Local 791, United Food & Com. v. Shaw's Supermkts

• Decision Date: 07 November 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-2405.,06-2405.
• Citation: 507 F.3d 43
• Parties: LOCAL 791, UNITED FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS UNION, AFL-CIO, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SHAW'S SUPERMARKETS, INC., Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

507 F.3d 43

LOCAL 791, UNITED FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS UNION, AFL-CIO, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SHAW'S SUPERMARKETS, INC., Defendant, Appellee.

No. 06-2405.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard March 7, 2007.

Decided November 7, 2007.

Terrence E. Coles, with whom Pyle, Rome, Lichten, Ehrenberg & Liss-Riordan, P.C. was on brief for appellant.

Robert P. Joy, with whom Robert P. Morris and Morgan, Brown & Joy were on brief for appellee.

Before HOWARD, Circuit Judge, CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge, and SARIS^*, District Judge.

CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Local 791, United Food and Commercial Workers Union ("Local 791" or the "union") appeals from the entry of judgment on the pleadings in favor of defendant Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc. ("Shaw's") in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The district court found that because of the parties' agreement to resolve disputes internally, it did not have jurisdiction pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185(a), to review the union's claim of breach of the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") between the parties.¹ We affirm the district court.

Facts

Shaw's and Local 791 are parties to a CBA covering employees of supermarkets in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island for the period of August 1, 2004-August 2, 2008. The CBA is made up of 25 articles, along with a series of side letters and agreements. The 1985 Side Agreements contain a provision that "[p]resent night stocking crew will not be forced to work evenings and lose the stocking premium" provided them as night employees.

The union brought the instant complaint in the district court alleging a breach of this provision, stating,

On or about March 27, 2005, Shaw's forced approximately 75 bargaining unit employees doing night stocking work in stores covered by the 2004-2008 CBA to do stocking work in afternoon and evening hours that did not qualify for the 75 cents per hour premium. This has resulted in losses of earnings for full-time employees of at least thirty dollars per week, and lesser amounts for part time employees.

Shaw's action in forcing the night stocking employees to do their work during afternoon and evening hours outside the hours for which the premium is paid violates [Article 4, Section 5, quoted supra] of the 1985 side agreements.

Following the filing of the union's complaint, Shaw's moved for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) and 12(b)(1). Shaw's argued that the dispute resolution procedures in the CBA constituted the exclusive remedy for grievances arising under the CBA, barring the union from seeking redress in the federal courts under Section 301 of the LMRA. See note 1, supra.

Article 13 of the CBA contains grievance and arbitration provisions preceded by the following declaration in Section 1:

The Company and Union concur on the usefulness and mutual advantages of providing for the prompt and fair resolution of disagreements that could arise on the meaning and interpretation of this Agreement. The following procedures are intended to be the sole means for the resolution of grievances, which for the purposes of this Agreement are defined as disputes between the Management and the Union or covered Employee(s) concerning the meaning or application of this Agreement.

Article 13 then goes on to set out in four steps the referenced procedures said to be "intended to be the sole means for the resolution of grievances." The initial three steps, followed when needed by the fourth step of arbitration, are described as follows:

Step 1: An aggrieved Employee or the Union will bring his or her complaint to his or her Store Manager within seven (7) calendar days of the incident or action being complained of, or having reasonable knowledge thereof. The Store Manager will make a good faith effort to resolve the matter within seven (7) calendar days of being notified. If the Store Manager cannot resolve the matter, it will be reduced to writing by the Union and submitted to the Store Manager within five (5) calendar days of the receipt of the Manager's verbal response. The grievance must be signed by the grieving Employee(s) or the Union Representative, and must contain a statement describing the nature of the alleged contract violation and a good faith effort to identify the provision of the contract violation and dates, if known. The Manager will have five (5) calendar days to answer the grievance in writing. Employees may request their Steward to bring the matter to their supervisor's attention on their behalf. It is the intention of the parties to resolve as many grievances as possible at this step.

Step 2: If no resolution at Step 1, the matter may be submitted to the Regional management representative or his designee within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of the Store Manager's answer. A Step 2 hearing will be held within ten (10) calendar days from the management representative's receipt of the written grievance. A written response will be given to the Union representative within ten (10) calendar days of the Step 2 hearing.

Step 3: If not settled at Step 2, the matter may be further appealed in writing by the Union to the Company's Labor Relations representative, within ten (10) calendar days from the receipt of the Management's Step 2 response. A Step 3 hearing will be held within twenty-one (21) calendar days of the appeal and may be attended by appropriate representatives for the Union and Company. A written response will be given to the Union within fourteen (14) calendar days of the Step 3 hearing, or within thirty (30) calendar days of the appeal if no hearing can be scheduled. If no answer is given within these time limits, the Union may proceed to the next step.²

When the above three steps have been exhausted, "the matter may be appealed to arbitration ...," and the arbitration provisions are thereafter detailed separately under a heading of "Arbitration Procedures."

At the root of the present controversy is a paragraph introducing the relevant 1985 Side Agreements. The paragraph states, "[t]he following 1985 and 1991 understandings are hereby continued but shall not be subject to arbitration" (emphasis supplied). Both parties have agreed that this part of the CBA bars arbitration of the instant alleged violation of the 1985 Side Agreements, but they disagree about where that leaves them. Shaw's argues that the elimination of arbitration under the 1985 Side Agreements simply means that plaintiffs are limited to, and still must use, the initial three steps of the grievance procedure and abide by the results reached, with neither an arbitration remedy nor judicial action under Section 301 available. Local 791 contends that the elimination of an arbitration remedy with respect to alleged violations of the 1985 Side Agreements entitles them to go to the courts under Section 301 and obtain there a judicial determination of those grievances. Alternatively, the union argues that the provision against arbitration of the 1985 and 1991 understandings is ambiguous and the question of its meaning should be submitted to a fact-finder.

The district court granted judgment on the pleadings to Shaw's on the grounds that the applicable language in the CBA is unambiguous and requires the plaintiff to forego arbitration but to use the first three steps of the grievance procedure to contest the alleged violation. Accordingly, the court ruled, the court is without jurisdiction under Section 301 over the dispute.

Discussion

We "review the district court's grant of the Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) motion de novo." International Paper Co. v. Town of Jay, 928 F.2d 480, 482 (1st Cir.1991). "[T]he trial court must accept all of the nonmovant's well-pleaded factual averments as true, and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. The motion should not be granted unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief." Pasdon v. City of Peabody, 417 F.3d 225, 226 (1st Cir.2005) (citation omitted).

Judicial review under Section 301, see note 1, supra, is available to resolve disputes under collective bargaining agreements only "[i]n the absence of an agreement for arbitration or some other form of final resolution of dispute." Local 369, Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO v. Boston Edison Co., 588 F.Supp. 800, 804 (D.Mass.1985), aff'd 752 F.2d 1 (1st Cir.1984). The Supreme Court has stated,

[c]ollective bargaining agreements ... generally contain provisions for the settlement of disputes through mutual discussion and arbitration.... Furthermore, Congress has specified ... that "[f]inal adjustment by a method agreed upon by the parties is declared to be the desirable method for settlement of grievance disputes."

Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 562, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976) (citing 29 U.S.C. § 173(d)). The foregoing congressional policy "can be effectuated only if the means chosen by the parties for settlement of their differences under a collective bargaining agreement is given full play." United Steelworkers of America v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 566, 80 S.Ct. 1363, 4 L.Ed.2d 1432 (1960).

Here, the CBA sets forth a detailed three-step grievance process followed, if that proves unsatisfactory to the employee or union, by an arbitration remedy. The CBA makes plain that these "procedures are intended to be the sole means for the resolution of grievances." The paragraph immediately before the 1985 Side Agreements states that "the following 1985 and 1991 understandings are hereby continued but shall not be subject to arbitration" (emphasis supplied). The district court concluded that, "[t]he simplest interpretation of these words is that disputes over the provisions of the Side Agreements may be grieved [i.e., through steps 1-3], but may not proceed...