MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER The Trustees of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Pension Fund, Welfare Fund, Annuity Fund, and Apprenticeship, Journeyman Retraining, Educational and Industry Fund; Trustees of the New York City Carpenters Relief and Charity Fund; the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York (the “Funds”); and the New York City District Council of Carpenters (the “Union”) (together with the Funds, the “Petitioners”), have filed a petition to confirm an arbitration award (the “Petition”), pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (“LMRA”), as amended, 29 U.S.C. §185. The award was rendered pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (the “CBA”) involving the Union and Galt Installations, LLC (the “Respondent”). The Respondent has not opposed the Petition. For the reasons explained below, the Petitioner’s Petition to confirm their arbitration award is GRANTED. I. The following uncontested facts are taken from the Petition and its supporting documents. The Respondent is a business corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey, that maintains its principal place of business in New Jersey, and is engaged in the construction industry in the state of New York. Petition to Confirm Arbitral Award, ECF No. 1 (“Pet.”) 8. At all relevant times, the Respondent was an “employer” within the meaning of section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §1002(5), and of section 501 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. §142. Id. The Petitioners Trustees of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Pension, Welfare, Annuity, Apprenticeship, Journeyman Retraining and Educational and Industry Funds (the “ERISA Funds”) are employer and employee trustees of multiemployer labor-management trust funds organized and operated in accordance with ERISA, with their principal place of business in New York. Pet. 4. The Trustees are fiduciaries of the ERISA Funds within the meaning of section 3(21) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. §1002(21). Pet. 4. The Petitioners Trustees of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Relief and Charity Fund (the “Charity Fund”) are trustees of a charitable organization established under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3), with its principal place of business in New York. Pet. 5. The Petitioner Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York is a New York not-for-profit corporation. Pet. 6. The Union is a labor organization that represents employees in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of section 501(1) of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. §142(1), and is the certified bargaining representative for certain employees of the Respondent. Pet. 7. In 2012, the Respondent entered into an Independent Building Construction Agreement, with the Union. Pet. 9, Exs. A & B. The Respondent executed an Interim Compliance Agreement that extended the terms of the Independent Building Construction Agreement to the present. Pet. 10, Ex. C, Art. 1. Through Article v. of the Interim Compliance Agreement, the Respondent consented to be bound to the terms of any successor agreement negotiated between the Union and relevant employer associations. Pet. 12, Ex. C, Art. V. As a member of the Association of Wall-Ceiling & Carpentry Industries of New York (the “Wall-Ceiling Association”), the Respondent agreed as part of the Interim Compliance Agreement to be bound by future agreements between the Wall-Ceiling Association and the Union. Pet.
13-14, 16, Ex. D, Arts. I, V. The Union and Wall-Ceiling Association negotiated an agreement covering the period of July 11, 2011 through June 30, 2017 (the “2011-17 Wall-Ceiling Association Agreement”) that included a provision ensuring its automatic renewal, absent notice of cancellation or a new agreement. Pet. 17, Ex. D, Art. XX. The Union and Wall-Ceiling Association negotiated a successor agreement, covering the period from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2024 (the “2017-2024 Wall Ceiling Association Agreement”). Pet. 18, Ex. E. Under both the 2011-17 Wall Ceiling Association Agreement and the 2017-24 Wall Ceiling Association Agreement, the Respondent was required to make contributions to the Funds for all work within the relevant trade and geographic jurisdiction of the Union. Pet. Ex. D, Art. XVI; Pet. 19, Ex. E, Art. XVII. Under Article XVII of the 2017-2024 Wall Ceiling Association Agreement, the Respondent was required to provide its books and payroll records for purposes of an audit to ensure the required benefit fund contributions were made. Pet. 20, Ex. E, Art. XVII. Further, in relevant part, the successor agreement provides that if “any dispute or disagreement arise[s] between the parties hereto, or between the Union and any signatory Employer-member, concerning any claim arising from payments to the Fund of principal and/or interest which is allegedly due, either party may seek arbitration of the dispute before” one of two specified arbitrators. Pet. 23, Ex. E, Art. XVII, §11.1 The underlying dispute arose after the Petitioners’ auditors conducted an audit of the Respondent, covering the period from July 1, 2015 through September 16, 2018. Pet. 26. The audit revealed that the Respondent had failed to remit contributions to the Funds, as required under both the 2011-17 Wall-Ceiling Association Agreement and the 2017-2024 Wall Ceiling Association Agreement, in the amount of $82,111.07. Pet. 27. The Respondent failed to remediate the findings of the audit, and the Petitioners initiated arbitration, before one of the two arbitrators designed by the 2017-2024 Wall Ceiling Association Agreement, Roger E. Maher. Pet.
