Warehouse, Processing, Distribution Workers Union v. Hugo Neu Proler Co.

I. Introduction

The present case had its genesis in a collective bargaining agreement which required labor and management to arbitrate the application of its terms to a dispute over the seniority rights of a union member. Warehouse, Processing, Distribution Workers Union, Local 26 (the union) appeals from an order awarding $13,840 in attorney’s fees to Hugo Neu Proler Company (the employer) pursuant to Labor Code section 1128. Section 1128 governs attorney’s fee awards in actions involving arbitration under a collective bargaining agreement. The United States Supreme Court has held that in state court litigation to enforce arbitration awards under collective bargaining agreements within the purview of section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 ( 61 Stat. 156 ; see 29 U.S.C.A. § 185 ) (LMRA), as here, federal law must be applied. We conclude the preemptive scope of LMRA section 301 extends to the attorney’s fee award in this case which involved: a dispute over the terms of a collective bargaining agreement; an arbitration conducted in compliance with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement; and post-award litigation concerning the scope of the…