United Parcel Service, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 174

MEMORANDUM *

United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) appeals from an order of the district court granting summary judgment to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local No. 174 on UPS’s complaint seeking to vacate an arbitrator’s award. We affirm the district court’s order.

Our review of an arbitrator’s award is extremely deferential. We determine “whether the arbitrator interpreted the collective bargaining agreement, not whether he did so correctly.” Hawaii Teamsters & Allied Workers Union, Local 996 v. United Parcel Serv., 241 F.3d 1177, 1178 (9th Cir.2001). “[S]o far as the arbitrator’s decision concerns consfruction of the contract, the courts have no business overruling him because their interpretation of the contract is different from his.” Id. at 1183 (quotations and citation omitted).

There is no basis for vacating the award to the extent that the parties agree upon what the arbitrator held — that UPS must cover absences of 22.3/40 employees with part-time employees in seniority order from the extra work sign-up list. The arbitrator did not disregard the plain language of the agreement when he made that ruling. His construction of “coverage” is not inconsistent with…