Beach Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc. v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n, Local Union No. 102

I

On July 7, 1989, Sheet Metal Workers Local 102 (the union) entered into a collective bargaining agreement with contractor Beach Air Conditioning and Heating (Beach). 1 The agreement became effective immediately and remained in force until June 30, 1991. After that date, the agreement was to continue in force from .year to year unless one of the parties gave timely-notice of reopening negotiations.

The union did just that on January 22, 1991. Beach responded on January 29,1991, with a letter disclosing its intention to termi-' nate the agreement. ER 75. On July 8, 1991, Beach sent another letter, saying it felt free to unilaterally modify the terms and conditions of employment. In May 1992, the union wisely abandoned hope of negotiating a renewal agreement and instead sought arbitration. The “interest arbitration” clause of the original agreement provides for binding arbitration béfore the National Joint Arbitration Board for the Sheet Metal Industry (NJAB) in the event negotiations over renewal of the agreement become deadlocked. Beach refused to submit to arbitration, claiming it had no further obligations of any kind under the original agreement, which it considered…