Local Union No. 370 of International Union of Operating Engineers v. Morrison-Knudsen Co.

Morrison-Knudsen appeals from the district court’s order granting summary judgment to the Union in an action to compel arbitration pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Morrison-Knudsen and the Union are parties to a collective bargaining agreement which mandates arbitration for all properly-processed grievances involving disputes regarding the interpretation or application of the terms of the agreement. In a prior state court action, Morrison-Knudsen alleged that it had been making excess contributions to trust funds established for the benefit of Morrison-Knudsen’s employees. The state court suit, to which the Union was not a party, ended in a settlement which provided in part that Morrison-Knudsen was not obligated to contribute to the trust funds for hours paid but not worked. The Union claims that since it has been established that Morrison-Knudsen is not required to pay these amounts to the trust funds, then under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement it must pay them to the employees directly. Morrison-Knudsen disagrees. The Union brought the present action to compel arbitration of this dispute.

The district…