# Petition — Texas Steel Co. v. International Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Petition
- **Published:** January 1, 1977
- **Citation:** 429 U.S. 1095

## Text

Supreme Court, U. S.
FiLkEOD

ner 12 1976

a MICHAEL ROOAK, JR., CLERK |

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER TERM, 1976

TEXAS STEEL COMPANY, Petitioner
v.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
AND AEROSPACE WORKERS, DISTRICT 776

Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the
United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit

DENNING SCHATTMAN
MICHAEL D. SCHATTMAN
503 Burk Burnett Building

Fort Worth, Texas 6102

HAROLD E. MUELLER
Burk Burnett Building
Fort Worth, Texas 76102

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Fort Worth Brief Printing Co., 10 & Jennings Street Phone 882-4070

INDEX

Opinions Below .. ain

Jurisdiction

Questions Presented ...........2..02....---eeeneeneeeoeee

Statutory Provisions Involved ...............

Statement of the Case ......................

Reasons for Granting the Writ

Conclusion

Appendix A (Opinion of Arbitrator)

Appendix B (Opinion of District Court)

Appendix C (Ozinion of Court of Appeals)
Appendix D (Contract Language at Issue)

ii
TABLE OF CASES

Amanda Bent Bolt Company v. International Union,
United Automobile, Aerospace, Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, Local 1549
ee Se ee a pinicblisiiiainiimaaiiadl 8,9

Atkinson v. Sinclair Refining Co.,

SO a 10, 11
Local 342, United Automobile, Aerospace &

Agricultural Implement Workers of America,

AFL-CIO v. T.R.W., Inc., 402 F.2d 727

SI TINY tecisiclbdnsetashaleciiniaieehi ih nihil aia LS 8

Magnavox Company of Tennessee v. International
Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers,
AFL-CIO, 410 F.2d 388 (6 Cir. 1969) 220002. 8

Timken Company v. Local Union No. 1123,
United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO,

ee ee IG TI ciicthceiitelatiitetealdebainstenhisinsetesinrnncicteieantini 9
Truck Drivers & Helpers Union, Local 784 v.

Ulry-Talbert Company, 330 F.2d 562 (8 Cir. 1964) ............ 8
United Steel Workers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car

Corporation, 363 U.S. 593 (1960) 2.0.02. 6, 7, 10n

United Steelworkers of America v. Warrior &
Gulf Navigation Company, 363 U.S. 574 (1960).......... 11, lln

OTHER AUTHORITY
Morris, The Developing Labor Law (1971) ......... 10

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER TERM, 1976

TEXAS STEEL COMPANY, Petitioner
v.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
AND AEROSPACE WORKERS, DISTRICT 776

Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the
United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit

The petitioner, Texas Steel Company, prays that a
writ of certiorari issue to review the opinion and judg-
ment of the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit rendered in these proceedings on Sep-
tember 17, 1976.

OPINIONS BELOW

This dispute began in grievance and arbitration.
The opinion of the arbitrator is reproduced at Appen-
dix A, infra, pp. A-1 to A-28. The opinion of the
United States District Court for the Northern Dis-
trict of Texas is unreported and is reproduced in
Appendix B, infra, pp. A-29 to A-31. The opinion of
the Court of Appeals is reported at 538 F.2d 1116. It
is reproduced as Appendix C, infra, pp. A-32 to A-44.

2

The contract language at issue is reproduced as Ap-
pendix D, infra, pp. A-45 to A-47.

JURISDICTION

The opinion and judgment of the Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit was entered on September 17,
1976. This petition for certiorari was filed less than
90 days from that date. The jurisdiction of this Court
is invoked under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1254 (1).

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

The International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers, District 776 brought suit in fed-
eral district court against Texas Steel Company to
enforce an arbitration award. The district court
granted the plaintiff-union’s motion for summary
judgment and ordered the award enforced. On appeal
the Court of Appeals affirmed. The questions pre-
sented for review are:

1. Whether the Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit erred in holding that, as a matter of law,
the decision of the arbitrator was not arbitrary
and capricious where the arbitrator’s decision
itself shows in his own words that he violated
his duty as an arbitrator and went beyond simple
interpretation of the collective bargaining agree-
ment and entered into the actual management of
the plant.

2. Whether the Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit erred in holding that on motion for sum-
mary judgment the district court was correct in
applying the test of “arguable” or “presumptive”
arbitrability to determine whether the dispute

was in fact arbitrable and thus placing the bur-
den of proof on the non-movant.

3. Whether the Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit erred on the cross-appeal in holding that
Petitioner’s challenge to the arbitration award
was without justification and remanding to the
district court for a finding on justification and
entry of attorneys fees, where the district court
ordered each party to bear their own costs and
where the Petitioner brought forth good faith
arguments presenting genuine questions of fed-
eral labor law policy concerning the latitude and
limitations to be given arbitrators and the use
of the test of “arguable” arbitrability.

STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED

Section 185(a), Title 29, United States Code:

“Suits for violation of contracts between an
employer and a labor organization representing
employees in an industry affecting commerce as
defined in this Act, or between any such labor
organizations, may be brought in any district
court of the United States having jurisdiction of
the parties, without respect to the amount in
controversy or without regard to the citizenship
of the parties.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The facts relevant to consideration of the questions
presented are uncontroverted and may be summarized
as follows:

Texas Steel Company is a corporation located in
Fort Worth, Texas, where it engages in the manufac-

4d

ture of steel and the fabrication of steel products in
interstate commerce. For purposes of collective bar-
gaining, its employees are represented by District
Lodge 776, International Association of Machinists
and Aerospace Workers. Following the arbitration of
a grievance, the Company refused to abide by the
award and the Union filed suit in federal district
court to enforce the award. Jurisdiction was based
upon 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 and 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185. The
district court granted summary judgment on the
pleadings to the Union and this was affirmed on

appeal.

The underlying industrial dispute, which was the
subject of arbitration, involved A. J. Hurry, an em-
ployee of Texas Steel Company, who was the loadout
leadman in the mill shipping yard of the Company.
He complained that the Company was paying him less
than the men whom he led contrary to the collective
agreement and filed a grievance to that effect. As the
leadman of the ground crew, Mr. Hurry was paid the
contractual lead differential over these men. However,
he felt that he was entitled to receive the lead differ-
ential over the rate paid the crane operators.

The differential rate for leadmen under the con-
tract was $.20 per hour over the rate of the highest
man led. The loadout men “A” were paid $2.95 per
hour. The loadout leadman (Hurry) was paid $3.15
per hour. The crane operator was paid $3.38 per hour.
See, Appendix D, infra, p. A-47.

The loadout ground crew consists of the loadout
man “A” and three helpers. There are two such crews

5

each shift, one for each of two cranes. The loadout
leadman assists the crews in their work and coordi-
nates the work of the two crews. That work consists
of unloading the mill of its product and loading trucks
in the mill shipping yard. The leadman (Hurry) in-
dicates to the loadout crews the nature and quantity
of material to be moved, and the crews then place the
r.aterial in position for the crane. ‘

Prior to 1970 the two loadout men coordinated their
crews’ movements with each other. That year the
Company established a non-supervisory position of
Loadout Leadman. The new classification was estab-
lished under the 1970-71 contract with the Union and
continued unchanged into the 1971-72 contract. Hurry
filed his grievance in January 1972. The grievance
went to arbitration and the impartial member of the
panel submitted an award on December 9, 1972. Fol-
lowing the hearing of additional testimony in July,
1973, the impartial member with the concurrence of
the Union member, reissued the award of December
9, 1972, with a supplemental award appended to it
on November 24, 1973. The Company member dis-
sented. See, Appendix A, infra, pp. A-1 to A-28. The
Company refused to comply with the award and this
litigation ensued.

6

REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT

1. The decision below conflicts with the principles gov-
erning an arbitrator’s duty set forth by this Court in
United Steel Workers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car
Corporation.

Beginning with United Steel Workers v. Enterprise
Wheel & Car Corporation, 363 U.S. 593 (1960), fed-
eral courts have consistently stated that an arbitra-
tor’s role is confined to interpretation and application
of a collective bargaining contract but that his deci-
sion will be disturbed and enforcement of his award
refused only if his words manifest an infidelity to his
duty to interpret and apply the contract. Although the
lower federal courts repeat this rubric, it is rare
when they find such infidelity. In the Enterprise
Wheel case this Court held that a mere ambiguity in
an award is not such an infidelity.

The award of the arbitrator in this case does mani-
fest such an infidelity printed in black and white in
words chosen by the arbitrator. After reviewing the
arguments made by both sides concerning the func-
tion and duty of the loadout leadman the arbitrator
stated that “. .. each party can marshall impeccable
logic to support its case.” Appendix A, infra, p. A-6.
Having reached the conclusion that management had
made a proper decision committed to it under Article
III, Section 3, of the contract (Appendix D, infra,
p. A-45), the arbitrator went on in the very next para-
graph to state “It seems to the Arbitrator .. .” that
the Company had made a mistake in the way it runs
its plant and that in the interests of efficiency another

7

choice would have been better. This is the infidelity of
which the law speaks and the arbitrator’s own words
impugn his decision.

The decisions of the courts below fly in the face of
the arbitrator’s patent intrusion into the operation of
the plant and his departure from simple interpreta-
tion and application of the contract. Article III, Sec-
tion 3, of the contract gives the Company certain un-
fettered rights and certain rights which are subject
to limited review. (Appendix D, infra, p. A-45.) The
right “to create new and additional job classifications
for the jobs not already covered by provisions of this
Agreement” is a management right subject to limited
review through grievance and arbitration. However
under the contract language, the arbitrator is confined
to determining whether the position is new or already
covered. Instead of making this determination, the
arbitrator decided that the Company created the
wrong position and should have denominated the new
job as leadman of the crane operator and not leadman
of the loadout crew and paid him accordingly. This is
not a decision the arbitrator was empowered to make.

This is not a question of ambiguities. This arbitra-
tor has clearly and explicitly stated that the Company
has made an incorrect managerial decision. The Court
should grant certiorari in this case because it pre-
sents a clear opportunity to make practical applica-
tion of the language in Enterprise Wheel that the
arbitrator “does not sit to dispense his own brand of
industrial justice.” 363 U.S. at 597. It is appropriate

for this Court to elaborate the limitations placed on

8

arbitrators by Enterprise Wheel so that all can know
the outer limits of their authority.

2. The decision below conflicts with decisions in other
circuits limiting an arbitrator’s authority.

As pointed out above, the contract in this case gave
management the right to create new jobs so long as
the jobs were not already covered by the agreement
This is exactly like the Company’s authority to dis-
cipline or discharge for proper cause. The power lies
in the Company. It can be reviewed, but only to deter-
mine the existence of proper cause. The choice of dis-
cipline is not grist for the arbitrator’s mill. He can
only decide whether cause for discipline existed. If he
did) more than this his action would amount to a
modification of the collective agreement. Disciplinary
clauses have received this interpretation in Amanda
Bent Boi’ Company v. International Union, Uni-
ted Automobile, Aerospace, Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, Local 1549, 451 F.2d 1277 (6
Cir. 1971); Magnavox Co. of Tennessee v. Interna-
tional Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Work-
ers, AFL-CIO, 410 F.2d 388 (6 Cir. 1969) ; Local 342,
United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Imple-
ment Workers of America, AFL-CIO v. T.R.W., Ine.
402 F.2d 727 (6 Cir. 1968); and Truck Drivers &
Helpers Union, Local 784 v. Ulry-Talbert Company,
330 F.2d 562 (8 Cir. 1964). In Amanda Bent Bolt,
supra, the appellate court held that an arbitrator’s
action in ordering the reinstatement with full seniority
of workers who had engaged in a wild cat strike was
contrary to the terms of the contract and beyond the

9

arbitrator’s authority, where under the contract he
had “no power to add to, subtract from or modify
any of the terms of this agreement.” 451 F.2d at
1280. A similar limitation on the arbitrator’s juris-
diction is involved in this case and, for the reasons
discussed, it should be given a like interpretation.

Likewise, in Timken Company v. Local Union No.
1123, Uniied Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, 482
F.2d 1012 (6 Cir. 1973), an arbitrator was prohihited
from modifying the collective bargaining con': act.
He was presented with a grievance of an em) yee
whom the employer classified as a “voluntary quit”
because he had been absent from work without au-
thorization for seven consecutive days. He had been
serving a jail sentence for traffic offenses. The arbi-
trator held the absence to be involuntary because the
employee had no control of the situation and also held
the employer to have discriminated between empl yees
absent due to illness and those absent due to imprison-
ment. He ordered reinstatement. The district court
refused enforcement of the award and the court of
appeals affirmed on the theory that the arbitrator
had exceeded his authority under the contract. He
could only determine if the absence was “unauthor-
ized”. He was not empowered to redefine “voluntary
quit” or to excuse absences. So it is here. The arbi-
trator cannot redefine or reclassify the “loadout lead-
man” to suit his own ideas on how to run a steel mill.
He could only determine if the loadout leadman held
a new job not previously subject to the agreement.

The court of appeals declined to follow the reasoning
of the Sixth and Eighth circuits in the discipline cases

10

and apply it to the parallel situation presented here.
The decision below conflicts with these decisions in
other circuits and should be reviewed by this Court
and reversed, because there is no good reason why a
clause empowering management to create jobs should
be given any different interpretation than a clause em-
powering management to discharge when the issue is
the latitude given an arbitrator to review these man-
agement decisions.

3. The decisions below use an incorrect test to deter-
mine arbitrability, a test which results on summary
judgment in the burden being placed upon the non-
movant and in the contract and the arbitrator’s
action being construed in the manner most favor-
able to the movant. This sets the summary judg-
ment procedure on its head and deprives the par-
ties of a judicial determination of substantive arbi-

trability.

The parties have bargained for the arbitrator’s de-
cision,’ but only on those matters which are subjected
to his review by the contract. The question of substan-
tive arbitrability in a suit under Section 301, NLRA,
28 U.S.C. Sec. 185, is for the courts. Atkinson v. Sin-
clair Refining Co., 370 U.S. 238, 241 (1962); Morris,
The Developing Labor Law, pp. 482-483 (1971).

When deciding this question following arbitration
the courts ought not to indulge in any presumptions
as they do when arbitration is sought in the first in-
stance. Different policies are involved. Where arbi-

1United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363
U.S. 593, 599 (1960).

11

tration is resisted federal law and policy favors arbi-
trations as a means of avoiding strikes.* Therefore,
disputes are presumed to be arbitrable and arbitra-
tion is ordered “unless it may be said with positive
assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible
of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute.’”
This policy does not have any application where the
parties arbitrate the matter in the first instance as
here. The dispute has gone through the process of
grievance and arbitration. The strike is avoided. Now
a party which recognized its obligation to arbitrate
even questionable matters looks to the courts to resolve
the question of substantive arbitrability.

Because of the presumptive arbitrability rule of
Warrior & Gulf the issue of real or substantive arbi-
trability cannot be raised without first exhausting the
remedy of arbitration. After ali, the result may favor
the doubtful party. But having complied with the law
and still being dissatisfied Texas Steel Company now
seeks a judicial determination of substantive arbitra-
bility as it is entitled to under Atkinson v. Sinclair
Refining Co., supra. Instead it is met with the appli-
cation of the test of presumptive arbitrability.

The parties have received the decision of the arbi-
trator. Now they are entitled to know if that decision
was warranted and further whether the arbitrator
exceeded his authority to interpret and apply the
contract.

2“The grievance procedure is, in other words, a part of the continuous
collective bargaining process. It, rather than a strike, is the terminal
point of a disagreement.” United Steelworkers of America v. Warrior &
Gulf Navigation Company, 363 U.S. 574, 581 (1960).

8Jd., at 582-583.

12

The policy giving rise to the test of presumptive
arbitrability no longer applies, but an even greater
wrong occurs by its use on summary judgment. In this
case the Union moved for summary judgment on the
pleadings. By using the presumptive arbitrability test
the district court construed the contract language and
the arbitrator’s actions in the light most favorable to
the movant, when they should be construed in the light
most favorable to the non-movant if the court is to
determine whether the movant Union is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the Company,
the contract and the arbitrator’s award show that the
arbitrator exceeded his authority in deciding the dis-
pute in the manner chosen by him. He did not confine
his decision to whether the Company created a new
job or just dressed-up an old one as a subterfuge. He
did not confine himself to interpretation of the con-
tract, he exercised a management right and function
to set the classification for a new job. Given that in-
terpretation, the district court erred in granting sum-
mary judgment to the Union based upon a presump-
tion of arbitrability.*

It is a peculiar rule indeed, approved by the court
of appeals, which allows presumptions to support a
motion for summary judgment.

The decision of the court of appeals should be re-

‘It should be pointed out here, as it was to the court of appeals, that the
granting of summary judgment forestalled the Company from present-
ing a defense that the Union had ratified the Company’s determination
of the classification and pay of the leadman by agreeing to the 1971-72
contract.

13

viewed to determine whether the test of presumptive
arbitrability should be used where arbitration has
occurred, and to fix the standard on summary judg-
ment in suits to enforce arbitration awards.

4. The remand to the district court for a determination
of justification and the finding of attorney’s fees
was unwarranted under the circumstances of this
case.

Texas Steel Company does not quarrel with the
proposition that costs and attorney’s fees may be
awarded in a proper case for enforcement of an arbi-
tration award. However, this is not such a case.

In both the district and appellate courts, the Com-
pany has advanced reasons of law and policy based
on sound precedents why the arbitrator exceeded his
authority and why the district court erred in its ruling
given the procedural posture of the case. The district
court, although presented with the Union’s request for
attorney’s fees apparently found no basis in fact on
which to grant the relief. The Union requested no
finding on the issue of justification, and the district
court’s order on attorney’s fees is an implied finding
that the Company’s position while erroneous was not
devoid of justification. The issues raised on appeal
were complex enough that an appeal filed in January
of 1975 was not argued until April 6, 1976, and not
decided until September 17, 1976. Obviously part of
this delay was caused by the heavy docket of the Fifth
Circuit and the rightful preference given to criminal
appeals. However, the time spent on the case by the

14

parties and the courts is not attributable to specious
or frivolous arguments, but by a challenge based upon
conviction and supported by defensible analysis that
this arbitrator overstepped his bounds and that the
district court erred in granting summary judgment.

Texas Steel Company has tried to bring forth ques-
tions pertaining to the proper role of arbitrators under
the National Labor Relations Act. If it is wrong, then
so be it, but the positions are advanced sincerely and
not with a view towards wasting time and thwarting
the peaceful resolution of labor disputes. The district
court perceived this and acted within its sound dis-
cretion when it ruled on attorney’s fees. The court
of appeals should not have vacated that ruling.

CONCLUSION

For these reasons, a writ of certiorari should issue
to review the judgment and opinion of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Respectfully submitted,

DENNING SCHATTMAN
MICHAEL D. SCHATTMAN
503 Burk Burnett Building

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

HAROLD E. MUELLER
Burk Burnett Building
Fort Worth, Texas 76102

A-1
APPENDIX “A”

ARBITRATION AWARD, SUPPLEMENTAL
ARBITRATION AWARD, AND
DISSENTING OPINION

In the matter of
THE TEXAS STEEL COMPANY

and
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE
WORKERS, Local No. 776

File No. 72A/6390
October 18, 1972
Fort Worth, Texas

Arbitration Panel:

Ralph C. Barnhart, Impartial] Member
Harold E. Mueller, For the Company
J. E. Floyd For the Union

ARBITRATION AWARD

On December 9, 1972, the impartial member of the
Arbitration Panel submitted the following as the pro-
posed award in the above-numbered arbitration, which
proposed award sets out the nature of the grievance
and the issue before the Arbitration Panel:

The grievance in this case complains that the Com-
pany is working a leadman, Mr. A. J. Hurry, at a lower
rate of pay than provided by the collective bargaining
agreement, Appendix A, pg. 43, of the Agreement
dated November 21, 1971. The provision is that:

A-2

“Leadman classification shall be at least $.20 above the
highest led classification rate. The Grievant, Mr.
Hurry, was made a Leadman on November 30, 1970,
in the load out crews in the Shipping Yard of the Com-
pany plant. The highest classification of those working
on the ground in the Shipping Yard is Loadout Man
“A” which was the classification in which Mr. Hurry
was working prior to his designation as leadman. The
Company has been paying Mr. Hurry $3.15 per hour or
20¢ per hour above the Loadout Man “A” contract
rate. Mr. Hurry’s complaint is that he is actually lead-
man for the entire loading crews which include also the
Crane Operators who man the overhead cranes in the
Shipping Yard. These operators have the classification
of “Crane Opr. “A.O.H.” with an hourly rate of $3.38.
Mr. Hurry claims that he should, under the provision
quoted, be paid $3.58 per hour, or 20¢ per hour over the
Crane Operator “A” rate of $3.38.

The Company disputes Grievant Hurry’s claim that
he is leadman for the Crane Operators in the Ship-
ping Yard and the issue before the panel is essentially
whether Grievant Hurry does in fact serve as leadman
to the Crane Operators as well as the ground crews.

It was Agreed at the hearing that a leadman at
Texas Steel Company is not a supervisor but is a work-
ing member of the work force. The Union does not
claim supervisory status for Mr. Hurry.

The Shipping Yard is an open area serviced by a
craneway 300 feet long. Two overhead cranes with a
span of 100 feet, operate on the craneway, each crane
operating independently of the other. At one end of the

A-3

Shipping Yard, product from the rolling mill is moved
by crane to storage bays or other areas and at the other
end the product is loaded by crane on trucks and cars.
A ground crew works with each crane, consisting of a
Loadout Man “A” and three helpers, with the leadman
working with both crews. The same pattern is followed
for two shifts, on the third or graveyard shift there are
two rather than three helpers for each crew. Each
crane operates with one operator so that eleven men
are working in the Shipping Yard on two shifts and
nine on the graveyard shift.

Before Mr. Hurry was made a leadman he was a
loadman “A” on one of the ground crews. The Execu-
tive Vice President of the Company, Mr. Will Wilson,
testified that it was decided to put a leadman on each
shift in the Shipping Yard because not only was the
work load increasing but it was anticipated that it
would increase further. The leadman was added “for
the purpose of looking after the Loadout Man “A” and
his helpers and to coordinate better the work Joad.”

Mr. Hurry testified that as leadman he gets his ord-
ers from supervision as to what is to be loaded out and
tells the loadout crew what to load on the trucks. Since
the trucks can be loaded only by use of the crane it is
equally necessary for him to give orders to the crane
operator. In other words, the ground crew and the
crane operator operate as a unit and the function of the
leadman applies to one as well as to the other. On the
mill end it is necessary to keep the product moved from
the mill as it comes from the mill in order to keep the
mill from shutting down. If necessary the leadman will

A4

order both cranes to the mill in order to move the pro-
duct accumulating from the mill. Again, it may be
necessary to move both cranes to the loading end if the
work demands. Mr. Hurry testified that as leadman he
has to keep abreast of the work and he alone is in a
position to place men and cranes where needed at any
given time to get the work done. He stated that he is
not a supervisor but he has been placed in the position
to exercise the responsibility of keeping the work mov-
ing and while he could call upon supervision to give the
specific orders he considers that supervision expects
him to perforni this function. In his words, ground
crews and crane operators work as units and he, as
leadman, cannot lead one part of this unit without
leading the other. Mr. Hurry testified that as leadman
he determines the course of operations during the day
for both ground crews and for the crane operators who
work with them. For example, when one crew goes to
lunch while the other crew may work and then the lat-
ter goes to eat when the former returns, he testified
that as leadman he makes the decisions as to such mat-
ters, that he might go to his supervisor but the super-
visor could hardly help him because he (Hurry) knows
the shape the work is in and the supervisor doesn’t so
that he alone is in a position to make a rational deci-
sion.

One of the crane operators, Mr. L. E. Ainsworth,
testified that as Crane Operator he looks to the lead-
man for directions as to his work, when he takes his
breaks, and on one occasion when the crews were
working on Saturday and an emergency required him
(the Crane Operator) to go home, there being no su-

A-5

pervisors in the office, he checked with Mr. Hurry
and “he let me go home.” It was agreed that the other
crane operator would testify to the same effect if called.

Mr. Wilson, for the Company, testified as noted
above, that the loadout leadman classification was set
up because of the increase of volume of work in the
yard. The position was set up “to lead the ground
crew and not to be a leadman over the crane opera-
tors.” He stated that the crane operators are the high-
est paid employees in the yard and perfectly capable
of making decisions of their own and that the work
they do and the directions they receive from members
of the ground crews are no different now than before
the loadout leadman’s position was created. According
to Mr. Wilson, the loadout leadman position position
is just an expansion of the job of the Loadout Man
“A” the leadman’s job “is really no more than to co-
ordinate two groups rather than having loadout men
“As” operate independently of each other.”

The Company reasons that the crane operators per-
form now as they did before the loadout leadmen posi-
tion was created and that no direction from the lead-
man as such is required. The Company sees the situa-
tion as one of “non-supervisory employees working to-
gether harmoniously to accomplish a common end.”
The Company emphasizes that the creation of a loadout
leadman position was a management function and
that in the exercise of that function the leadman’s
position was given no lead function with respect to
the crane operators. The Company loadout leadman is
part of the Loadout Man “A” classification still.

A-6

The Union position can be stated as one of viewing
the work of the loading crews as work of an integrated
team of ground crew and crane operator. Unless both
ground crew and crane operators work together,
neither can work at all. A leadman coordinating the
work of the two ground crews in the yard necessarily
coordinates the work of the crane operators inasmuch
as all of the work that is done is accomplished by the
crane moving and placing the steel product rigged by
the ground crews.

It is obvious that the resolution of the issue here is
not one that can come about through logical analysis
for each part can marshall impeccable logic to support
its case. The difference between the parties arises not
from faulty logic on the part of one or the other but
from the different points of view from which each
party sees the situation. The Company sees the lead-
man’s position as a management creation limited and
circumscribed by the intentions and will of its cre-
ator. In such light the leadman’s authority can rise
no higher than its source wills. Like an agent charged
by his principal] to buy a white horse, he can claim no
authority to buy one that is black. The Union from its
position sees the situation from a more functional or
pragmatic point of view. If the ground crew and the
crane operator cannot work without the other, i.e.
work essentially as a team composed of ground crew
plus a crane operator, a leadman coordinating the
work of two ground crews necessarily coordinates the
work of the crane operators also. One who drives a
team cannot drive the near horse without driving the

A-7

off horse also, not at all intending any comparison of
men to horses by this example.

It seems to the Arbitrator that when the Company
places a man in the shipping yard to coordinate the
work of the ground crews and expects the crane op-
erators, upon whom the ground crews are absolutely
dependent, to perform their part of the work without
attention to the coordinator, it places both coordinator
and crane operators in an impossible position. Inevi-
tably all will look to the leadman for guidance or no
coordination will result. Men in the shipping yard, on
the ground as well as above it in the crane cabs come
naturally to know their work and to go about their
tasks without constant supervision. Work doesn’t stop
when supervision or leadmen are not constantly at
hand but this can hardly mean that coordination does
not add to the work of the crews or that crane oper-
ators are not affected by it. I do not see how participa-
tion in coordination can be barred simply by admin-
istrative fiat that it doesn’t exist.

In my judgment the Union has made its case and
the grievance should be sustained.

Impartial Member of the Panel

December 9, 1972

A-8
In the matter of
THE TEXAS STEEL COMPANY
and

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS,
Local No. 776

File No. 72A/6390
October 18, 1972
Fort Worth, Texas

Arbitration Panel:
Ralph C. Barnhart, Impartial Member
Harold E. Mueller, For the Company
J. E. Floyd, For the Union

SUPPLEMENTAL ARBITRATION AWARD

On December 21, 1972, the Company member of the
Arbitration Panel wrote to the Imparital Member of
the Panel confirming a telephone request for an ex-
ecutive session. The Union member naturally felt that
no such session was necessary. I agreed to schedule an
executive session which was held in Fort Worth on
July 19, 1973. At this session it appeared that the
strong objection of the Company to the proposed draft
was that it in effect required the Company to create a
leadman over the crane operators against manage-
ment’s desire to do so. The Arbitration Panel clearly
has no authority to require the Company to do any-
thing it is not obligated to do under the collective bar-
gaining agreement. The problem, however, is not so
simply disposed of. The agreement does require the
Company to pay a leadman at least $.20 above the
highest led classification rate. (Page 41 of the 1971-

A-9

72 agreement). The leadman’s job in question was
created by the Company and the issue becomes one,
not of telling the Company what it must do, but of
determining as a matter of actual fact what it has
done. The Company is governed by the agreement, as
is the Union and as is the Arbitration Panel. The
question before the Panel, therefore, boils down to
whether the loadout leadman leads a crew solely of
men working on the ground or whether the crews in
the shipping yard actually include the operators of
the overhead cranes.

The Company placed great emphasis upon what it
asserted to be the fact that the relationship between
the crane operators and the ground crews had been
changed in no significant respect by the setting up of
the loadout leadman classification. In substance the
claim seemed to be that what the crane operators did
before they continued to do after unaffected by the
work of the leadman in coordinating the work on the
ground. In fairness, this argument seemed to indicate
somewhat closer inspection of this “before and after”
aspect of the leadman’s job and another hearing was
scheduled for this purpose. The hearing was held on
October 11, 1973, at the Company plant in Fort
Worth. A transcript was made and briefs filed.

While these additional proceedings have been time-
consuming it seems to the Impartial Member of the
Panel that they served to bring the parties to closer
grips with the substance of the issue— just whom
does the loadout leadman lead? The second hearing at
the plant made it clearer that the moving of the
Grievant, Mr. Hurry, from Loadout Man “A” to

A-10

Loadout Leadman was not a radical departure from
prior practice. Before Mr. Hurry was made a Loadout
Leadman he was a Loadout Man “A” in the loading
crew and the mill crew. As described by both manage-
ment witnesses and by Mr. Hurry, there was little
significant change in Mr. Hurry’s work at all, either
with respect to men on the ground or in the cranes.
Making him a Leadman was more a recognition of
the scope of his duties already being performed than
of the creation of new duties. Now, instead of having
to go to supervision as a Loadout Man “A” his now
status enabled him to perfom his lead work with
somewhat more assurance. He could now direct the
work and report his direction to his supervisor instead
of having first to seek his supervisor’s approval. But
if it can be said that becoming a leadman made no
difference in the work of the crane operators it can
equally be said that it made no difference in the work
of the ground crews. As Mr. Wicker testified, the
work of neither crane operator or ground crew
changed. The only difference was “Well, one extra
man.” (Transcript Pg. 41)

Testimony at this last hearing made it plain that
the work of the crane operators and the ground crews
is that of collaboration in a single endeavor — to move
steel from the mil] and from the yard to trucks and
cars. Neither can work separately, the ground crews
without the cranes can do nothing, the crane operators
without the ground crews would be useless. Not only
does the ground crew tell the crane operator what is
to be moved, the crew has to tell him what equipment
he needs. See page 56 of the Transcript in the second

A-11

hearing, describing the change of bows with respect to
which the crane operator must depend upon the ground
crew.

It is abundantly clear that the crane operators are
an inseparable part of the loadout crews in the ship-
ping yard and a Leadman with respect to part is un-
avoidably leadman of all.

The men who testified for Company and Union are
not neophytes. Mr. Wicker had worked in his position
for 35 years, Mr. Day had been his supervisor for 25
or 30 years, Mr. Hurry had been in the shipping yard
for 29 years. The operations under consideration here
were not new to them. They surely knew what they
were testifying about and none could very well mis-
state the facts in the presence of the others. Their
testimony was not in conflict.

In summary, the record shows that the work of the
shipping yard is carried on as a combined cooperative
integrated effort of the men on the ground and the
men in the cranes, so that when a leadman was given
the function of coordinating the work of the ground
crews he necessarily coordinated the work of all. A
leadman could scarcely coordinate a part without co-
ordinating the whole and the crane operators are as a
matter of inescapable fact a part of the whole.

The grievance is sustained.

/s/ Ralph C. Barnhart
Ralph C. Barnhart
Arbitrator
Mr. Mueller dissents.
Mr. Floyd concurs.

November 24, 1973

A-12
IN ARBITRATION

In the Matter of

TEXAS STEEL COMPANY,

—and—
AERONAUTICAL INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT
LODGE 776 — INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIA-
TION OF MACHINISTS & AEROSPACE
WORKERS, AFL-CIO

LOADOUT LEADMAN
GRIEVANCE

DISSENTING OPINION
OF COMPANY ARBITRATOR

In January, 1972, A. J. Hurry, a loadout leadman
in the mill shipping yard, initiated an individual
grievance signed by him based on the company’s
“working leadmen at lower rate of pay than highest
classification they lead” in which he requested as a
remedy “that the higher rates be paid to leadmen and
they be compensated for all monetary losses suffered”
(Joint Exhibit 2).

The loadout leadman’s classification was established
by the company in 1970, and the incumbents in that
position, including the grievant, were assigned to lead
and direct the work of the loadout ground crews, i.e.,
Loadout Men “A” and their helpers. These leadmen
were paid the stipulated contract differential over the
rate of the Loadout Man “A” —the highest paid
members of the ground crews. The new leadman clas-
sification was established under the 1970-71 contract

A-13

with the union. The instant grievance raised the con-
tention for the first time under the 1971-72 contract
that the loadout leadmen lead and direct the work of
the crane operators and, therefore, are entitled to be
paid at the differential based on the crane operator’s
rate of pay, which is substantially higher than that of
Loadout Men “A”. The matter was not the subject of
contract negotiations in 1971, out of which the 1971-
72 contract came.

ApplicalLie Contract Provisions

Pertinent provision of the 1970-71 and 1971-72
contracts are in all respects the same save the pay
differential for leadmen, which was increased from
15¢ to 20¢. The following are the provisions of the
1971-72 contract:

1. “Section 3. The management of the plant, the
selection of employees for supervisory or other
classifications not subject to this Agreement, the
determination of the products to be manufac-
tured, the location of Company plants, the sched-
ules of production, the methods, standards, proc-
esses and means of manufacturing is vested ex-
clusively in the Company.

“The Company shall have the right, subject to
other provisions of this Agreement and to the
grievance procedure hereof, to direct the working
forces, including but not limited to the right to
suspend, demote or discharge employees for prop-
er cause, to lay off for lack of work or other
proper reasons, to transfer employees from one
job to another and from one shift to another and
to change the classification of any employee when
such action is not inconsistent with the seniority

A-14

provisions hereof and to create new and addi-
tional job classi fications for jobs not already cov-
ered by the provisions of this Agreement.”

(Article III, Section 3, Jt. Ex. I, pp. 5-6, Em-
phasis added)

. “Article XII — Grievance Procedure

“Section 1. The term grievance means any dis-
pute between the Company and an employee, a
group of employees, or the Union concerning the
effect, interpretation, application, claim of breach
or violation of this Agreement.

“Section 2. All such grievances must be presented
im writing within ten (10) days following the
occurrence of the event giving rise to grievance,
except that an extension of an additional ten (10)
days will be granted for grievance pertaining to
wages only. * ** *”

“Section 11. The Arbitration Board shall have
full authority to decide the proper interpretation
and application of any of the provisions of this
Agreement, but shall not have the power to add
to, detract from, or change any of its provisions.”

(Jt. Ex. I, p. 15, Emphasis added)
. “Service and Supply

*_* *+ ££ & &

“Loadout Man ‘A’ 295

*- s+ &*& *¢+ © & &

“Crane Operator ‘A’ O.H.

*-_ * * * £ * *&

“Leadman classification shall be at least $.20
above highest lead classification rate.”

(Appendix “A”, Jt. Ex. I, p. 48)

A-15

Issue Raised by Grievance

The question to be decided here is whether or not
the company had the right and authority to create and
establish the job of loadout leadman and to limit the
content, duties, and responsibilities of such job and
the incumbents therein to leading and directing only
the work of the ground crews, i.e., Loadout Men “A”
and their helpers.

This issue was raised for the first time in January,
1972, notwithstanding the fact that since the incep-
tion of the Loadout Leadman classification in 1970,
the leadman differential has been applied to the Load-
out Man “A” rate.

The F ucts

The operation here involved embraces (1) the re-
moval of product from the rolling mill and the placing
of it in bays and other storage areas, and (2) the
loading of customers’ orders on trucks or other ve-
hicles (R. 11). The work is performed in an open area
sometimes referred to as the shipping yard which is
serviced by a hundred foot span craneway about 300
feet long (R. 71-72). Two separate cranes operate in-
dependently on the same craneway (R. 28).

Organizationally the area is under the Service and
Supply Superintendent B. C. Day (C. C. Day). Next
in supervisory rank is Supervisor Neil Wicker. Under
Wicker are Foreman Charlie Day on the day shift
and Foreman Otum (Odom) on the evening shift. The
shipping office is near the middle of the craneway (R.
72-74).

A-16

Prior to 1970, the personne] assigned to the loadout
function at the mill shipping yard consisted to a Load-
out Man “A” and three helpers for each crane on two
shifts, and on the third shift a Loadout Man “A” and
two or three helpers (R. 12-14). Two crane operators
were assigned for two shifts and one for the third
shift.

In 1970, Vice President Wilson decided that a non-
supervisory Loadout Leadman classification should be
established (R. 59). Considerations motivating his de-
termination were increased work loads and antici-
pated further increases. The leadman as a working
member of the loadout crew performs loadout work
and does some coordination of the whole ground crew
(R. 27, 50, 59-60). The Loadout Leadman was desig-
nated to lead the ground crew only. He was not to be a
leadman over the crane operators (R. 60). The crane
operator is the highest paid employee in the area and
is perfectly capable of making decisions of his own.
He works in conjunction with the ground crew helpers,
loadout men, and leadmen (R. 48, 60). The number of
men in the ground crew can vary, but the number of
crane men is set by the number of cranes operating
(R. 61).

The Loadout Leadman is an appointive job. Its in-
cumbent is selected by management, and the duties
and responsibilities of the assignment are outlined and
determined by management (R. 26). |

Prior to the designation vf Loadout Leadman in
1970, the company had the same two cranes which
were operated the same way as they are now oper-

A-17

ated, and the make-up of the loadout crews was the
same (R. 26, 29).

There has been no change in the duties, functions or
responsibilities of Loadout Leadmen since the incep-
tion of their classification (R. 63). In reality the Load-
out Leadman classification is an expansion of a loadout
man’s job to coordinate two ground crew groups
rather than to have two Loadout Man A’s operate
independently of each other (R. 63).

The Loadout Leadmen generally keep one ground
crew unloading the mill and the other loading trucks
(R. 19). When a truck comes in the Loadout Leadman
goes to the office for loading instructions from Super-
visors Wicker, Odom, or Day. He then tells the Loadout
Man “A” what to do, and most of the time he is able
to help the loadout crew finish the assignment (R. 20-
21). He also advises the crane operator where they are
going and how many bundles are to be loaded so the
crane operator ill know how to place them on the
truck (R. 21). The mill crane stays at the mill to keep
it unloaded unless there is slack time or a breakdown
in which event the mill crane may load trucks (R.
21).

The crane operator works for one loadout crew or
the other, and if he is not working for a loadout crew
he has nothing to do (R. 22). When the crane operator
completes an assignment he goes to a designated place
and waits for direction from a member of the loadout
crew (R. 22).

When Supervisor Wicker told Loadout Leadman
Hurry of his appointment as leadman, Wicker did not

A-18

tell Hurry that he was to lead and direct the crane
operators (R. 25).

The crane operators get signals from the entire
ground crew — helpers, loadout A’s, and leadmen.
The lowest classification can signal the crane operator
and tell him where to go, and what to carry and un-
load. They did this before the Loadout Leadman clas-
sification was created and they still do it (R. 30-31).
Giving signals to the crane operator is part of the
helper’s function (R. 37).

If the Loadout Man “A” at the mill gets behind now,
he goes to the Loadout Leadman for help. Prior to
1970, he went to the other Loadout Man “A” or to the
office (R. 32-33). However, a Loadout Man “A” can
still direct the “truck” crane to service a mill pile-up
(R. 31).

The Loadout Leadman does not do any different now
than a Loadout Man “A” did when A. J. Hurry was a
crane operator (R. 36). The duties and functions now
exercised by Loadout Leadmen are the same as those
formerly exercised by Loadout Man “A” and helpers
(R. 38). If the crane operator was led prior to the
creation of the Loadout Leadman classification, he
was led by the Loadout Man “A” and his helpers (R.
38). The mili crane operator knows where to go and
what to do (R. 39). When the Loadout Leadman is
at the mill the truck crane operator gets his instruc-
tions from the Loadout Man “A” and the helpers (R.
38). The only difference now as compared with pre-
1970 operations is that the Loadout Leadman does all
of the going to the office and getting of instructions

A-19

(R. 44). Except for going to the office the Loadout
Man “A”’’s job is unchanged (R. 44, 47). The func-
tions of the Loadout Leadman with respect to the crane
operator are the same as those the Loadout Man “A”
used to and still does perform (R. 47).

The working of overtime and the personnel to be
assigned overtime work are determined by Supervisors
Wicker or Day who inform the Loadout Leadman who
in turn tells the crew (R. 23, 41).

The crane operator takes his lunch break at the
same time as his ground crew, and if he needs to leave
the crane cab, he advises his ground crew so they will
know the crane is out of service (R. 19, 23, 33, 34,
35). Before the institution of the Loadout Leadman
classification the crane operator told Loadout Man
“A” when he wanted to leave the crane cab, and when
he did so it was simply the case of one non-supervisory
employee telling another that he was going to be away
from his work station (R. 33). Crane operators op-

erated the same way in years past as they do now (R.
46).

The crane operator operates within his own skill
and needs no direction concerning the operation of his
own crane (R. 8-9).

It was stipulated that Loadout Leadmen are not
supervisory employees.

In the mill shipping yard, the yard or overhead
crane operator and the loadout crew operate as a team
both in “unloading” the mill and in loading trucks and
other vehicles with the mill’s product for delivery to

A-20

customers. The crane operator and the loadout crew
are mutually interdependent. The crane operator is
confined to his crane cab high above ground level
where he operates the crane fore and aft on its way
as well as transversely on its beam. He raises, lowers,
and transports loads in response to hand and vocal
signals from any or all members of the loadout crew
(Helpers, Loadout Man “A”, and Loadout Leadmen).
The crane operator is competent within his own skill
to operate his crane and he needs no direction or in-
struction from the loadout or ground crew to operate
the crane. He is separately supervised. He operates
his crane as a service to the loadout crew and through
their signals coordinates his skill with their require-
ments.’ His distance from and inaccessibility to the
ground make it physically impractical for him to
select the material for loading, and to hook and unhook
it.

The loadout crew selects the material for loading as
determined by orders, hook it, designate the place for
transit, and unhook it at destination. They, however,
are incapable of transporting the material in effective
quantity. By harmonizing their efforts with those of
the crane operator the mill materials are effectively
handled.

Except for the creation of a Loadout Leadman clas-
sification to coordinate the loadout crews and to aug-
ment their staffing by an additional person, there has
been no change in the method of operation in the mill
shipping yard for many years. The Loadout Leadman
has no more authority or “lead” over the crane opera-

A-21

tors than did the Loadout Man “A” before the estab-
lishment of Loadout Leadmen. No contention has ever
been made that the Loadout Man “A” lead or directed
the crane operator.

The relationship between the crane operator and the
entire loadout crew is that of non-supervisory em-
ployees working together harmoniously to accomplish
a common end. There is no distinction in principle
between that of fellow members of a production line
in different departments and the relation of the crane
operators and the loadout crews.

There is not a fragment of evidence that any crane
operator has been “led or directed” by a Loadout Lead-
man. The grievant has offered as evidence the fact
that the crane operator has the same lunch and break
periods as the loadout crew assigned to his crane and
that the crane operator will advise a member of the
loadout crew if he has to leave the crane for a personal
reason, such as a headache or need for a restroom.

In view of the fact that loadout crew and the crane
operator are mutually interdependent in the perform-
ance of work it is only reasonable or practical that
they should eat and have their breaks at the same
time. This embraces no facet of leading and directing.
The notification by the crane operator to a member of
the loadout crew of his absence from the crane is an
act of simple courtesy and is nothing but “helping”
each other. It is not evidence of leading or directing
by the Loadout Leadman.

It is clearly evident that under the relevant collec-
tive agreement the institution of a leadman classifica-

A-22

tion and definition of its scope are unfettered manage-
ment functions. The uncontradicted substantial evi-
dence reveals that the Loadout Leadman classification
was created by the company in the exercise of its man-
agement func.ion to increase by one person the con-
stituent number of the loadout crews and to coordinate
and make the loadout crews more efficient. At no time
was it intended cr expressed by the company that
Loadout Leadmen should have any leading or direct-
ing authority over the crane operators. In fact the
grievant admitted that he was not told that the crane
operator was to be under his authority or direction.

Aside from the fundamental and more relevant con-
siderations noted above, simple mathematics demon-
strates the extreme fallacy of asserting that the com-
pany would consider placing the crane operators under
the scope of Loadout Leadmen. The rate of a Loadout
Man “A” is $2.95. The rate of a leadman of that clas-
sification would be $3.15. The rate of a crane operator
is $3.38. The rate of a leadman over that classification
would be $3.58. Obviously no one would pay a rate of
$3.58 per hour to direct work classifications having a
maximum rate of $2.95 per hour.

This record shows beyond doubt that the relation-
ship between the crane operators and the constituent
members of the loadout crew, including its Loadout
Leadman, has been unchanged for many years; that
crane operators are not subject to any peculiar author-
ity of Loadout Leadmen, that the classification of
Loadout Leadman was established through a proper
application of management function; and, that crane

A-23

operators were not placed within the scope of Loadout
Leadmen.

If as the majority have stated the resolution of the
issue here is not one that can come about through logi-
cal analysis, then the decision of the majority is based
upon personal whim, caprice, and speculation, all con-
eng to the contract under which this proceeding is

eld.

In their attempt to analogize, the majority miscon-
ceive the proper relationship between the ground
crews and the crane operators. The work of the two
ground crews is coordinated by the leadman, and they
constitute the near and off members of the team re-
ferred to by the majority. If the crane operators are
to be forced into the majority’s analogy they would be
more in the nature of a wagon or buggy following the
team, but not directed by the leadman. The function
of the cranes and the crane operators is to service the
loadout crews, and whether the loadout crews are co-
ordinated is not a concern of the crane operators.

The majority’s assertion that crane operators look
to the leadman for guidance flies into the face of the
uncontradicted record to the effect that crane opera-
tors receive and respond to directions from any mem-
ber of the ground crew whether he be a helper, a load-
out man A, or a loadout leadman.

The majority miss the issue completely when they
state “this can hardly mean that coordination does not
add to the work of the crews or that crane operators
are not affected by it.” The volume of work performed
was never in dispute. The sole issue presented by the

A-24

grievance is whether the Loadout Leadman is a lead-
man for the crane operators. This may be stated as a
question, “Is the relationship of the Loadout Leadman
to the crane operators any different from the relation-
ship of the loadout helpers and the Loadout Leadman
“A” to the crane operators?”

The answer to this question is a clear and unequivo-
cal “No”! The crane operator responds to the direction
or signal of any member of the loadout crew.

There is no evidence that the crane operator is in
anyway lead by the loadout leadman. The fact that the
crane operator takes his breaks and eats at the same
time as the loadout crew is no evidence he’s being lead
by the loadout leadman. The crane operator took his
breaks and ate at the same time the crew did before
there was a loadout leadman.

The fact that Crane Operator Ainsworth checked
with Leadman Hurry only after he had first deter-
mined there were no supervisors in the office clearly
shows that the crane operator recognized and knew
that the loadout leadman did not have jurisdiction or
authority over him.

There is absolutely no evidence that the crane opera-
tors look to the loadout leadman for guidance.

The majority’s statement, “I do not see how partici-
pation in coordination can be barred simply by admin-
istrative fiat that it doesn’t exist” reflects the fallacy
of their conclusion. The only work to be coordinated
was in the work of the ground crews upon the ground
and then primarily in the work of the Loadout Lead-

A-25

men “A”, There was no problem with or between the
crane operators at the time the Loadout Leadman
classification was established. Further, coordination
is not the crucial issue. The issue is limited to whether
the Loadout Leadmen lead and direct the crane opera-
tors. On this point the record shows without contradic-
tion that when the company created the Loadout Lead-
man classification, crane operators were excluded from
the authority of the Loadout Leadmen. In addition,
there is and was no need for any leading of the crane
operators.

The majority in the Supplemental Arbitration
Award doggedly continue to perpetuate the errors into
which they fell in their initial award. There is no evi-
dence to support the majority’s statement that “the
moving of Grievant, Mr. Hurry, from Loadout Man
“A” to Loadout Leadman was not a radical departure
from prior practice.” The majority must concede, as
the record irrefutably establishes, that the Loadout
Man “A” made frequent trips to the office for loading
instructions and shipping orders prior to the creation
of the leadman classification, Subsequent thereto
Loadout Man “A”s ceased going to the office and the
Loadout Leadman made all such trips. The majority’s
finding that “Making him (Mr. Hurry) a Leadman
was more a recognition of the scope of his duties al-
ready being performed than of the creation of new
duties. Now, instead of having to go to supervision as
a Loadout Man ‘A’ his new status enabled him to per-
form his lead work with somewhat more assurance”
is not only not supported by the record but is contrary
to it. There is absolutely no evidence from which it

A-26

ean be found or concluded that Mr. Hurry, prior to
his appointment to the Loadout Leadman position,
either had or exercised any lead authority over the two
ground crews. Mr. Hurry’s current lead authority
over the ground crews is by express management au-
thority and he does not, as the majority state, “per-
form his lead work with somewhat more assurance.”
(Emphasis supplied).

The finding and conclusion of the majority that,
“But if it can be said that becoming a leadman
made no difference in the work of the crane oper-
ators it can equally be said that it made no differ-
ence in the work of the ground crews”

flies in the face of the record and is simply not true.
Obviously, the ground crews performed the same kind
of work they previously did, but their source of imme-
diate direction became the Loadout Leadman and not
Mr. Wicker.

The majority continue to misapprehend the facts in
their Supplemental Award when they state, “It is
abundantly clear that the crane operators are an in-
separable part of the loadout crews in the shipping
yard and a Leadman with respect to part is unavoid-
ably leadman of all.” The crane operators and the
loadout ground crews work together harmoniously, but
it does not follow logically that a leadman of the
ground crews of necessity leads and directs the crane
operator. The majority’s statement is in the nature of
the “fiat” they condemn when exercised by manage-
ment.

Similarly the majority err in their finding and con-

A-27

clusion ““* * * so that when a leadman was given the
function of coordinating the work of the ground crews
he necessarily cooredinated (sic) the work of all. A
leadman could scarcely coordinate a part without co-
ordinating the whole and the crane operators are as a
matter of inescapable fact a part of the whole.” The
majority have ignored the record and substituted their
judgment for that of management. Whether the lead-
man coordinates or directs only a part of an operation
is of no concern to the majority. Likewise, whether the
majority feel that other or different action would be
better or less difficult of accomplishment is entirely
beyond their authority. The majority cannot lawfully
substitute their judgment for that of management as
they have done in their award.

The majority have arrogated unto themselves strict-
ly managerial functions that belong to and are to be
exercised by the company. It is not within the province
of the majority to substitute their judgment for that
of management in limiting or expanding the scope of
authority of an employee.

The creation of a new job and the definition and
determination of its content, duties and responsibili-
ties is by nature an essential right and function of
management protected by the collective agreement and
it is not the result of the exercise of administrative
fiat.

Here the job created by the company was non-su-
pervisory, expressly limited to the loadout ground
crews, and did not include crane operators. The exclu-
sion of crane operators was within the province and

A-28
authority of management and was not the exercise of
administrative fiat. The attempt of the majority to
place the crane operators under the loadout leadmen
constitutes a clear overreaching of management in set-
ting up and limiting the job and job content and a
usurpation by the majority of management’s au-

thority and function for which there is no grant or
support in the contract or the law.

If it is true, as the majority suggests, that limiting
the direction of the loadout leadmen to the loadout
ground crews would not achieve maximum coordina-
tion in the department, such a result would be clearly
the responsibility of management and not for the ar-
bitrators to attempt to remedy by decreeing a change
in the job content, duties and responsibilities of the
loadout leadmen as the majority has sought to do in
this case.

The grievance should be denied.

/s/ Harold E. Mueller
Arbitrator for Texas Steel Company

A-29
APPENDIX “B”

DISTRICT COURT’S ORDER GRANTING UNION’S
MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH DIVISION

CIVIL ACTION NO. CA 4-74-44

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS
DISTRICT 776
VS.

TEXAS STEEL COMPANY

ORDER

This is an action involving the violation and en-
forcement of a collective bargaining agreement. This
Court has jurisdiction under 29 U.S.C. § 185.

This case arose out of a grievance initiated by Mr.
A. J. Hurry alleging that he was a lead man and
being paid at a rate lower than required by the collec-
tive bargaining agreement. The agreement, in perti-
nent part, requires the lead man to be paid $.20 an
hour above the highest led classification rate. Follow-
ing the procedure required by the agreement, the
arbitration panel concluded that the company had
violated the agreement and sustained the alleged
grievance. The defendant has refused to abide by the
arbitration award.

The issues in this case are (1) whether the griev-
ance is arbitrable, and, if so, (2) whether the arbitra-

A-30

tor’s award is based on the collective bargaining
agreement. United Steel Workers v. Enterprise Wheel
& Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593 (1960) ; United Steel Work-
ers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574
(1960) ; United Steel Workers v. American Mfg. Co.,
363 U.S. 564 (1960).

The decision of whether or not a grievance is arbi-
trable should be determined under the arbitration
clause of the collective bargaining agreement. See,
United Steel Workers v. American Mfg. Co., supra.
In the case at bar, the agreement called for the Arbi-
tration Board to decide the proper interpretation and
application of any of the contract provisions. The
arbitrator interpreted the contract provision requir-
ing the lead man to receive additional compensation
of $.20 per hour. He then applied the facts of the
case to determine who the lead man was leading. This
was a necessary implication of interpreting the con-
tract. The arbitrator did not invade the province of
management and tell them who the lead man was to
lead, but merely looked at the facts as they existed to
determine who he was actually leading. Even though
this Court may not necessarily agree with the decision
of the arbitrator, under the permissible scope of re-
view the determination that the lead man in fact led
the craneman involved an interpretation and appli-
cation of the contract, and, therefore, was arbitrable.

United Steel Workers of America v. Warrior and
Gulf Navigation Co., supra, involved a similar fact
situation. In that case the parties had not negotiated
regarding the employer’s contracting out some work.
After the union filed a grievance under the collective

A-31

bargaining agreement, the employer answered that
under the contract this was strictly a management
decision and was not arbitrable. Even in the face of
the management rights clause, the Court held the
issue to be arbitrable under the contract. In the case
at bar, the issue is also whether the management
rights clause removes this question from the arbitra-
tion clause. Here also the answer must be that the
facts present a question of the interpretation and
application of the contract and are, therefore, argu-
ably within the arbitration clause.

After determining that the case was arbitrable, the
question is whether the award is based on the arbi-
trator’s interpretation of the collective bargaining
agreement, The arbitrator made a factual determina-
tion regarding the lead man and then applied that
determination to the contract clause. It is clear in this
case that the award is based on the arbitrator’s inter-
pretation of the agreement and that he did not dis-
pense his own brand of industrial justice. United
Steel Workers of America v. Enterprise Wheel and
Car Corp., supra, at 597.

After viewing the case under the permissible scope
of review, it is clear that the plaintiff is entitled to
its motion for summary judgment.

It is therefore Ordered and Adjudged that the
plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is granted
with each party to pay their own costs and attorney’s
fees.

Entered this 26th day of October, 1974.

/s/ Eldon B. Mahon
United States District Judge

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APPENDIX “C”

OPINION OF THE COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE
WORKERS, DISTRICT 776, Plaintiff-
Appellee Cross Appellant,

v.

TEXAS STEEL COMPANY, Defendant-
Appellant Cross Appellee.

No. 74-4083.

United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit.
Sept. 17, 1976.

Michael D. Shattman, Harold E. Mueller, Ft.
Worth, Tex., for defendant-appellant cross appellee.

James L. Hicks, Jr., Dallas, Tex. for plaintiff-appel-
lee cross appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for
the Northern District of Texas.

Before GEWIN, GODBOLD and SIMPSON, Cir-
cuit Judges.

GEWIN, Circuit Judge:

Following Texas Steel Company’s (hereinafter Com-
pany) refusal to abide by the decision of an arbi-
tration panel, District 776 of the I.A.M. (hereinafter

A-33

Union) instituted this action in the court below seek-
ing enforcement of the award.’ The district court
granted summary judgment for the Union based on.
the pleadings and exhibits. It also directed that each
party pay its own costs and attorneys’ fees. The
Company appeals from the order granting summary
judgment and the Union cross-appeals from the fail-
ure of the district court to award it costs and attor-
neys’ fees. We affirm with respect to the main appeal
and vacate and remand with respect to the cross-

appeal.

I. Facts

The Company’s shipping yard operation entails
moving its factory output from the plant and loading
the goods onto trucks. Involved in this function are
two ground crews and two cranes and crane operators.
Prior to 1970 each of the two crews was coordinated
by a “Loadout Man ‘A.’” The plant’s shipping yard
activity increased in volume and in the 1970-71 con-
tract between the Company and the Union a new job
classification was created in the yard.

The new position was entitled “Loadout Leadman” ;
the persons appointed to it were those who previously
had been designated Loadout Men “A.” The Leadman
position was specifically designated as being non-
supervisory. Apparently the duties of the leadmen
were not altered a great deal from those the Loadout
Men “A” previously had performed. The essence of
the leadmen’s job was to coordinate and ensure the
smooth functioning of the shipping yard operation.

1Jurisdiction was based on 29 U.S.C. § 185.

A-34

The position was added primarily to obtain more
workers in this growing facet of the Company’s oper-
ation.

The 1971-72 labor contract between the Company
and the Union provided that leadmen were to be paid
“at least $.20 above highest led classification rate.”
Pursuant to this provision Leadman A. J. Hurry was
paid $3.15, which was 20 cents per hour above what
the highest paid ground crew members (now Loadout
Men “A’’) received. The shipping yard crane opera-
tors, however, were paid $3.38 per hour under the con-
tract. Thus, in January of 1972 A. J. Hurry filed a
grievance with union officials, contending that he
should be paid $3.58 per hour, rather than $3.15,
because he “led” the crane operators as well as the
ground crew.

II. Prior Proceedings

Initial stages of the grievance procedure failed to
result in resolution of the dispute and it proceeded to
arbitration. The Company voluntarily submitted to
arbitration. The arbitration panel consisted of one
Company representative, one Union representative
and one impartial arbiter. Concluding that it was in-
evitable that the leadmen “led” the crane operators
as well as the ground crew members because otherwise
the yard operation would not be coordinated, the panel
ruled in favor of the Union. The Company representa-
tive dissented.

After the Company voiced strong objection to the
award, a subsequent hearing was held. Another de-

A-35

cision affirming the original conclusion was entered.”
The decision recognized that the leadmen’s duties did
not differ a great Cea] from those they had previously
performed as Loadout Men “A,” although it was also
noted that leadmen did in fact exercise more super-
vision in the first instance than had the Loadout Men
“A”. The panel summarized its findings and conclu-
sions as follows:

[Tjhe record shows that the work of the shipping
yard is carried on as a combined cooperative inte-
grated effort of the men on the ground and the men
in the cranes, so that when a leadman was given the
function of coordinating the work of the ground
crews he necessarily coordinated the work of all.
A leadman could scarcely coordinate a part without
coordinating the whole and the crane operators are
as a matter of inescapable fact a part of the whole.

The Company refused to accept the decision of the
arbitration panel, despite the fact that under the col-
lective bargaining agreement that decision was “final
and binding.” The Union filed this action in the court
helow to enforce the award. The court concluded that
the grievance was arbitrable and that the award was
hased on the collective bargaining agreement. Sum-
“sry judgment for the Union was granted on the
basis of the pleadings and exhibits, but it was not
awarded costs and fees. This appeal and cross-appeal
ensued.

2Both the original and the supplemental decisions of the arbitration panel
were written by the impartial arbitrator. There is no contention by the
Company that these decisions do not represent the view of the panel-

majority.

A-36

III. The Company’s Appeal
A. Appropriateness of Summary Judgment

The Company contends that summary judgment
was inappropriate in this case and cites four pur-
ported “material factual issues” in support of this
position. The fundamental defect in this argument
i3 that matters in dispute characterized as “fact”
issues by the Company are actually conclusions of law,
not questions of fact.* It is axiomatic that where ques-
tions of law alone are involved in a case summary
judgment is appropriate. See Asuncion v. District
Director, INS, 427 F.2d 523, 524 (9th Cir. 1970);
Ammons v. Franklin Life Insurance Co., 348 F.2d
414, 416-17 (5th Cir. 1965); Molinos De Puerto
Rico, Inc. v. Sheridan Towing Co., 62 F.R.D. 172,
176-78 (D.P.R. 1973). When an arbitration award
has been made, the only potential areas for considera-
tion of factual questions that would preclude sum-
mary judgment concern whether the dispute actually
was arbitrable, H. K. Porter Co. v. Local 37, United
Steelworkers, 400 F.2d 691, 695-96 (4th Cir. 1968) ;
Local 1645, U.A.W. v. Torrington Co., 358 F.2d 103
(2d Cir. 1966); Local 12799, U.M.W. v. Matthiessen
’The alleged material issues of “fact” are: (1) whether a violation of the
collective bargaining agreement was involved; (2) whether the Com-
pany is engaged in interstate commerce; (3) whether the collective
bargaining agreement was in effect at the relevant times; and (4)
whether the arbitration panel concluded that the Company had violated
the agreement and, apparently, whether the panel sustained the griev-
iii numbers (2) and (3) supra are mixed questions of law
and fact that might preclude summary judgment. However, the Com-
pany is unquestionably subject to NLRB jurisdiction, which requires

the interstate nexus, and it admitted in its answer that the collective
1972. Hence, these elements actually were and are not disputed issues.

A-37

& Hegeler Zine Co., 291 F.Supp. 578 (N.D.W.Va.
1968), and whether the award drew its “essence”
from the agreement, Marble Products Co. v. Local
155, United Stone & Allied Products Workers, 335
F.2d 468, 471 (5th Cir. 1964); Torrington Co. v.
Local 1645, U.A.W. 362 F.2d 677, 679-80 & nn. 5-6
(2d Cir. 1966). This inquiry entails whether the al-
leged arbitrable claims are governed by the contract
and its arbitration provisions and whether the arbi-
tration panel has confined its decision, and possibly
the remedy, to the interpretation and application of
the collective bargaining agreement. The court must
scrupulously avoid the invasion of the arbitration
panel’s sphere and the enticement of ruling on the
“intrinsic merits” of the dispute. International Ladies’
Garment Workers Union v. Ashland Industries, Inc.,
488 F.2d 641 (5th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom., Alfin
v. International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union, 419
U.S. 840, 95 S.Ct. 71, 42 L.Ed.2d 68 (1974); Team-
sters Local 745 v. Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc.,
428 F.2d 1371 (5th Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S.
937, 91 S.Ct. 926, 28 L.Ed.2d 217 (1971).
Accordingly, the question of the propriety of sum-
mary judgment in this case turns on whether there
were material issues of fact concerning the arbitra-
bility of the dispute and the proper application of the
“essence” standard. Since there were no materia!
questions of fact concerning these issues, summary
judgment was appropriate. Thus, the point of con-
tention that we must resolve concerns whether the
district court applied the correct test and reached the
correct result on the legal questions of arbitrability
and scope of the arbitration panel’s decision. See Mar-

A-38

ble Products Co. v. Local 155, Uniled Stone & Allied
Products Workers, 335 F.2d 468 (5th Cir. 1964).

B. Arbitra>ility
1. Standard Utilized Below

In holding that the instant dispute was arbitrable,
the district court employed principles enunciated in
the ‘Steelworkers’ Trilogy,’* and concluded that since
the dispute was arguably within the arbitration clause
it was, in fact, arbitrable. The Company asserts that
this test applies only when the employer refuses to
ar>itrate in the first instance, rather than in situa-
tions, such as the instant one, where the employer
voluntarily proceeds to arbitration but refuses to
abide by the award. However, this position is at least
implicitly rejected by one of the “Steelworkers’ Tri-
logy” itself ;* further, this court has specifically ruled
that the postulates enunciated in the Trilogy apply
to suits to enforce arbitration awards as well as those
t» compel arbitration in the first instance. Teamsters
Local 745 v. Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc., 392
F.2d 1 (5th Cir. 1968).° Moreover, the Braswell doc-
‘United Steclworkers v. American Manufacturing Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80
S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed 2d 1403 (1960); United Steelworkers v. Warrior &
Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409
(1960); United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363
U.S. 593, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960).
‘The Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp. case involved an action for enforce-
ment of an arbitration decision.
‘Braswell was modified on rehearing in minor respects not relevant for
our purposes at 395 F.2d 655. The case was affirmed after remand in
relevant part at 428 F.2d 1371. Certiorari was denied at 401 U.S. 937,
91 S.Ct. 926, 28 L.Ed.2d 217 (1971). It is a definitive statement in
this circuit on the sspects of federal labor law with which it dea‘, in-
cluding the propositon for which we cite it. See Local 25, San Antonio

Newspaper Guild v. San Antonio Light Div’n, 481 F.2d 821, 823-24
& n. 2 (5th Cir. 1973).

BST COPY AVAILABLE

A-39

trine is based on solid reasoning. A company or union
should not be permitted to defeat the sound policies
supporting the presumption of arbitrability by the
mere procedural device of going to arbitration, but
refusing to abide by the award. Accordingly, the dis-
trict court did not err in applying the presumption
of arbitrability in this case.

2. Result Reached Below

The Company asserts that the dispute was not ar-
bitrable because the Compariy has the sole discretion
to create new job classifications. The leadman position
was such a new classification, the argument goes, and
therefore the panel exceeded its power by, in effect,
deciding whom the leadman led.

The short answer to this contention is that the
clause empowering the Company to create new job
classifications is explicitly and specifically “subject to
other provisions of [the contract] and to [its] griev-
ance procedure.” There is no provision in the contract
that meets the “Steelworkers’ Trilogy” standard,
which requires a clear and unambiguous exclusion of
the dispute from the arbitration mechanism in order
to defeat arbitrability. See Communications Workers
v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 415 F.2d 35, 38-39 5th
Cir. 1969). Thus, the district court’s conclusion that
the instant dispute was arbitrable is not erroneous.

C. Essence Vel Non?

The Company contends that the arbitration panel’s
decision is arbitrary and capricious in that it did not
confine itself to the interpretation and application of

A-40

the collective bargaining agreement. In addition, the
Company contends that the decision cannot be ration-
ally derived from that agreement. In substance, the
Company’s argument is based on its conclusion that
the panel decision assigned to the leadmen certain
duties that in its opinion the leadmen should perform,
rather than the duties which the Company, in its sole
and rightful discretion, assigned to the position.

In these types of cases, however, the scope of review
by courts is extremely limited. When the question of
arbitrability is resolved in favor of arbitration, our
only remaining function is to determine whether the
award draws its “essence” from the collective bar-
gaining agreement; we do not review the merits or
the factual and legal accuracy of the arbiter’s find-
ings. Local 540, Amalgamated Meat Cutters v. Neu-
hoff Bros. Packers, Inc., 481 F.2d 817 (5th Cir. 1973).
The “essence” standard is to be interpreted expan-
sively so as to uphold the award, rather than restric-
tively. See United Steelworkers v. United States Gyp-
sum Co., 492 F.2d 713, 731-32 (5th Cir.), cert. denied,
419 U.S. 998, 95 S.Ct. 312, 42 L.Ed.2d 271 (1974).

In the instant case the collective bargaining agree-
ment grants the arbitration panel, “full authority to
decide the proper interpretation and application of
any of the provisions,” but denies it the power, “to
ad to, detract from or change,” any of the provisions.
As noted above, the Company’s right to create new
job classifications is expressly subject to the agree-
ment’s grievance provisions; the clause upon which
the Union based its claim, and the arbitration panel

A-41

its award, provides that the “Leadman classification
shall be at least $.20 above highest led classification.”

It is apparent that in concluding that the leadmen
led the crane operators, the panel was merely inter-
preting and applying these provisions of the agree-
ment to the realities of the loading dock operation.
The Company admitted that the shipping yard work
necessitated “cordination” among the entire crew, in-
cluding the crane operators. The panel quite reason-
ably concluded that in order for the work to be coordi-
nated the leadmen as a practical matter “led” the
crane operators as well as the ground crew. Appar-
eitly, the Company would have us make a delicate
differentiation between directing the work so as to
coordinate it and leading a crew. Unappealing as the
drawing of such an ethereal distinction might be in
the first instance, certainly its mere enunciation evi-
dences the fact that the arbitration panel did not act
arbitrarily or capriciously in refusing to make it. The
panel’s decision is well within the standard which
requires it to draw its “essence” from the contract;
the district court did not err in ordering enforcement
of the award.

IV. The Union’s Cross-Appeal

The Union contends that the Company’s refusal to
abide by the arbitration award was without justifica-
tion and that, therefore, the Union was entitled to an
award of attorneys’ fees and costs. United Steel-
workers v. United States Gypsum Co., supra Part
III C. It asserts that this court is as capable as the
district court of resolving the question whether a

A-42

challenge to an arbitration award is without justifi-
cation because the standards for judicial review in
these cases are so restricted. It asserts that since the
district court found it “clear” that the panel based
the award on the contract and “clear” that the Union
was entitled to summary judgment, it is apparent
that the Company raised no colorable or valid argu-
ments in opposition to the award. Accordingly, the
Union asserts that in order to discourage frivolous
refusals to abide by arbitration decisions, and to foster
the clear federal labor policy favoring arbitration,
this court should declare the Company’s challenge in
this case to be without justification and should order
the award of costs and attorneys’ fees.

We find the Union’s analysis rather compelling. Al-
though § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act’
does not specifically provide for costs and attorneys’
fees, it is clear that when a challenge to an arbitration
panel’s decision is without justification these costs are
awardable. District 50, U.M.W. v. Bowman Trans-
portation, Inc., 421 F.2d 934 (5th Cir. 1970); Local
149, U.A.W. v. American Brake Shoe Co., 298 F.2d
212 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 369, U.S. 873, 82 S.Ct.
1142, 8 L.Ed.2d 276 (1962); Local 494, I.B.E.W. v.
Artkraft, Inc., 375 F.Supp. 129, 132-33 (E.D.Wis.
1974); Local 4076, United Steelworkers v. United
Steelworkers, 338 F.Supp. 1154, 1164 (W.D.Pa. 1972)
(Supp.Mem). However, this court’s scope of review
is limited to determining whether the district court
abused its discretion in its decision concerning costs
and attorneys’ fees. Local 4, 1.B.E.W. v. Radio Thir-

799 U.S.C. § 185.

A-43

teen-Eights, Inc., 469 F.2d 610, 615 (8th Cir. 1972);
District 50, U.M.W. v. Bowman Transportation, Inc.,
supra at 935.

In the present posture of this case, we are unable
to find such an abuse of discretion, although we note
that any justification for the Company’s challenge is
not apparent. The only clause that the Company pur-
ports to rely on is expressly subject to the grievance
procedure, which includes “final and binding” arbi-
tration. Beyond peradventure the panel’s decision was
not arbitrary or capricious.‘ Accordingly, the only
real contention the Company has made throughout
this case goes to the “intrinsic merits” of the dispute.
As previously noted, this challenge appears devoid of
merit because it does not go to the jurisdiction of the
arbitration panei (arbitvab lity) or the validity of
the award (“essence”). Cf. Local 179, United Textile
Workers v. Western Textile Products Co., 374 F.Supp.
633 (E.D.Mo.1974) (jurisdiction and “essence” were
“sincerely questioned’; award of fees would be in-
appropriate).

We refuse to countenance frivolous and wasteful
judicial challenges to conscientious and fair arbitra-
tion decisions. In the case sub judice the district court
ordered each party to bear its own costs and attor-
neys’ fees, but made no finding on whether the Com-
pany’s challenge was justified. We vacate and remand
on the cross-appeal for a specific finding on this ques-
tion and an award of costs and attorneys’ fees by the
district court if it determines that the refusal to abide
by the arbitration award was without justification.

8For the reasons stated in Part III supra.

A-44

See Sheeder v. Eastern Express, Inc., 375 F.Supp. 655,
661 (W.D.Pa.1974) (rule stated, relevant cases cited) ;
Local 15253, U.M.W. v. James Julian, Inc., 341
F.Supp. 503, 508 (M.D.Pa.1972) (rule stated, rele-
vant cases cited).

AFFIRMED on main appeal; VACATED and RE-
MANDED with directions on cross-appeal.

A-45

APPENDIX “D”

Pertinent Portions Of Agreement Between Texas Steel
Company, Fort Worth, Texas And The International
Association Of Machinists And Aerospace Workers,
Lodge 1591, November 21, 1971, Fort Worth, Texas

ARTICLE III

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COMPANY
AND THE UNION

Section 3. The management of the plant, the hir-
ing of employees, the selection of employees for super-
visory or other classifications not subject to this
Agreement, the determination of the products to be
manufactured, the location of Company plants, the
schedules of production, the methods, standards, pro-
cesses and means of manufacturing is vested exclu-
sively in the Company.

The Company shall have the right, subject to other
provisions of this Agreement and to the grievance
procedure hereof, to direct the working forces, includ-
ing but not limited to the right to suspend, demote or
discharge employees for proper cause, to lay off for
lack of work or other proper reasons, to transfer em-
ployees from one job to another and from one shift
to another and to change the classification of any em-
ployee when such action is not inconsistent with the
seniority provisions hereof and to create new and
additional job classifications for jobs not already cov-
ered by the provisions of this Agreement.

A-46

ARTICLE XII
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

Section 1. The term grievance means any dispute
between the Company and an employee, a group of
employees, or the Union concerning the effect, inter-
pretation, application, claim of breach or violation of
this Agreement.

Section 4. The party desiring to refer an unsettled
dispute or grievance to arbitration shall notify the
other party in writing ten (10) working days after
receipt of the decision of the Company in Step Three
of the grievance procedure, of its intention to arbi-
trate.

Section 5. The Board of Arbitration shall consist
of three (3) members; one (1) to be selected by the
Company; one (1) to be selected by the Union, and a
third and neutral member to be selected by these two.

Section 10. The Arbitration Board shall meet in
Fort Worth as soon as posible, but not later than
thirty (30) days following the decision of the third
arbiter, hear all the evidence in the case and render
' a decision in writing as soon after the close of the
hearing as conveniently possible.

Section 11. The Arbitration Board shall have full
authority to decide the proper interpretation and ap-
plication of any of the provisions of this Agreement,
but shall not have the power to add to, detract from
or change any of its provisions.

Section 12. A majority decision of the Arbitration

Board rendered in accordance with the foregoing pro-
cedure shall be final and binding on all the parties.

A-47
APPENDIX A, PAGE 43
Min 30 90
Rate Days Days

SERVICE AND SUPPLY
CG Ee 2.95
ES 2.80
I 2.74
Bender Operator “A” ............................-. 3.01
Ag 2.85
I a sccmnemenionaines 3.22
I 2.82
CC I EE 3.38
I I I ne eesidalaeieasidedeiaaiicin 2.92
General Helper —

ETT SE Tce ee 2.30 2.40 2.59
General Helper —

Mill Shipping and

EEE aera over 2.30 2.40 2.59
I 2.85
i 2.85
ee 2.95
Oe 2.76
TSN TS TO 3.11
ig hE 2.90
he Toe 3.11~
ee etree 2.69
Pin Bender Operator —.........0...0...0...00.0.-- 2.74
Scrap Burner (Mill Area) .............0....... 2.85
STA SS a en 2.95
Yard Crane Operator “A” ou. 3.38
Yard Crane Operator “B” . 2.92

Employees assigned to operate the steel saw for one hour or
more continually shall be paid Shearman “A” rate or his
classification rate, whichever is higher, for the time actually
operating the saw.
Leadman classification shall be at least $.20 above highest led
classification rate.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385004_1001%3A1. Public record. Not legal advice.
