Sheet Metal Workers Local 20 v. Baylor Heating

• Decision Date: 01 June 1988
• Docket Number: No. IP 87-1086-C.,IP 87-1086-C.
• Citation: 688 F. Supp. 462
• Parties: SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL UNION NO. 20 v. BAYLOR HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING, INC.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

688 F. Supp. 462

SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL UNION NO. 20 v. BAYLOR HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING, INC.

No. IP 87-1086-C.

United States District Court, S.D. Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

June 1, 1988.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William R. Groth of Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Baird, Indianapolis, Ind., for plaintiff.

William M. Schiff of Kahn Dees Donovan & Kahn, Evansville, Ind., for defendant.

STECKLER, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on two motions. On December 18, 1987 plaintiff filed a motion to strike and for summary judgment. This motion includes a request for attorney's fees. On December 28, 1987, defendant filed a motion for stay and relief from pre-trial scheduling order. The Court heard oral arguments on the motions on April 28, 1988. The Court now denies defendant's motion to stay the proceedings and grants plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. Further, each party shall pay its own attorney's fees.¹ In support of the Court's decision, the Court now enters its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a memorandum of decision.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This is an action to confirm an arbitration award pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act. 29 U.S.C.A. § 185 (1978).

2. Plaintiff, Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 20 ("Local 20"), entered into a collective bargaining agreement (the "Agreement") with defendant, Baylor Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. ("Baylor"). The Agreement was a pre-hire contract authorized by section 8(f) of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(f) (1973). The Agreement was effective from May 1, 1984, through April 30, 1987.

3. In January of 1987, shortly before the Agreement was to expire, Local 20 notified Baylor that it wanted to amend the Agreement. However, on February 26, 1987, Baylor informed Local 20 that it would not enter negotiations with Local 20 to amend or renew the Agreement.

4. On March 6, 1987, Local 20 filed an unfair labor practice charge against Baylor with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB"). In the charge Local 20 alleged that Baylor was refusing to bargain in violation of its statutory obligation under section 8(a)(5) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(a)(5) (1973). On April 14, 1987, the Acting Regional Director of the NLRB issued a letter of determination in which he refused to issue a complaint in the matter.

5. The Agreement contained an "interest arbitration clause" that required arbitration over new contract terms. The clause, in article X, section 8 of the Agreement provided:

In addition to the settlement of grievances arising out of interpretation or enforcement of this Agreement as set forth in the preceding sections of this Article, any controversy or dispute arising out of the failure of the parties to negotiate a renewal of this Agreement shall be settled as hereinafter provided:

(a). Should the negotiations for a renewal of this Agreement become deadlocked in the opinion of the Union representative(s) or of the Employer(s) representative, or both, notice to that effect shall be given to the National Joint Adjustment Board.

* * * * * *

The dispute shall be submitted to the National Joint Adjustment Board pursuant to the rules as established and modified from time to time by the National Joint Adjustment Board. The unanimous decision of said Board shall be final and binding upon the parties, reduced to writing, signed and mailed to the parties as soon as possible after the decision has been reached. There shall be no cessation of work by strike or lockout unless and until said Board fails to reach a unanimous decision and the parties have received written notification of its failure.

* * * * * *

(d). Unless a different date is agreed upon mutually between the parties or is directed by the unanimous decision of the National Joint Adjustment Board, all effective dates in the new agreement shall be retroactive to the date immediately following the expiration date of the expiring agreement.

6. Shortly after the expiration of the Agreement, Local 20, pursuant to the interest arbitration clause, submitted to the National Joint Adjustment Board ("NJAB") a "dispute arising out of the failure of the parties to negotiate a renewal of the Agreement." Baylor did not participate in the proceedings before the NJAB, and on June 24, 1987, the NJAB issued a unanimous decision which directed Baylor to execute a four-year agreement with Local 20 effective from June 1, 1987, through June 30, 1991. The NJAB ruled that the agreement would contain the same terms and conditions as the contract it had ordered between Local 20 and the Sheet Metal Contractors Association of Evansville.

7. Local 20 was unable to obtain Baylor's voluntary compliance with the NJAB's decision. On October 13, 1987, Local 20 filed a "Complaint to Confirm Arbitration Award" with this Court. On November 4, 1987, Baylor filed an answer to the complaint. In the answer Baylor raised several affirmative defenses which challenged the enforceability of the NJAB decision.

8. On November 10, 1987, Baylor filed unfair labor practice charges against Local 20 with the NLRB. The charges alleged that Local 20, in prosecuting its complaint to confirm the arbitration award, is violating certain provisions of the NLRA. Specifically, Baylor claims that Local 20 is: (1) attempting to cause Baylor to discriminate against its employees in violation of section 8(b)(2); (2) coercing Baylor's employees in violation of section 8(b)(1)(A); (3) engaging in an unlawful, secondary boycott in violation of section 8(b)(4)(ii); and (4) enforcing or attempting to coerce agreement on a collective bargaining agreement in violation of section 8(e). See 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 158(b), 158(e) (1973).

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Based on the foregoing findings of fact, the Court now makes the following conclusions of law.

1. The Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action. 29 U.S.C.A. § 185(a) (1978).

2. Since Local 20's complaint falls within this Court's primary jurisdiction under the Labor Management Relations Act, the Court need not stay the proceedings pending the outcome of Baylor's unfair labor practice charges. See International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 532 v. Brink Construction Co., 825 F.2d 207 (9th Cir.1987).

3. The Court must confirm the NJAB's arbitration award since the NJAB acted within the scope of its authority under the Agreement and its award does not violate an explicit public policy. See United Paperworkers International Union v. Misco, Inc., ___ U.S. ___, 108 S.Ct. 364, 370-74, 98 L.Ed.2d 286 (1987); W.R. Grace & Co. v. Local 759, International Union of the United Rubber Workers, 461 U.S. 757, 766, 103 S.Ct. 2177, 2183, 76 L.Ed.2d 298 (1983).

4. Baylor's affirmative defenses to Local 20's complaint are barred since Baylor did not raise these challenges to the arbitration award in a timely manner. See Chauffeurs, Local 135 v. Jefferson Trucking Co., 628 F.2d 1023, 1025 (7th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1125, 101 S.Ct. 942, 67 L.Ed.2d 111 (1981). See also, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 v. Centor Contractors, Inc., 831 F.2d 1309, 1311 (7th Cir.1987).

5. Despite the NLRB's ruling in John Deklewa & Sons, Inc., 282 N.L.R.B. No. 184, 124 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 1185 (1987), Baylor could not repudiate the Agreement at expiration when, under the interest arbitration clause of the Agreement, the NJAB could impose a new contract on the parties. See R.K. Burner Sheet Metal Inc. v. Local 206, Sheet Metal Worker's International Association, No. 86-2111-R(BTM) (S.D. Cal. June 22, 1987).

6. Since Baylor did not contest the submission of the dispute to the NJAB, federal labor law did not require Local 20 to bring an action in federal court to compel arbitration before it submitted its dispute to the NJAB under the interest arbitration clause of the Agreement. See Torrington Co. v. Local 590 of the UAW, 803 F.2d 927, 930-31 (7th Cir.1986).

7. Local 20 is not entitled to attorney's fees since Baylor's challenge to the arbitration award was based upon a reasonable inquiry into the law even though the challenge ultimately failed. See Brown v. Federation of State Medical Boards, 830 F.2d 1429, 1435 (7th Cir.1987).

8. There are no genuine issues of material fact, and Local 20 is entitled to judgment on its complaint to confirm the arbitration award as a matter of law.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

This case involves a dispute between a labor union and an employer over their labor relationship. Plaintiff, Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 20 ("Local 20"), entered into a collective bargaining agreement (the "Agreement") with defendant, Baylor Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. ("Baylor"). The Agreement was a pre-hire contract² authorized by section 8(f) of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(f) (1973). The Agreement was effective from May 1, 1984, through April 30, 1987.

In January of 1987, shortly before the Agreement was to expire, Local 20 notified Baylor that it wanted to amend the Agreement. However, on February 26, 1987, Baylor informed Local 20 that it would not enter negotiations with Local 20 to amend or renew the Agreement.

Local 20 felt Baylor's position was unjustified. So, on March 6, 1987, Local 20 filed an unfair labor practice charge against Baylor with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB"). In the charge Local 20 alleged that Baylor was refusing to bargain in violation of its statutory obligation under section 8(a)(5) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(a)(5) (1973). On April 14, 1987, the Acting Regional Director of the NLRB issued a letter of determination in which he refused to issue a complaint in the matter. The Director based his decision upon a recent ruling of the NLRB, John Deklewa & Sons, Inc., 282 N.L.R.B. No. 184, 124 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 1185 (1987). The Director stated that under the Deklewa ruling, "the Employer can repudiate the section 8(f) contract at...