Western Electric Co. v. Communication Equipment Workers, Inc.

In this labor case brought under § 301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 185, Western Electric Company asks us to set aside the award of an arbitration panel in favor of the Communication Equipment Workers (the Union). The dispute arose out of the Company’s grading of the job of Twisting Machine Operator pursuant to its Job Evaluation Plan, which was adopted by reference into the collective bargaining agreement in force at the time.1 Under the Job Evaluation Plan, non-supervisory, hourly-rated jobs are assigned a grade based upon eleven attributes, including required…