Opinion ID: 405967
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: review of the arbitral award

Text: 19 In this case, the superficially clear and unambiguous terms of the collective bargaining agreement entitled the three pilots to enhanced retirement benefits. The arbitrators went behind the contractual language to reach the opposite result based upon the panel's perception of the true intent of the parties to the collective bargaining agreement. 20 Appellees do not argue that the arbitrators were factually incorrect in their finding that the true intent of the parties was to exclude the pilots from supplemental benefits. Indeed, such an argument could hardly prevail in this court. See Safeway Stores v. American Bakery Workers, Local 111, 390 F.2d at 83-84. 13 Rather, appellees contend that arbitrators may not go beyond the express terms of the collective bargaining agreement unless those terms evince a facial ambiguity. Phrased another way, appellees argue that unless the arbitrator adheres to the facially unambiguous language of the collective bargaining agreement, the arbitrator's award does not draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement. 14 21 In order to evaluate appellees' argument, it is necessary to examine the essence test set out by the Supreme Court in Enterprise Wheel. In that case, the Court stated: 22 (A)n arbitrator is confined to interpretation and application of the collective bargaining agreement; he does not sit to dispense his own brand of industrial justice. He may of course look for guidance from many sources, yet his award is legitimate only so long as it draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement. When the arbitrator's words manifest an infidelity to this obligation, courts have no choice but to refuse enforcement of the award. 23 363 U.S. at 597, 80 S.Ct. at 1361. The Court suggested by way of example that an award based solely upon the arbitrator's view of the requirements of enacted legislation would fail to draw its essence from the contract. Id. 24 The interdiction contained in Enterprise Wheel has been invoked in a number of contexts. For example, in W. R. Grace & Co. v. Local Union No. 759, United Rubber Workers, 652 F.2d at 1255, the former fifth circuit determined that an arbitrator exceeded his jurisdiction by basing his award solely upon his perception of the equities of the situation without even referring to the collective bargaining agreement. In Detroit Coil Co. v. I.A.M., Lodge 82, 594 F.2d 575, 581 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 840, 100 S.Ct. 79, 62 L.Ed.2d 52 (1979), the court vacated the award of an arbitrator who refused to apply a clear contractual time limit upon the filing of grievances because, inter alia, application of the clause might hurt the good relations that existed between the employer and the union. Additionally, in Textile Workers Union v. American Thread Co., 291 F.2d at 900-01, the court vacated an award that ignored the collective bargaining agreement and took as authority an unrelated arbitral decision. 25 These cases fit into a common pattern in which the arbitrator decides a matter according to a standard that reflects neither the language of the collective bargaining agreement nor the intent of the parties as embodied in the agreement. He thereby dispenses his own brand of industrial justice rather than the brand chosen by the parties that he was commissioned to dispense. Cf. St. Antoine, supra, at 1142 (arbitrator is official reader of collective bargaining agreement, so scope of judicial review should be determined by particular collective bargaining agreement involved). 26 It is immediately evident that the award in this case does not fit into the typical pattern of awards that fail the essence test. In this case, the arbitrators are not faulted for disregarding the intent of the parties to the collective bargaining agreement and thereby dispensing their own brand of industrial justice. Rather, they are faulted for taking the original intent of the parties so seriously that they went behind ostensibly unambiguous language in the contract 15 to determine precisely what the original intent was. We cannot conclude that such an award fails to draw its essence from the letter or purpose of the collective bargaining agreement. 27 In construing any contract, including a collective bargaining agreement, determining the intent of the parties is the essential inquiry. See Ludwig Honold Manufacturing Co. v. Fletcher, 405 F.2d 1123, 1131 (3d Cir. 1969). Although that intent will generally be discernible from the express words of a collective bargaining agreement, see Torrington Co. v. Metal Products Workers Union Local 1645, 362 F.2d at 681, we cannot always be certain that this is so. As stated by the Supreme Court, the collective bargaining agreement is more than a contract; it is a generalized code to govern a myriad of cases which the draftsmen cannot wholly anticipate. United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. at 578, 80 S.Ct. at 1350. 16 Accordingly, absent some express restriction upon the arbitrator's authority, the arbitrator is not limited to the bare words of the agreement and common law rules for the interpretation of private contracts. Gunther v. San Diego & Arizona E. Ry., 382 U.S. at 261, 86 S.Ct. at 370. See St. Antoine, supra, at 1147. 28 An arbitrator does not violate his duty to draw the essence of his award from the letter or purpose of the collective bargaining agreement when he relies upon any of several aids to construe the intent of the parties in addition to the express terms of the contract. These extrinsic aids include the past practice of the parties, see, e.g., United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. at 581-82, 80 S.Ct. at 1352-53; Boise Cascade Corp. v. United Steelworkers, Local Union No. 7001, 588 F.2d 127, 129-30 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 830, 100 S.Ct. 57, 62 L.Ed.2d 38 (1979), bargaining history, see, e.g., Francesco's B., Inc. v. Hotel Employees, Local 28, 659 F.2d at 1389; U.A.W. v. White Motor Corp., 505 F.2d 1193, 1198-99 (8th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 921, 95 S.Ct. 1588, 43 L.Ed.2d 789 (1975), relevant legislation to the extent that it is probative of the sense of the agreement, see, e.g., United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. at 597-98, 80 S.Ct. at 1361; Marble Products Co. v. Local 155, United Stone Workers, 335 F.2d 468, 472 (5th Cir. 1964), and industrial efficiency considerations insofar as the collective bargaining agreement permits, see, e.g., United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. at 582, 80 S.Ct. at 1352; Truck Drivers Local Union No. 100 v. Quick-Freeze Cold Storage, Inc., 375 F.Supp. at 730. 29 In this case, the arbitration clause of the collective bargaining agreement contained no express limitations upon the authority of the arbitrators to interpret the agreement. The arbitrators relied upon probative evidence of bargaining history to determine that the parties did not intend that employees in appellees' position would receive enhanced retirement benefits. Perhaps this is not the result that a judge, applying ordinary principles of contract construction, would have reached. In light of our narrow standard of review of arbitral awards, however, that fact is totally irrelevant. Safeway Stores v. American Bakery Workers, Local 111, 390 F.2d at 83-84. The arbitration panel, composed of designees of both Eastern and ALPA, reached that result on the basis of a construction of the collective bargaining agreement that comported with the essence of the agreement. It was the responsibility of the district court to affirm the award. 30 REVERSED AND REMANDED.