Opinion ID: 3028631
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims Against Continental’s Pilots

Text: Eastern’s pilots also contend that arbitration must be compelled so they can pursue recovery against Continental’s pilots. They argue that an arbitrator might determine that the CBA allows an award against Continental’s pilots because Continental’s pilots hold positions promised to them by the CBA. The Eastern pilots contend that only an arbitrator—and not a federal court—can determine whether this remedy is appropriate. EPMC’s Br. at 40 (quoting Continental I, 125 F.3d at 130). We do not agree. It is axiomatic that arbitration is a matter of contract. CTF Hotel Holdings, Inc. v. Marriott Int’l, Inc., 381 F.3d 131, 137 (3d Cir. 2004). Accordingly, a party cannot be required to submit to arbitration unless he has “agreed so to submit.” AT&T Techs., Inc. v. Commc’ns Workers of Am., 475 U.S. 643, 648 (1986). This preliminary question of substantive arbitrability is squarely a 9 Paradoxically, there is some indication that Eastern’s pilots still seek damages against Continental itself: both for its “postconfirmation breach of the contractual obligation to arbitrate,” and for the costs of arbitration under the CBA. EPMC’s Br. at 45-46. These claims based upon alleged “post-discharge” violations of the CBA were rejected and barred by Continental II, 279 F.3d at 23031. -12- matter for “judicial determination.” Id. at 649. The CBA is an agreement between Eastern Airlines and its former pilots, and the seniority rights Eastern’s pilots seek are merely a creation of that contract. See Rakestraw v. United Airlines, 981 F.2d 1524, 1535 (7th Cir. 1992) (“Seniority is a creation of collective bargaining agreements and equivalent contracts between unions and employers.”). Continental’s pilots are not a party to the CBA and there is no evidence that they or their representatives ever agreed to arbitrate a dispute about its provisions. See Bel-Ray Co. v. Chemrite, 181 F.3d 435, 444 (3d Cir. 1999) (“When asked to enforce an arbitration agreement against a nonsignatory, we ask whether he or she is bound by that agreement under traditional principles of contract and agency law.”). Because Continental’s pilots have not agreed to arbitrate, we cannot compel them to do so. See CTF Hotel Holdings, 381 F.3d at 137 (“If a party has not agreed to arbitrate, the courts have no authority to mandate that [it] do so.”) (alteration in original) (quoting Bel-Ray, 181 F.3d at 444). Eastern’s pilots contend, however, that the Railway Labor Act (“RLA”) requires a contrary result. The RLA establishes a “comprehensive framework” for resolving labor disputes in the railroad and airline industries. Indep. Ass’n of Continental Pilots v. Continental Airlines, 155 F.3d 685, 689 (3d Cir. 1998). This framework is intended to “avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier engaged therein.” Id. (quoting the RLA, codified at 45 U.S.C. § 151a). “To realize this goal, the RLA establishes a mandatory arbitral mechanism for the ‘the prompt and orderly settlement’ of two classes of disputes.” Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. v. Norris, 512 U.S. 246, 252 (1994) (quoting 45 U.S.C. § 151a). The first class, major disputes, involve “the formation of collective bargaining agreements or efforts to secure them.” Id. (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted). The second class, minor disputes, involve “controversies over the meaning of an existing collective bargaining agreement in a particular fact situation.” Id. at 253 (internal quotation marks omitted). “Federal courts have broad powers to intervene in some major disputes, but the [RLA] prohibits federal courts from becoming involved in minor disputes.” Ass’n of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO v. USAir, Inc., 960 F.2d 345, 348 (3d Cir. 1992) (“USAir”). -13- In Continental I, we held that the dispute between Continental and Eastern’s pilots over the meaning of the Labor Provisions was a “minor dispute,” subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of an arbitrator. Continental I, 125 F.3d at 130. Eastern’s pilots now contend that the RLA requires Continental’s pilots to submit to arbitration. Again, we disagree. Just because their dispute with Continental was deemed a minor dispute in Continental I does not mean that such a dispute still exists. Since Continental I was decided, the Eastern pilots have relinquished all relief against Continental, and now seek relief solely against its pilots. In spite of the Eastern pilots’ characterization, this is not a “minor dispute.” Minor disputes are those which relate “either to the meaning or proper application of a particular provision” of a collective bargaining agreement. Int’l Ass’n of Machinists and Aerospace Workers v. U.S. Airways, Inc., 358 F.3d 255, 260 (3d Cir. 2004). Such disputes can be “conclusively resolved by interpreting the existing collective bargaining agreement.” USAir, 960 F.2d at 348 (quoting SEPTA v. Bhd. of R.R. Signalmen, 882 F.2d 778, 782-83 (3d Cir. 1989)). In this case, we cannot resolve a claim by Eastern’s former pilots against Continental’s current pilots by interpreting the CBA. The RLA does not dispense with the preliminary question of arbitrability,10 and no agreement binds Continental’s pilots. Accordingly, interpretation of the CBA will not resolve the dispute in this case. Cf. AmeriSteel, 267 F.3d at 276 (“[B]ecause AmeriSteel cannot be bound by the substantive terms of the CBA . . . there simply is no contract for the arbitrator to construe.”). Moreover, the duty of arbitration cited by Eastern’s pilots extends to disputes between “an employee or group of employees and a carrier or carriers by air.” 45 U.S.C. § 184. It does not 10 See USAir, 960 F.2d at 349 (retaining jurisdiction in RLA context to determine “whether a collective bargaining agreement imposes a duty on the parties to arbitrate a particular grievance.”); Eastern Air Lines, Inc. v. Air Line Pilots Ass’n, Int’l., 861 F.2d 1546, 1550 (11th Cir. 1988) (deciding CBA was enforceable before deciding whether RLA applied). -14- extend to a dispute “between existing employees of an existing carrier and the former employees of a former carrier.” District Court Opinion, 2004 WL 3119835, at . Because this alleged dispute does not involve carriers and employees, the RLA’s duty of arbitration is inapplicable. Cf. Beckett v. Air Line Pilots Ass’n, 59 F.3d 1276, 1278 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (refusing to apply RLA to dispute between employee and union, because RLA applies to disputes between employees and carriers). Finally, it is doubtful that the claims of Eastern’s pilots can rightly be characterized as a “dispute.” After years of unsuccessful litigation seeking to specifically enforce the CBA against Continental, Eastern’s pilots have now turned their sights on Continental’s pilots. Until this point, Eastern’s pilots have not asserted claims against Continental’s pilots, and we think it a stretch to characterize their recent assertions as creating a dispute with them. Accordingly, the District Court properly denied the Eastern pilots’ motion to compel arbitration.