Opinion ID: 489363
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Presumption of Arbitrability

Text: 4 CWA argues that the district court erred by refusing to apply the presumption of arbitrability announced by the Supreme Court in United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960). 1 The Court in Warrior & Gulf held that while the issue of whether a collective bargaining agreement creates a duty for the parties to arbitrate the particular grievance is an issue for judicial determination, [a]n order to arbitrate the particular grievance should not be denied unless it may be said with positive assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute. 363 U.S. at 582-83, 80 S.Ct. at 1352-53. This presumption of arbitrability for labor disputes recognizes the greater institutional competence of arbitrators in interpreting collective bargaining agreements, 'furthers the national labor policy of peaceful resolution of labor disputes and thus best accords with the parties' presumed objectives in pursuing collective bargaining.'  AT & T Technologies, Inc. v. Communications Workers, 475 U.S. 643, 106 S.Ct. 1415, 1419, 89 L.Ed.2d 648 (1986) (quoting Schneider Moving & Storage Co. v. Robbins, 466 U.S. 364, 371-72, 104 S.Ct. 1844, 1848-49, 80 L.Ed.2d 366 (1984)). 5 The district court premised its refusal to apply the presumption of arbitrability upon the Court's decision in Schneider Moving & Storage, reasoning that the present dispute does not pose a risk of economic disruption because Anderson and Echlin were employees of CWA rather than MBT. The Court in Schneider Moving & Storage held the presumption of arbitrability inapplicable to disputes between employers and trustees of employee-benefit funds established pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The Court recognized that the presumption of arbitrability is an accepted rule of construction in determining the applicability of an arbitration clause to disputes between the union and the employer [,] but reasoned that there is less to commend the presumption in construing the applicability of arbitration clauses to disputes between the employer and the trustees of employee-benefit funds. 466 U.S. at 371-72, 104 S.Ct. at 1848-49 (emphasis added). The court explained: 6 Arbitration promotes labor peace because it requires the parties to forgo the economic weapons of strikes and lockouts. Because the trustees of employee-benefit funds have no recourse to either of those weapons, requiring them to arbitrate disputes with the employer would promote labor peace only indirectly, if at all. We conclude, therefore, that the presumption of arbitrability is not a proper rule of construction in determining whether arbitration agreements between the union and the employer apply to disputes between trustees and employers, even if those disputes raise questions of interpretation under the collective-bargaining agreements. 7 466 U.S. at 372, 104 S.Ct. at 1849 (footnote omitted). The Court cautioned, however, that [t ]he presumption of arbitrability is, of course, generally applicable to any disputes between the union and the employer [because ] [i ]n those circumstances, the presumption serves the national labor policy and fully accords with the probable intent of the parties. Id. at 372 n. 14, 104 S.Ct. at 1849 n. 14 (emphasis added). 2 8 The district court's analysis of whether the present dispute poses a threat to labor peace is essentially flawed. The Court's decision in Schneider Moving & Storage is premised upon the recognition that disputes between benefit fund trustees and employers  'cannot, as can disputes between parties in collective bargaining, lead to strikes, lockouts, or other exercises of economic power.'  466 U.S. at 372 n. 13, 104 S.Ct. at 1849 n. 13 (quoting NLRB v. Amax Coal Co., 453 U.S. 322, 337, 101 S.Ct. 2789, 2798, 69 L.Ed.2d 672 (1981)). The present dispute between CWA and MBT, unlike the dispute in Schneider Moving & Storage, is a dispute between parties in collective bargaining, and CWA, unlike the trustees in Schneider Moving & Storage, has recourse to the economic weapons of strikes and lockouts. Because CWA and MBT are parties in collective bargaining and because CWA has recourse to economic weapons, arbitration of the present dispute would promote labor peace by avoiding the possibility of economic disrupton. See Schneider Moving & Storage, 466 U.S. at 372-73, 104 S.Ct. at 1849-50. 9 The district court mistakenly interpreted Schneider Moving & Storage as precluding application of the presumption of arbitrability to disputes between the union and the employer where the union is asserting the interests of parties outside the collective bargaining unit. The Court in Schneider Moving & Storage in no way implied that the presumption of arbitrability would have been inapplicable if the union had demanded arbitration of the contractual issues pressed by the trustees. On the contrary, the Court phrased the issue presented as whether the trustees were bound by the arbitration clauses to the same extent the union would have been if it had sought judicial enforcement of the collective bargaining agreements. 466 U.S. at 370, 104 S.Ct. 1848. Further, whether the dispute between the union and the employer involves the union's assertion of the contractual interests of those outside the collective bargaining unit is not dispositive in determining whether failure to arbitrate the dispute poses a risk of economic disruption. The critical inquiry under Schneider Moving & Storage is whether the parties involved in the dispute have recourse to economic weapons. See 466 U.S. at 372, 104 S.Ct. at 1849. 10 The district court's mistaken interpretation of Schneider Moving & Storage was implicitly rejected in Anderson v. Alpha Portland Industries, 752 F.2d 1293 (8th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1102, 105 S.Ct. 2329, 85 L.Ed.2d 846 (1985). There, the Eighth Circuit held that the presumption of arbitrability is inapplicable to disputes between employers and retirees who are outside the collective bargaining unit. 752 F.2d at 1298. The court, however, noted that the union had standing to assert the retirees' rights under the collective bargaining agreement to which it was a party and that if the union chose to assert those rights, the employer could not refuse to arbitrate its contractual obligations with the union. 752 F.2d at 1296.