UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA v. WARRIOR & GULF NAVIGATION CO.
PROCEDURAL
POSTURE: Petitioner sought review of a decision of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal of
petitioner's complaint to compel arbitration under a collective
bargaining agreement because contracting was strictly a function of
management that was excluded from the agreement.
OVERVIEW:
The court reversed a decision that held that contracting non-employees
to perform company duties was a function that was strictly a function of
management, which was exempted from the arbitration provision of a
collective bargaining agreement between petitioner and respondent. The
court disagreed with the lower courts that contracting out grievances
were excepted from the grievance procedure of the agreement. Although
the agreement exempted from arbitration matters that were strictly a
function of management, the contracting function did not fall into this
category because the agreement did not exclude contracting out nor was
there any showing that the parties designed the phrase "strictly a
function of management" to encompass any and all forms of contracting
out. The grievance alleged that the contracting out was a violation of
the collective bargaining agreement. There was, therefore, a dispute as
to the meaning and application of the provisions of the agreement, which
the parties agreed would be determined by arbitration. Whether
contracting out violated the agreement was a question for the arbiter,
not for the courts.
OUTCOME: The court reversed the dismissal of petitioner's complaint to compel arbitration.
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