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Labor — arbitration

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 9, 2014//

Labor — arbitration

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 9, 2014//

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U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Labor — arbitration

The arbitrator reasonably concluded that an employer’s bargaining proposals were timely.

“[T]he Union contends that, by allowing PPG to decrease the wages and benefits of existing employees, the district court erroneously rendered the arbitrator’s award ‘meaningless.’ We reject this argument, because the Union is wrong when it asserts that the court “interpreted the award as imposing no obligation whatsoever on PPG.” It is true, as the Union points out, that the arbitrator ruled some proposals untimely and declared that proposals first introduced on June 2 and 3 were ‘discretionary items for bargaining.’ But the Union overlooks changes that PPG did make to its offer in the wake of the arbitrator’s decision. PPG removed several proposals that were introduced after June 1 and did not relate to hourly labor cost reductions or the implementation of a two-tier employment system. For example, PPG’s final offer excised proposals that limited severance benefits and altered the pension agreement. At oral argument, the Union’s attorney acknowledged these changes but dismissed them as insignificant compared to the wage concessions. But PPG’s changes made in response to the arbitrator’s award undermine the Union’s argument that the award, as interpreted by both PPG and the district court, imposed ‘no obligation whatsoever on PPG.’ The award may not have been as favorable to the Union as it wanted, but it was not ‘meaningless.’”

Affirmed.

13-2468 AFL-CIO v. PPG Industries Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of District of Illinois, Baker, J., Rovner, J.

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