By: Derek Hawkins//September 8, 2015//
Civil
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and FLAUM and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges
Collective Bargaining Agreement – Interim Agreements
No. 14-3737; 14-3726 Michels Corporation v. Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund
Short term agreement between employer and union altering duty of employer to contribute to pension fund sufficient to end employer duty and allow for new arrangement.
“Elsewhere the Trust Agreement also recognizes that there might be something other than a collective bargaining agreement. Article III lists “each new or successive collective bargaining agreement, including but not limited to interim agreements and memoranda of understanding between the parties” as among the items that must be sent to the Fund. The term “interim agreement” describes the extensions (and the November 11, 2015 amendment and extension) perfectly. The conclusion that these were separate agreements thus fits with the language of the 2006 CBA and with the language of the Trust Agreement. In concluding that the November 15, 2011 agreement was insufficient to allow Michels to withdraw from the Fund, the Fund contravened the plain language of the Trust Agreement. Its decision was therefore arbitrary and capricious.”
Reversed and Remanded