Opinion ID: 3025092
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of the Previous Arbitration

Text: Accuride’s final argument is that the arbitrator ignored the final and binding nature of the Gerhart award. The arbitrator concluded that the Gerhart award occurred under a different CBA and under a different set of circumstances. We agree. The Gerhart award interpreted the 1998 CBA, which extended the 1997 CBA containing the irrevocable elections. The controlling document in the instant case is the 2003 CBA. Furthermore, we note that the arbitrator’s ruling that the Gerhart award was not binding was clearly based on his conclusion that elections from the previous CBA were not incorporated into the 2003 CBA, and we have already held that this conclusion drew its essence from the 2003 CBA. It would make no sense to require an arbitrator to be bound by a previous arbitration which applied a clause from a previous contract which the arbitrator has validly found is no longer part of the current contract. Therefore, we affirm the decision of the district court on this issue as well.