SEIU, United Healthcare Workers-West v. Centinela Hospital Medical Center

MEMORANDUM

SEIU, United Healthcare Workers-West (“the Union”) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its petition to compel arbitration. We affirm.

In 2003, the Union entered into a collective bargaining agreement (“the 2003 CBA”) with the Defendant’s (“the Hospital”) predecessor-in-interest. The 2003 CBA included an interest arbitration clause, which the Hospital invoked during negotiations for the successor CBA. Un der the terms of the interest arbitration clause, the interest arbitrator’s sole duty was to select between the Union’s and the Hospital’s proposed wording of any disputed clauses and to order that the chosen language be included in the successor CBA. This method of determining the clause to be selected is known as “baseball-style” arbitration. The interest arbitrator discharged his duty, selecting between the Union’s and the Hospital’s proposed terms for nine disputed provisions of the successor CBA, including Article 13, which governed wages to be paid to members of the bargaining unit. He had no authority to revise, amend, or interpret the clauses he chose. The interest arbitrator decided, however, to reserve jurisdiction over the “interpretation or…