Citations
- 512 F. Supp. 261
Full opinion text
OPINION
DIAMOND, District Judge.
Plaintiff, a party to a collective bargaining agreement between it and the defendant, brought this suit under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 185, to vacate an arbitrator’s award. Cross motions for summary judgment presently are before the court. Defendant’s motion will be granted and the plaintiff’s denied.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff, a company engaged in the business of leasing truck drivers as a contract labor service in the Western District of Pennsylvania, and defendant, a labor organization serving as the collective bargaining representative for the truck drivers employed by plaintiff, are parties to a three-year collective bargaining agreement which became effective November 25, 1978. That contract contains a detailed grievance-arbitration procedure providing for final and binding arbitration of unresolved grievances. Under Article 6, the arbitrator is given authority to apply the provisions of the agreement and to render a decision on any grievance coming before him, but he is specifically denied authority “to amend or modify [the] Agreement or to establish new terms and conditions under ...” it.
The grievance underlying this suit was filed by the defendant which claimed that the plaintiff had violated the contract by refusing to include a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in the wage increases that under the agreement were to become effective November 24,1979, the first anniversary date of the contract.
Article 32, Section I, specifies the rates of pay for plaintiff’s drivers effective November 25, 1978, and, in Notes 1 and 3 and 2 and 4 thereto, provides for rates of pay to become effective on the anniversary dates of November 24, 1979, and November 22, 1980, respectively. Notes 1 and 3 provide:
NOTE 1: Effective with the 24th day of November 1979, the hourly rate as reflected in “Column I” and effective/applicable prior to said date, shall be increased by the amount which has been negotiated/ratified and effective to the extent that it increased the rate which was effective prior to April 1, 1979; as specifically set forth in the document known as, or referred to as, the National Master Freight Agreement-Joint Council 40 Addendum.
NOTE 3: Effective with the 24th day of November 1979, the mileage rates as set forth in “Column I” shall be increased .5875