Pacesetter Construction Co. v. Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Conference Board

In its current posture, this ease presents the question whether an arbitration panel (the Board of Adjustment) had jurisdiction to determine the arbitrability of a dispute between Pacesetter Construction Co., Inc. (“Pacesetter”) and the Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Conference Board (“Union”). Pacesetter had signed prehire agreements with the Union in 1971 and 1974, at which times it operated as a union contractor. It contends that in 1975 and 1979, it repudiated its prehire agreement and thereafter operated as a nonunion shop. This case arose when the Union filed a grievance in 1991, which the Board of Adjustment upheld. The district court subsequently confirmed the award and Pacesetter appealed. We affirmed the district court’s decision in an unpublished memorandum disposition. Pacesetter Constr. Co. v. Carpenters 46 No. Cal. Counties Conf. Bd., No. 93-16627, 1995 WL 128172 (9th Cir. Mar. 22, 1995). 1 We held that Pacesetter knowingly and voluntarily submitted to the Board of Adjustment the question whether it had repudiated its Master Agreement with the Union, and thus had consented to have the Board arbitrate that issue. The Supreme Court, however, vacated our…