UNITED FURNITURE WKRS. v. Little Rock Furn. Mfg. Co.

Decision Date04 February 1957
Docket NumberNo. 3289.,3289.
Citation148 F. Supp. 129
PartiesThe UNITED FURNITURE WORKERS OF AMERICA (AFL-CIO), Plaintiff, v. The LITTLE ROCK FURNITURE MFG. CO., Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas

Henry Woods, of McMath, Leatherman & Woods, Little Rock, Ark., for plaintiff.

W. P. Hamilton, Jr., of Moore, Burrow, Chowning & Mitchell, Little Rock, Ark., for defendant.

TRIMBLE, District Judge.

This suit was begun on December 12, 1956, by the filing of a complaint by the United Furniture Workers of America (AFL-CIO) against the Little Rock Furniture Manufacturing Company wherein it was alleged that the plaintiff is the bargaining agent for the employees of the defendant; that the defendant is engaged in the production of goods for interstate commerce and that on March 1, 1956, the parties entered into a collective bargaining agreement, a copy of which was attached to the complaint as Exhibit "A".

The complaint alleged that on or about October 11, 1956, defendant discharged one of its employees, a member of plaintiff's union, and that on October 19, 1956, defendant was asked to submit the dispute arising from the discharge to arbitration; that the defendant refused to arbitrate the dispute and that such refusal constituted a breach of the collective bargaining agreement. The prayer of the complaint reads as follows:

"The plaintiff herein, in view of the defendant's refusal to comply with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement mentioned above, herewith prays that this court decree specific performance of said collective bargaining agreement and particularly that section of said agreement requiring arbitration of all disputes thereunder. This relief is prayed for under the provisions of Section 301-A of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act) 29 U.S.C.A. § 185. The plaintiff further prays for its costs and for all other relief to which it may be entitled."

On December 31, 1956, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on two grounds, (1) that the court is without jurisdiction of the subject matter of the complaint, and (2) that the complaint fails to state a claim against the defendant upon which relief may be granted in that there is no provision in the contract requiring arbitration of the discharge of employees.

Article II of the Agreement which relates to grievance procedure and arbitration reads as follows:

"Section 1. Should any dispute arise in the application of any provision of this Agreement, or as to any facts calling for the application thereof, such dispute, except as to wages shall be subject to adjustment or arbitration as herein provided. Any cause for alleged grievance or dispute must be presented in writing within five (5) days after its occurrence to the Company's authorized representative. Every effort will be made by the representatives of the parties to amicably and satisfactorily adjust any cause for alleged grievance or dispute. For this purpose the Union will appoint a Shop Committee, with not to exceed ten (10) members, which will deal directly with a representative or representatives designated by the Company. The International Representative of the Union may be present at the meetings of the representatives and the Shop Committee.
"If an alleged grievance or dispute cannot be adjusted and satisfactorily disposed of, it shall be submitted to arbitration. For arbitration of any alleged grievance or dispute, the Company shall appoint a representative and the Union shall appoint a representative. If the representatives of the Company and the Union cannot agree, these two representatives shall select a third arbitrator. If, within five (5) days the representatives of the Company and the Union cannot agree on a third arbitrator, the parties agree that the third party shall either be Professor Ralph C. Barnhart, Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas, or that Professor Barnhart shall appoint the third party. A decision agreed to by a majority of the arbitrators shall be binding on all parties.
"The cost of such arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties except attorney's fees."
I.

There are two questions presented by the motion, the jurisdiction of the court and the sufficiency of the allegations of the complaint. I shall discuss the latter of those questions first.

It is seen that the agreement covers the right of arbitration of any dispute that arises in the application of any provision of the agreement, and following the detailed provisions regarding procedure the various subjects intended to be covered by the agreement are set forth in Articles III to XI, inclusive (omitting Article VIII). These provisions cover specifically: vacations, hours of work, leave of absence, seniority, wages, strikes, lock-outs, holidays and termination of the agreement.

Article VIII is entitled "General Provisions", which are: the posting of notices, one steward in each department, the right to visit the plant by a representative of the plaintiff, superannuated or incapacitated employees, military service, and restriction against requirement of employee to do work for which he is not qualified.

The court has been unable to find in the agreement any specific provision relating to the right to arbitrate growing out of the discharge of an employee, and it does seem that if it had been the intention of the parties that a grievance or dispute growing out of the discharge of an employee had intended to be covered by the agreement, it would have so provided.

Counsel for plaintiff contends that the contract calls for the arbitration of any dispute between the Union and the management involving working conditions. It should be noted that the agreement itself neither specifically nor generally provides for arbitration of any dispute arising under the subject of "Working Conditions". It is true that the contract states that the company recognizes the Union as the sole and exclusive representative for the purpose of collective bargaining in respect to all working conditions, but having recognized the authority of the Union to bargain, the agreement then proceeds to set out the subjects as hereinabove indicated.

Furthermore, it is extremely doubtful that the subject of the discharge of an employee or the right to discharge is covered by the term "working conditions".

In the case of Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. v. Norwood, D.C.Ark., 42 F.2d 765, it was held that the term "working conditions" used in the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq., did not cover the enforcement of the Arkansas Full Crew Law, that is, the term did not bestow upon the Interstate Commerce Commission authority to make a regulation permitting the railroad company to disregard a state statute requiring a certain number of men in train and switching crews. The court there said that the term "working conditions" simply means conditions affecting the work of the employees as might be the subject of agreement between the carriers and the employees, thus indicating that the term is generic in character and would become effective only when the matter under consideration by the parties to the contract is specified and defined.

See also In re Chicago North Shore & M. R. Co., 7 Cir., 147 F.2d 723 and Southern Pacific Co. v. Joint Council Dining Car Employees, Locals 456 and 582, 9 Cir., 165 F.2d 26.

I am, therefore, extremely doubtful that the agreement on which this suit is based contains any provision relating to the right of the defendant to discharge one of its employees.

The remedy sought here is specific performance of a contract. The plaintiff asks the court to require the defendant to submit to arbitration a dispute growing out of the action of the defendant in discharging an employee for the apparent failure on the part of the employee to conform to certain requirements of the employer. As heretofore stated, the subject of discharge or re-employment of an employee is nowhere mentioned in the contract. I, therefore, find that the contract does not meet the requirements of certainty to give the court authority to act, as such requirements are set forth under the subject of "Specific Performance" in 49 Am.Jur., page 34, as follows:

"§ 22. Generally. In order for a court of equity to decree specific performance of a contract, the court must be able to determine what must be done to constitute performance. The indefiniteness of an agreement is an adequate reason for refusal to direct specific performance thereof. The contract itself must make the precise act which is to be done clearly ascertainable. It is fundamental that in order to do this and to enable the court to decree specific performance, the terms of the contract must be clear, definite, certain, and complete. The contract must be free from doubt, vagueness, and ambiguity, so as to leave nothing to conjecture or to be supplied by the court. It must be sufficiently certain and definite in its terms to leave no reasonable doubt as to what the parties intended, and no reasonable doubt of the specific thing equity is called upon to have performed, and it must be sufficiently certain as to its terms so that the court may enforce it as actually made by the parties. * * *"

In the case of Wyatt v. Yingling, 213 Ark. 160, 210 S.W.2d 122, 123, the court quoted from another chapter in Am.Jur. on the question of the sufficiency of a contract to warrant Specific Performance, and there said:

"In the chapter on Statute of Frauds, 49 Am.Jur. Sec. 354, it is said: `It is not sufficient that the note or memorandum express the terms of a contract; it is essential that it completely evidence the contract which the parties made by giving all of the essential terms. The writing must be such that all of the contract can be collected therefrom; resort cannot be had to the terms of the oral contract to supply deficiencies in the memorandum. * * * A contract in writing which leaves some essential term thereof to
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    ...F.Supp. 163. 9 Local No. 149, etc. v. General Electric Company, 1 Cir., 1957, 250 F.2d 922; United Furniture Workers, etc. v. Little Rock Furniture Mfg. Co., D.C.E.D.Ark. 1957, 148 F.Supp. 129. 10 International Union, etc. v. Benton Harbor Mal. Ind., 6 Cir., 1957, 242 F. 2d 536; Cuneo Press......
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    ...there is no agreement for performance which is reasonably susceptible of enforcement. United Furniture Workers of America v. Little Rock Furniture Mfg. Co., D.C.E.D.Ark., W.D., 1957, 148 F. Supp. 129; Riverdale Fabrics Corp. v. Tillinghast-Stiles Company, 306 N.Y. 288, 118 N.E.2d 104, 31 A.......
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