Opinion ID: 2622597
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Does the Collective Labor Agreement between the parties make arbitration of the Union's grievance compulsory?

Text: Where parties have entered into an agreement calling for arbitration as a means of settling a dispute, the court's scope of review is confined to ascertaining whether the party seeking arbitration is making a claim, which on its face is governed by the parties' contract. Western Constr. Inc. v. Oregon-Southern Idaho and Wyoming Dist. Council of Laborers and Laborers Local Union 267, 101 Idaho 145, 609 P.2d 1136 (1980), citing United Steelworkers of America v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 567-68, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 1346, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403, 1406-07 (1960). The question of arbitrability is a question of law properly for determination by the court. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Int'l Union, AFL-CIO Local 652 v. EG & G Idaho, Inc., 115 Idaho 671, 769 P.2d 548 (1989). Article 6 of the CLA specifically provides for grievances and sets out the procedures to be applied when a grievance is filed. Section A(1)(a) of Article 6 defines a grievance as a complaint by one or a group of members, or UNION, involving the interpretation, application of this AGREEMENT or written policies and rules of the Fire Department, or disciplinary action. The Union asserts on appeal that the issues raised in its grievance necessarily require an interpretation of the terms of the CLA and are thus subject to arbitration. The Union further posits that the threshold decision as to the arbitrability of the grievance was overlooked by the district court, which simply assumed jurisdiction and considered the merits of the parties' arguments. The complaint filed in the district court requested a preliminary injunction enjoining the City from implementing the agreements with IDANG pending arbitration of the grievance. The complaint also sought a declaration that the CLA between the City and the Union required arbitration of the Union's grievance. Notably, the Union's complaint did not pray for an order to compel arbitration nor did it assert a breach of a contract to arbitrate for which the Union should be compensated by an award of damages. In its grievance, the Union sought rescission of the Airport Joint Use Agreement and the ARFF Implementation Agreement entered into between the City and IDANG on the grounds that the agreements violated various provisions of the CLA. The provisions referred to in the Union's grievance include: the Management Rights Clause (Article 2, Section I), the Rules and Regulations (Article 6, Section J), the Minimum Manning Clause (Article 5, Section E), the clause on Discrimination (Article 2, Section D), and the clause on Special Teams that is found in Appendix A3. The City disputed that the claims raised by the Union are grievances subject to arbitration under the CLA. Before resolving whether the disputes at issue here constitute grievances subject to arbitration, we recognize that arbitration is a favored remedy. AT & T Technologies, Inc. v. Communications Workers of America, 475 U.S. 643, 650, 106 S.Ct. 1415, 1419, 89 L.Ed.2d 648, 656-57 (1986). See Bingham County Comm'n v. Interstate Elec. Co., 105 Idaho 36, 665 P.2d 1046 (1983) (Arbitration allows parties to settle their disputes without expending time and unnecessary expense on needless litigation.). A court reviewing an arbitration clause will order arbitration unless it may be said with positive assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute. AT & T Technologies, Inc., supra . Doubts are to be resolved in favor of coverage. Id; Local Union No. 370 of Internt'l Union of Operating Engineers v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc., 786 F.2d 1356 (9th Cir.1986), citing United Steelworkers of America v. Warrior and Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 582-83, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 1352-53, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409, 1417-18 (1960). See Iowa City Community School Dist. v. Iowa City Educ. Ass'n, 343 N.W.2d 139, 141 (Iowa 1983); Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Baltimore Fire Fighters, Local 734 93 Md. App. 604, 610, 613 A.2d 1023, 1026 (1992); Howard Co. Bd. of Educ. v. Howard Co. Educ. Ass'n, 61 Md.App. 631, 487 A.2d 1220 (1985); Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. Baltimore City Fire Fighters, 49 Md.App. 60, 430 A.2d 99 (1981), cert. denied, 291 Md. 771 (1981); West Fargo Pub. School Dist. v. West Fargo Educ. Ass'n, 259 N.W.2d 612, 620 (N.D.1977); Corvallis School Dist. v. Corvallis Educ. Ass'n, 35 Or.App. 531, 535, 581 P.2d 972, 974 (1978). In further support of a strong policy in favor of arbitration, this Court has expressly stated that public bodies in Idaho are bound by their agreements to arbitrate disputes. Bingham County Comm'n v. Interstate Elec. Co., 105 Idaho 36, 665 P.2d 1046 (1983); Bear Lake Educ. Ass'n v. School Dist. 33, 116 Idaho 443, 447, 776 P.2d 452, 456 (1989). The City maintains that the contracting of ARFF services is squarely within the express language of the Management Rights Clause, which gives the City broad powers to enter into a cooperative agreement with another governmental agency and involves the ordinary and customary function of government. Article 2, Section I, the Management Rights Clause, provides: BOISE CITY shall retain the exclusive right to exercise the regular and customary functions of management, including but not limited to directing the activities of the Department, determining levels of service and methods of operation, including contracting of fire Department services to other agencies; the introduction of new equipment; the right to hire, lay-off, transfer and promote; to discipline and to discharge its members for cause; to determine work schedules and to assign work; to determine the amount of apparatus in the main or reserve fleet. Provided, that nothing in this Article shall nullify: (1) Any provisions elsewhere in this AGREEMENT, or, (2) The City's statutory obligation to negotiate with the Union pursuant to Chapter 18, Title 44, Idaho Code. The district court accepted the City's position, finding that the decision to implement the contracts transferring all ARFF services to IDANG was not arbitrable because those agreements fall within management rights. The court ruled as a matter of law that the management rights portion of the contract was not ambiguous and that the contract reserved to the City the right to contract with other governmental agencies, without any obligation to bargain on the issue. We disagree with the district court's determination. The benefit bargained for in the CLA, which the Union claims it is being denied, is the right to continue to provide ARFF services at the Boise airport. The ARFF team of firefighters is one of the Special Teams expressly mentioned in the CLA, which is certified to provide aircraft rescue firefighting services at the Boise airport. Also referenced in Article 5, Section E of the CLA is a requirement that all ARFF vehicles shall be manned with a minimum of one qualified fire fighter unless FAA requirements or safety conditions warrant more personnel. The dispute as to the elimination of ARFF positions for Boise firefighters is one that necessarily concerns an interpretation and application of not only the management rights clause, but also those sections of the CLA mentioned above, which were implicated by the City's action to enter into exclusive contracts with IDANG for the provision of ARFF services. Indeed, the management rights clause, which gives broad powers to the City to contract out services also provides that nothing in this Article shall nullify (1)[a]ny provisions elsewhere in this Agreement, or (2) the City's statutory obligation to negotiate with the Union.... Therefore, the issues raised by the Union constitute a grievance under the CLA as it cannot be said with positive assurance that the contracting out dispute does not concern the application and interpretation of Article 5, Section E and the Special Teams Section of the CLA. See AT & T Technologies, supra, 475 U.S. at 650, 106 S.Ct. at 1419, 89 L.Ed.2d at 656-57. The district court did not apply Section 6A of the CLA to analyze whether the contracting out of firefighting services to IDANG was such a dispute involving the interpretation and application of Article 2, Section I (Management Rights), Article 6, Section J (Rules and Regulations), Article 5, Section E (Minimum Manning), Article 2, Section D (Discrimination), and Appendix A3 (Special Teams). Consequently, it was error for the district court to conclude from a reading of the CLA limited to the management rights article that the contracts with IDANG were within the exclusive discretion of the City and authorized by the CLA. To the contrary, because the dispute regarding the contracting out of services that eliminated all Boise ARFF positions is within the scope of grievances subject to arbitration under the CLA, we hold that the district court should not have reached the merits of the Union's grievance, but instead should have recognized the enforceability of the arbitration provision.