Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth. v. Local 2, Office

965 F.Supp.2d 13

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Petitioner & Counter–Defendant,

v.LOCAL 2, OFFICE AND PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL–CIO, Respondent & Counter–Claimant.

Civil Action No. 12–136 (RC).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Aug. 30, 2013.

Robert A. Friedman, Robert G. Ames, Venable LLP, Washington, DC, for Petitioner & Counter–Defendant.

Douglas Taylor, Gromfine & Taylor, P.C., Alexandria, VA, David Raphael Levinson, Levinson Law Office, Washington, DC, for Respondent & Counter–Claimant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Granting in Part and Denying in Part Respondent's Motion to Dismiss; and Granting in Part and Denying in Part Petitioner's Motion for Summary Judgment

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the Court following the parties' negotiation impasse and subsequent arbitration over the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. The petitioner is a local, public mass transit authority formed pursuant to an interstate compact; the respondent is a union of approximately 700 of the petitioner's employees. After an extensive arbitration process spanning over one year and a record of more than 400 exhibits, the three-member arbitration board issued an award that included, among other things, general wage increases, new subcontracting terms, and new pay bands. The transit authority filed a petition in this Court seeking vacatur of three award provisions, and the union filed a counterclaim seeking confirmation of the entire award. The parties have each filed motions to dispose of the case in their favor. For the reasons discussed below, the Court will vacate the award's peopling of the new pay bands and confirm the remainder of the award.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. The Parties and the Compact

Petitioner, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA” or the “Authority”), is a mass transit facilitator in the Washington metropolitan area that operates the Metrorail, Metrobus, and MetroAccess transportation services. WMATA was established as the result of an interstate compact (the “Compact”) between the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia in order to provide a coordinated approach to transportation, growth, and development in the D.C. area. See generally Act of Nov. 6, 1966, Pub. L. No. 89–774, 80 Stat. 1324 (codified as amended at Md.Code Ann., Transp. § 10–204 (Michie 2008), D.C.Code §§ 9–1103.01 to .02, 9–1107.01 (2001), and Va.Code Ann. §§ 56–529 to 56–530 (2003)) (granting congressionalconsent for the Compact).¹ It operates within the District of Columbia and various counties and cities within Maryland and Virginia (collectively with the federal government, the “Compact Jurisdictions”).

The Compact sets forth WMATA's powers and responsibilities. With respect to financing, the Compact provides that “as far as possible, the payment of all costs shall be borne by the persons using or benefiting from the Authority's facilities and services....” Compact § 16. Any remaining costs are to be “equitably shared” among the Compact Jurisdictions, with the allocation “determined by agreement among them....” Id. Evidence put forward by WMATA suggests that, under this funding paradigm, the Authority uses complex formulas to determine the amount each Compact Jurisdiction should contribute. See J.A. 511 (Arb. Tr. 1238:20–1239:20, July 16, 2010). In recent years, subsidies from the Compact Jurisdictions have provided about 40 percent of the revenue for WMATA's operating budget. See, e.g., J.A. 5356 (FY2009). WMATA's infrastructure is supported by a separate budget, known as the capital budget. See, e.g., Compact § 23; J.A. 211 (Arb. Tr. 539:1–540:1, July 12, 2010).

In addition to setting guidelines regarding WMATA's financing, the Compact also authorizes the Authority to exercise certain enumerated powers, including the ability to construct, acquire, and sell real property; enter into and perform contracts; create and abolish offices, employments, and positions; contract for or employ professional services; and hold public hearings. See Compact § 12. The Compact also recognizes the role of labor unions and requires the Authority to negotiate with such unions regarding “wages, salaries, hours, working conditions, and pension or retirement provisions.” Id. § 66(b). Where negotiation of any “labor dispute” does not result in a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”), the parties must submit the dispute to arbitration in which a three-member arbitration panel sets the terms to be included in the CBA. See id. § 66(c). The arbitration process also applies to the interpretation or application of existing CBAs. See id.

The Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 2 (“Local 2” or the “Union”) is a labor union of WMATA employees whose job responsibilities encompass a variety of professional technical, clerical, and administrative duties, including engineering, inspection, and communications. See generally J.A. 3 (Arb. Tr. 9:19–21, July 8, 2010); J.A. 1225–31. The approximately 709 Local 2 members comprise about 7 percent of WMATA's total workforce. See J.A. 3810. Local 2 is an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. See Pet. Vacate Arb. Award ¶ 3, ECF No. 1.

B. Collective Bargaining

The most recent CBA between WMATA and Local 2 expired on June 30, 2008. See J.A. 1052. As that CBA came to an end, the parties began the negotiations for the next contract but made little progress. See J.A. 3 (Arb. Tr. 11:1–5, July 8, 2010). In May 2010, nearly two years after the prior CBA had expired, the parties submitted their final offers to arbitration under the terms of the Compact. See J.A. 1181–200.

1. The Kasher Arbitration (Local 689)

Before engaging in negotiations with Local 2, WMATA bargained with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 (“Local 689”), whose CBA had also expired on June 30, 2008. See WMATA v. Local 689, Amalgamated Transit Union (Local 689 I), 818 F.Supp.2d 888, 892 (D.Md.2011). Local 689 is the largest WMATA employee labor union, representing approximately 7,700 employees comprising about 70 percent of WMATA's workforce. See id. Due to similarities between WMATA's bargaining history with Local 689 and its bargaining with Local 2, the Court finds it appropriate to begin with a discussion of the Local 689 negotiations, which, like the instant case, resulted in arbitration under the Compact and judicial review in federal court.

After WMATA's negotiations with Local 689 reached an impasse in August 2008, the parties submitted the dispute to arbitration pursuant to the Compact. The arbitration board was composed of three members: Thomas R. Roth as Local 689's representative, R. Theodore Clark, Jr. as WMATA's representative, and Richard R. Kasher as Neutral Chairman (collectively, the “Kasher Board”). See id. On November 4, 2009, the Kasher Board issued its award (the “Kasher Award”), which included the following general wage adjustments: “a 2 percent lumpsum payment effective July 1, 2008; and annual 3 percent general wage increases effective on July 1 in the years 2009, 2010, and 2011.” Id. at 892–93. The two partisan board members each issued partially dissenting opinions. See id. at 893.

Shortly after the Kasher Award was issued, the parties filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland—Local 689 seeking judicial confirmation of the Kasher Award, and WMATA seeking an order vacating the award's provisions for general wage adjustments and pension benefits. See id. WMATA's challenge was based on the Kasher Award's alleged failure to comply with the National Capital Area Interest Arbitration Standards Act of 1995, tit. IV, Pub. L. No. 104–50, 109 Stat. 463 (codified as amended at 40 U.S.C. §§ 18301–04 (2006)) (the “Standards Act” or the “Act”), which had never been applied by any court but purportedly sets forth procedures governing interest arbitrations between WMATA and its unionized employees. See Local 689 I, 818 F.Supp.2d at 893–94. On cross-motions for summary judgment, Judge Peter J. Messitte remanded the award to the arbitration board with instructions to issue a supplemental opinion based on his preliminary conclusion that, whatever the Standards Act requires, the Kasher Award did not demonstrate full compliance with the Act. See id. at 893–94 & n. 4. The written award “merely declared that the Neutral Chairman had ‘given full and thorough consideration to the criteria’ outlined in the Standards Act, but failed to provide any discussion or analysis applying the statutory factors to the evidence in the record.” Id. at 893.

The Neutral Chairman issued an 8–page supplemental opinion on June 22, 2010. “Although [it] contained a brief additional discussion of the various statutory factors outlined in the Standards Act, like its predecessor it contained no detailed analysis of those factors, nor did it provide a roadmap that might direct the Court to the specific evidence the [Kasher] Board had considered and weighed in reaching its conclusions.” Id. at 894. After setting forth his detailed interpretation of the Standards Act's requirements and finding that the supplemental opinion did not comply, Judge Messitte again remanded the award to the Kasher Board with instructions to issue a further supplemental opinion.See id. at 906–08. The Neutral Chairman submitted a second supplemental opinion that this time mapped the submitted evidence to his conclusions, and upon renewed cross-motions for summary judgment the Maryland court upheld the Kasher Award. See WMATA v. Local 689, Amalgamated Transit Union (Local 689 II), 804 F.Supp.2d 457, 476–79 (D.Md.2011).

2. The Moffett Arbitration (Local 2)

After the negotiations between WMATA and Local 2 reached an impasse, the parties established an arbitration panel pursuant to the Compact. The arbitration board was composed of three members: Thomas R....