unfriendly takeover, it would require the acquiring airline to assume its collective bargaining agreement obligations to IBT. The letter further states that Western will be liable to A second letter of agreement between IBT and Western, dated September 14, 1984, states that Western will not agree to a merger unless the acquiring airline agrees that Western's maintenance facilities will be operated separately from those of the acquiring airline, unless IBT agrees to integration of Western's mechanics with those of the purchasing company. The letter further stipulates that after a merger all work performed by Western employees represented by IBT would continue to be assigned to those employees, and that work would continue to be recognized as within IBT's jurisdiction and covered by the IBT-Western collective bargaining agreements. Similar understandings with respect to merger were negotiated with ATE.
IBT and Western's employees for damages if Western fails to obtain such agreement from the acquiring airline.
These merger provisions between IBT and ATE and Western were agreed to as part of extensive negotiations which included wage concessions of ten percent for IBT-represented employees and ten to twenty percent by ATE-represented employees.
On September 9, 1986, Delta, its subsidiary DL Acquisition Corp., and Western entered into an agreement to merge Western into Delta. The United States Department of Transportation approved the merger and Delta acquired Western's shares on December 16, 1986. Delta's acquisition of Western stock constituted the first phase of the merger. The second phase is scheduled to occur on April 1, 1987, when Delta will combine operations of the two airlines. Western will cease to exist as a separate corporate entity on that date. The merger agreement between Western and Delta does not provide that Delta will recognize the unions or be bound by the Western-ATE/IBT collective bargaining agreements after April 1. It apparently makes no mention of Western's agreements with the unions regarding merger. Delta employees within the crafts covered by these collective bargaining agreements are not represented by any union.
Both unions filed grievances regarding Western's alleged failure to comply with the collective bargaining agreements. Both unions alleged that the collective bargaining agreements were breached by Western's agreement to merge. Western responded that the clauses and letters of agreement were inapplicable to the merger. Both unions then requested arbitration of whether there had been a breach by the merger agreement. Western refused to submit to arbitration of these issues on the ground that they might result in the arbitration deciding who would properly represent Delta employees after the merger. Western argued that because these issues involve the unions' representation status, they are not arbitrable, but instead are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the NMB.
Both unions then filed actions in the district court for injunctions to compel arbitration. On February 17, 1987, the district court considered both cases simultaneously and dismissed both actions for lack of jurisdiction. In both cases, the court in two-page orders agreed with Western that the disputes involved representation issues over which the NMB has exclusive jurisdiction. Both unions timely appealed.
The merits of these appeals concern essentially jurisdictional questions. They are whether the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements or the letters of agreement, are enforceable through arbitration, or whether they raise questions of representation that can be decided only by the NMB.
The RLA, which governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries, defines three classes of labor disputes. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America v. Texas International Airlines, Inc., 717 F.2d 157, 158 (5th Cir.1983) (). None of the parties contend that this is a major dispute, so we are concerned only with the distinction between representation and minor disputes.
Representation disputes involve determining the collective bargaining representative of the employees and the proper bargaining unit, craft, or class of employees to be represented. Id. at 158-59. A dispute as to the proper representative of airline employees is committed to the exclusive jurisdiction of the NMB. Id; 45 U.S.C. Sec. 152 (Ninth). Thus, federal courts lack jurisdiction over actions raising such disputes.
A minor dispute involves a disagreement over the application or interpretation of an existing collective bargaining agreement. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers v. Aloha Airlines, Inc., 776 F.2d 812, 815 (9th Cir.1985). Any controversy over the meaning of a collective bargaining agreement in the context of a particular fact situation is a minor dispute. See International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers v. Republic Airlines, 761 F.2d 1386, 1390 (9th Cir.1985); Kaschak v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 707 F.2d 902, 905 (6th Cir.1983). We have said that where the position of one party is expressly and arguably predicated on the terms of the agreement, "the question of whether the position is well taken involves a minor dispute." Switchmen's Union of North America v. Southern Pacific Co., 398 F.2d 443, 447 (9th Cir.1968). Aloha Airlines, 776 F.2d at 816; O'Donnell v. Wien Air Alaska, Inc., 551 F.2d 1141, 1146-47 (9th Cir.1977). The exclusive means of resolving such disputes is through RLA grievance and arbitration procedures which can be compelled by court order. See Republic Airlines, 761 F.2d at 1389-90. The arbitrator, however, has primary and exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement and fashion the appropriate award in case of breach. Id. at 1390.
It is important here to view these cases in the context in which they now exist. The unions have been certified by NMB as...
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