UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________

No. 19-2988 __________ INDEPENDENT LABORATORY EMPLOYEES’ UNION, INC.

v.

EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY, Appellant ____________________________________

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. No. 3:18-cv-10835) District Judge: Honorable Brian R. Martinotti ____________________________________

Argued May 19, 2020

Before: McKEE, BIBAS, and COWEN, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: August 26, 2021) ___________ John K. Bennett, Esq. [ARGUED] Jackson Lewis 200 Connell Drive Suite 2000 Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 Daniel D. Schudroff Jackson Lewis 666 Third Avenue 29th Floor New York, NY 10017 Counsel for Appellant Dominick Bratti, Esq. [ARGUED] Annemarie T. Greenan, Esq. Bratti Greenan 1040 Broad Street Suite 104 Shrewsbury, NJ 07702 Counsel for Appellee ___________

OPINION ___________ McKEE, Circuit Judge. ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (“EMRE” or “the Company”) appeals the District Court’s order affirming an arbitration award preventing EMRE from permanently contracting out bargaining unit positions at its Clinton, New Jersey facility. EMRE argues the award should be vacated because the Arbitrator overstepped her role by improperly considering extrinsic evidence contrary to the governing collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”). As we detail below, the standard of review for upholding arbitration awards is highly deferential. The District Court concluded that the award “withstands the minimal level of scrutiny appropriate for review of an arbitration award.” 1 We agree. As the Supreme Court has explained, “courts have no business overruling [an award] because [our] interpretation of the contract [may differ].” 2 Accordingly, we will affirm the District Court’s decision.

I. 1 Indep. Lab. Emps.’ Union, Inc. v. ExxonMobil Research and Eng’g Co., No. 3:18-cv-10835-BRM-DEA, 2019 WL 3416897, at *9 (D.N.J. July 29, 2019). 2 United Steelworkers of Am. v. Enter. Wheel and Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 599 (1960). 2 A. Factual Background

Independent Laboratory Employees’ Union, Inc. (“ILEU” or “the Union”) represents about 165 employees at the Clinton research facility. EMRE research supports several hundred of ExxonMobil’s laboratories and plants. The positions at EMRE fall into “core” or “non-core” positions. As described by the Company, “core” positions are those that are directly associated with EMRE’s research and business functions. 3 Support roles such as security and materials delivery jobs are defined as “non-core” positions. Currently, the Union represents about twenty-five percent of all EMRE staff. Although the bargaining unit has remained roughly the same size over the years, proportionally, the percentage of core positions has increased, and the percentage of non-core positions has decreased. Today, at least eighty percent of Union members are in “core” positions.

EMRE and the ILEU have a long history of negotiation, arbitration, and litigation concerning EMRE’s hiring of independent contractors to do work typically done by bargaining unit members. This history includes prior grievances and arbitrations pertaining to the duration of independent contracts initiated in 1977, 1983 (the Stark Award), and 1984 (the Florey Award). The current dispute arose in 2015, when a bargaining unit member in the position of materials coordinator retired. 4 After advertising internally failed to fill the open position, EMR