Union Can’t Force Benefits Row to Arbitration, 3rd Circuit Says

A union’s grievance over a power company’s alleged underpayments to a benefit fund connected to an earlier arbitration doesn’t itself belong in arbitration, a federal appeals court ruled.

An International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers affiliate’s feud with Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. over health care contributions has nothing to do with the union’s rights under its collective bargaining agreement, a divided US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held Monday.

“Federal labor law strongly favors arbitration,” Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, wrote for the court’s majority. “But there are limits.”

The ruling clarifies Third Circuit precedent on how courts ...