Joint Administrative Committee of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry v. Washington Group International, Inc.

AMENDED OPINION

SUTTON, Circuit Judge.

When an employer signs a collective bargaining agreement, it assumes certain obligations to its employees. At issue in this case are the scope of obligations that a general contractor assumes in signing a national collective bargaining agreement that incorporates — in part — two local collective bargaining agreements designed to provide fringe benefits to independent contractors working on the general contractor’s projects.

I

The parties. Two of the claimants in this case are benefit plans for union members: the Plumbers Local No. 98 Apprenticeship Fund and…