District Council No. 16 of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades, Glaziers, Architectural Metal & Glass Workers, Local 1621 v. B & B Glass, Inc.

This construction industry labor litigation involves the interplay between the use of standard “work preservation” and “out-of-area” clauses in collective bargaining agreements and the strong federal policy favoring arbitration. The clauses at issue in this litigation appear in a collective bargaining agreement signed by a Texas corporation, but a different company in California performed the challenged work. The California union seeking arbitration did not sign an agreement with the company doing the work. We conclude, as did the district court, that because the plaintiff union has no agreement with the employer that it seeks to take to arbitration, and it cannot show that the employer against whom it filed its claim controls the company doing the work in California, the employer is entitled to judgment. We therefore affirm.

Background

Plaintiff-Appellant is District Council No. 16 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glass Workers, Local 1621 (“Local 1621” or the “union”). It is located in Northern California and is signatory to a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with contractors in Santa Clara County. The…