Opinion ID: 3166083
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Other written agreements

Text: Finally, B&B executed other written agreements promising to make contributions to the Funds on behalf of union employees that satisfy the LMRA’s requirement that a written agreement “set[] out the employer’s obligation to contribute” to the employee benefit funds. Behnke, Inc., 883 F.2d at 459 (quoting Kraftco, Inc., 799 F.2d at 1111 n.16). In 2002, B&B purchased and executed a surety bond in favor of the Funds titled “The United Associates of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of U.S. and Canada Local Union #392 Fringe Benefit Funds and Employee Authorized Deductions Bond” and maintained it through the years. The bond provided that B&B Plumbing, LLC had entered into a written contract or had signed a letter of assent to be bound by the terms of a CBA negotiated between MCA and the Union. The bond confirmed in writing that B&B is bound by the written CBA to “pay current contractual agreed amounts to various fringe benefit funds established under said agreement[.]” R. 20-17, Page ID 447–48. After revising the bond in 2006 to reflect a company name change, B&B sent a copy of the amended bond to the Union, thereby reaffirming its obligation to make contributions to the Funds pursuant to the CBA. R. 20-5, Page ID 262. On a monthly basis for ten years, B&B also submitted contributions and contribution reports to the Funds as required by the CBA. Each monthly contribution report listed the employees covered by the CBA for whom contributions were being made and included B&B’s certification “that this report includes only employees covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with the” Union. R. 20-8, Page ID 278; R. 21-3, Page ID 612 at 17. B&B also certified in the contribution reports sent to the National Pension Fund that it was “a party to a written agreement requiring contributions.” R. 20-11, Page ID 391. See Mich. Bricklayers & Allied Craftsmen Health Care Fund v. Nw. Constr., Inc., Nos. 95-2379, 96-1346, 1997 WL 351296, at  (6th Cir. June 23, 1997) (holding employer bound to the terms of an expired CBA when it continued to submit contribution report forms and payments, continued to make payroll deductions for union dues under the terms of the expired CBA, and increased the amount of payroll deductions in accordance with the terms of the new CBA before it was signed). No. 14-4017 Bd. of Trs. Local 392, et al. v. B&B Mech. Servs. Page 14 Although our court held in Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. General Materials, Inc., that certification clauses in contribution reports alone were not sufficient evidence to bind the employer to an expired CBA under the facts of that case, 535 F.3d at 509–10, in this case, the certification clauses in the contribution reports are coupled with written agreements binding B&B to an unexpired CBA requiring contributions to the Funds. See Bricklayers Local 21 of Ill. Apprenticeship & Training Program v. Banner Restoration, Inc., 385 F.3d 761, 771 n.9 (7th Cir. 2004) (“[C]ertification language is significant, and may be sufficient, to the extent that it incorporates other written agreements with the employer—such as a collective bargaining agreement or trust agreements—which . . . set forth the ‘detailed basis’ for payments as required by section 302(c)(5)(B).”). Finally, B&B applied to the Union for and received wage subsidies on four occasions from 2008 through 2011 under the Union’s Equality and Stabilization Program. Kenny signed participation agreements acknowledging that the program was designed to help union contractors compete with non-union contractors. R. 20-13, Page ID 415–16. He also signed MOUs providing that, with the exception of the wage changes permitted by the subsidy program, the CBA “shall remain in full force and effect in accordance with its terms, and this Memorandum shall be concurrent with that Agreement, or until completion of this job.” R. 20-14 Page ID 418– 21. Consequently, Kenny acknowledged each time B&B accepted wage subsidies from the Union that B&B was bound by the terms of the CBA to make contributions to the Funds.