General Precision, Inc. v. International Ass'n of Machinists

FLEMING, J. Appeal from a judgment and order confirming an arbitration award under the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1294.)

[745]In 1962, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fell on Tuesday. Under the collective bargaining agreement between General Precision, Inc., and the Machinists’ Union, the half day before Christmas, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day were paid holidays. The contract also provided that the normal work week was Monday to Friday, that overtime must be" paid for work on Saturday, and that “Employees are expected by both parties to this contract to work the half shift the day before Christmas in a normal manner. Any employee who fails to do so forfeits the half day holiday pay. ’ ’

In November 1962 the company announced that no work would be scheduled for Monday, December 24, and Monday, December 31. Instead, the machinists would be scheduled to work Saturday, December 29, and Saturday, January 5, at regular pay without overtime. The union refused to waive its right to overtime pay for Saturday work, and its members did not work on either Saturday, although other employees worked on the amended schedule. Under the arbitration provisions of the contract the union filed a notice of grievance protesting the forced reduction in its members’ working hours.

The arbitrator was asked to decide, first, if the grievance was arbitrable, second, if the company violated the collective bargaining agreement by not scheduling a half day’s work on Monday, December 24, and a full day’s work on Monday, December 31, and, third, what remedy should be ordered. The arbitrator found that the company had acted unreasonably and arbitrarily in forcing the union to give up either its right to overtime pay or its right to work the half day before Christmas and the full day before New Year’s. He also found that the company had no reasonable ground to deviate from the contractually-defined work week and that its reason for altering the work week, expected absenteeism, was at variance with the expectation of the parties that “Employees are expected by both parties to this contract to work the half shift the day before Christmas in a normal manner.” The arbitrator ordered the company to pay the machinists back wages of approximately $20,000 for the 12 working hours lost.

The trial court found that the arbitrator had not exceeded the jurisdiction and authority conferred upon him by statute and by the agreement and confirmed the award. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1287.4; Posner v. Grunwald-Marx, Inc., 56 Cal.2d 169, 189 [49 Cal.Rptr. 297, 363 P.2d 313]; Case v. Alperson, 181 Cal.App.2d 757, 759, 761 [5 Cal.Rptr. 635].)