Contractual Penalty and Procedural Costs according to the Declared Generally Binding National Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Construction Industry

Facts

The Parity Professional Commission for the Construction Industry X. (respondent) conducted an external payroll audit at K. (appellant) and found violations of the collective bargaining agreement provisions. Based on the declared generally binding National Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Construction Industry (LMV), the respondent decided to impose on the appellant the costs for the external audit, the procedural costs, as well as a contractual penalty.

The District Court of Gaster-See initially dismissed the respondent's claim, as it denied the respondent's legal standing. However, the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen remanded the case back to the District Court. Subsequently, the District Court reduced the contractual penalty to CHF 35,000 and additionally obliged the appellant to bear the audit and procedural costs amounting to a total of CHF 52,485.30. In the appeal proceedings, the Cantonal Court also awarded the respondent interest on the owed amount.

Considerations

According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, disputes over the interpretation and application of collective bargaining agreements are considered civil matters, even if the provisions have been declared generally binding. Only disputes over the obligation to pay educational contributions to vocational training funds are not civil matters.

The appellant disputes the respondent's legal standing, as the respondent should have asserted the contractual penalty and procedural costs not in its own name, but only in the name of the parties to the LMV. However, the Federal Supreme Court sees this differently:

According to the LMV, the parity…