New York City & Vicinity District Council of Carpenters v. Empire State Realty…

Background

The New York City & Vicinity District Council of Carpenters (the Union) began arbitration against Empire State Realty Trust, claiming that the company violated their collective bargaining agreement on two issues. The agreement covered carpenter-employees represented by the Union at the Empire State Building. It listed positions for chief carpenter, carpenter journeyman, and locksmith, but did not expressly list a carpenter helper position in the assents and riders for the bargaining unit.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company furloughed the bargaining unit’s three members. It later terminated two and left one furloughed, although that employee was reinstated while the arbitration was pending. The Union argued that reducing the bargaining unit to one person was unreasonable and that non-carpentry employees performed carpentry work while the unit members were furloughed.

The arbitrator’s January 11, 2021, initial award found that the company could reduce its workforce but required a second worker for safety reasons. The award required the company to stop assigning bargaining-unit work to non-unit employees, pay one carpenter journeyperson for work during part of 2020, hire a second person, and pay one person at a carpenter-helper rate until that second person was hired. After the Union objected to the helper position, the arbitrator issued a supplemental award affirming the initial award and requiring the parties to negotiate the second person’s wages and benefits.

Issues and standard of review

The Union petitioned under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act to confirm part of the initial award and vacate or modify other parts, including the provisions concerning a carpenter helper. Empire State Realty Trust cross-petitioned to confirm both awards.

The court explained that judicial review of a labor arbitration award is highly deferential. Although the court applies a summary-judgment standard, it does not reconsider the arbitrator’s factual findings or contract interpretation. Instead, it asks whether the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the collective bargaining agreement and whether the award draws its basis from that agreement rather than from the arbitrator’s personal view of fairness.

Ruling

The court confirmed both awards in full. It rejected the Union’s argument that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by allowing a carpenter helper position that was not specifically listed in the bargaining unit’s assents or riders. The court found that the Master Agreement supported the arbitrator’s conclusion that, although the agreement did not require the parties to employ carpenter helpers without a separate assent or rider, it also did not prevent Empire State Realty Trust from hiring someone as a helper. The court also relied on the agreement’s provision recognizing management’s right to direct and control management policies subject to the agreement’s obligations.

The court further held that the arbitrator acted within his authority by requiring the parties to negotiate the second person’s wages and benefits. Accordingly, the Petition was granted in part and denied in part, the Cross-Petition was granted in full, and the Initial Award and Supplemental Award were both confirmed in full. The clerk was directed to close the case.