Artistan Plastic, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 2, 1983

266 N.L.R.B. 941 (N.L.R.B. 1983)

ARTISTAN PLASTIC, INC.
Artistan Plastic, Inc. and Millmens Local 1452,
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
of America, AFL-CIO. Case 7-CA-21052
2 June 1983
DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS JENKINS, ZIMMERMAN, AND
HUNTER
Upon a charge filed on 13 August 1982 by Mill-
mens Local 1452, United Brotherhood of Carpen-
ters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, herein
called the Union, and duly served on Artistan Plas-
tic, Inc., herein called Respondent, the General
Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, by
the Regional Director for Region 7, issued a com-
plaint and notice of hearing on 24 September 1982
against Respondent, alleging that Respondent had
engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor prac-
tices affecting commerce within the meaning of
Sections 8(a)(1) and (5) and 8(d), and Section 2(6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended. Copies of the charge and complaint and
notice of hearing before an administrative law
judge were duly served on the parties to this pro-
ceeding. Respondent failed to file an answer to the
complaint.
On 17 November 1982 counsel for the General
Counsel filed directly with the Board a Motion for
Summary Judgment, with exhibits attached. Subse-
quently, on 30 November 1982 the Board issued an
order transferring the proceeding to the Board and
a Notice To Show Cause why the General Coun-
sel's Motion for Summary Judgment should not be
granted. Respondent failed to file a response to the
Notice To Show Cause and therefore the allega-
tions in the Motion for Summary Judgment stand
uncontroverted.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the
Board makes the following:
Ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment
Section 102.20 of the Board's Rules and Regula-
tions, Series 8, as amended, provides:
The respondent shall, within 10 days from the
service of the complaint, file an answer there-
to. The respondent shall specifically admit,
deny, or explain each of the facts alleged in
the complaint, unless the respondent is without
knowledge, in which case the respondent shall
so state, such statement operating as a denial.
All allegations in the complaint, if no answer
266 NLRB No. 165
is filed, or any allegation in the complaint not
specifically denied or explained in an answer
filed, unless the respondent shall state in the
answer that he is without knowledge, shall be
deemed to be admitted to be true and shall be
so found by the Board, unless good cause to
the contrary is shown.
The complaint and notice of hearing served on
Respondent herein specifically states that, unless an
answer to the complaint is filed within 10 days of
service thereof, "all of the allegations in the Com-
plaint shall be deemed to be admitted to be true
and may be so found by the Board." Further, ac-
cording to the uncontroverted allegations of the
Motion for Summary Judgment, the Regional At-
torney for Region 7 advised Respondent, by letter
dated 27 October 1982, that it had failed to file an
answer and that summary judgment would be
sought unless an answer to the complaint was filed
by 8 November 1982. As noted above, Respondent
has failed to file an answer to the complaint and
has failed to file a response to the Notice To Show
Cause.
Accordingly, under the rules set forth above, no
good cause having been shown for failure to file a
timely answer, the allegations of the complaint are
deemed admitted and are found to be true, and we
grant the General Counsel's Motion for Summary
Judgment.
On the basis of the entire record, the Board
makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF RESPONDENT
Respondent is, and has been at all times material
herein, a Michigan corporation with its principal
office and place of business in Southfield, Michi-
gan, where it is engaged in the fabrication of coun-
tertops, cabinets, furniture, and related products.
Respondent until May 1982 also maintained a place
of business in Sylvan Lake, Michigan. During the
year ending 31 December 1981, which period is
representative of its operations during all times ma-
terial hereto, Respondent, in the course and con-
duct of its business operations, purchased and
caused to be transported and delivered at its South-
field and Sylvan Lake places of business formica,
wood products, and other goods and materials
valued in excess of $50,000, of which goods and
materials valued in excess of $50,000 were trans-
ported and delivered to said places of business in
Southfield and Sylvan Lake, Michigan, and re-
ceived from other enterprises including, inter alia,
All American Plywood Company and H. J. Olden-
kamp, located in the State of Michigan, each of
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DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
which other enterprises had received the said
goods and materials delivered to Respondent's fa-
cilities directly from points located outside of the
State of Michigan.
We find, based on the foregoing, that Respond-
ent is, and has been at all times material herein, an
employer engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, and that it
will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert ju-
risdiction herein.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Millmens Local 1452, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, is a
labor organization within the meaning of Section
2(5) of the Act.
IIl. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
The following employees of Respondent consti-
tute a unit appropriate for collective-bargaining
purposes within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the
Act:
All production and maintenance employees
employed by the Respondent, but excluding
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
At all times material since 1965 the Union, by
virtue of successive collective-bargaining agree-
ments with Respondent, has been and is now the
exclusive collective-bargaining representative of
Respondent's employees in the unit described
above within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the
Act. The collective-bargaining agreement currently
in effect between Respondent and the Union pro-
vides for, inter alia, the remittance by Respondent
of payments into certain fringe benefit funds in-
cluding pension and health and welfare, established
for the benefit of employees of signatory employers
to said agreement. Since in or about November
1981, and continuing to date, Respondent has failed
and refused to bargain with the Union by unilater-
ally, and without notice to or agreement by the
Union, failing to make full and proper fringe bene-
fit contributions pursuant to the collective-bargain-
ing agreement.
Accordingly, we find that Respondent has, since
in or about November 1981, and at all times there-
after, refused to bargain collectively with the
Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining repre-
sentative of the employees in the appropriate unit,
and that, by such conduct, Respondent has en-
gaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the
Act. I
I The complaint additionally alleges that Respondent violated Sec.
8(a)(1) and (5) of the Act by failing to pay, pursuant to the collective-
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR
PRACTICES UPON COMMERCE
The activities of Respondent set forth in section
III, above, occurring in connection with its oper-
ations described in section I, above, have a close,
intimate, and substantial relationship to trade, traf-
fic, and commerce among the several States and
tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and ob-
structing commerce and the free flow of com-
merce.
V. THE REMEDY
Having found that Respondent has engaged in
unfair labor practices, we shall order Respondent
to cease and desist therefrom, and to take certain
affirmative action designed to effectuate the poli-
cies of the Act. We shall order that Respondent
make the employees whole by making full and
proper contributions on their behalf to certain
fringe benefit funds, including pension and health
and welfare, as required by the parties' collective-
bargaining agreement, which have not been paid
and which would have been paid absent Respond-
ent's unlawful unilateral discontinuance of such
payments. We shall also order that Respondent pay
liquidated damages as provided in the collective-
bargaining agreement for Respondent's failure to
remit the fringe benefit fund payments. See, gener-
ally, Merryweather Optical Co., 240 NLRB 1213
(1979).
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Artistan Plastic, Inc., is an employer engaged
in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6)
and (7) of the Act.
2. Millmens Local 1452, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, is a
labor organization within the meaning of Section
2(5) of the Act.
3. The following unit is appropriate for purposes
of collective bargaining:
All production and maintenance employees
employed by the Respondent, but excluding
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
4. By failing and refusing, since in or about No-
vember 1981, to bargain collectively with the
Union by unilaterally and without notice to and
agreement of the Union failing to make full and
bargaining agreement, liquidated damages for Respondent's failure to
remit fringe benefit fund payments. We find it unnecessary to pass on
whether Respondent's failure to remit liquidated damages pursuant to the
collective-bargaining agreement in itself constitutes a separate violation of
Sec. 8(a)(5) since the payment of the liquidated damages is a part of the
remedy herein for Respondent's failure to make the fringe benefit contri-
butions.
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ARTISTAN PLASTIC, INC.
proper fringe benefit contributions to certain fringe
benefit funds, including pension and health and
welfare, pursuant to the parties' collective-bargain-
ing agreement, Respondent has engaged in and is
engaging in unfair labor practices within the mean-
ing of Section 8(a)(5) of the Act.
5. By the aforesaid conduct, Respondent has
interfered with, restrained, and coerced, and is
interfering with, restraining, and coercing, employ-
ees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them in
Section 7 of the Act, and thereby has engaged in
and is engaging in unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8(a)(l) of the Act.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Re-
lations Board hereby orders that the Respondent,
Artistan Plastic, Inc., Southfield, Michigan, its offi-
cers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Failing and refusing to bargain collectively
with the Union by unilaterally and without notice
to and agreement of the Union failing to make full
and proper fringe benefit contributions to certain
fringe benefit funds, including pension and health
and welfare, pursuant to the parties' collective-bar-
gaining agreement.
(b) In any like or related manner interfering
with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the
exercise of the rights guaranteed them in Section 7
of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action neces-
sary to effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Make its employees whole by making full and
proper contributions on their behalf to certain
fringe benefit funds, including pension and health
and welfare, as required by the parties' collective-
bargaining agreement, which have not been paid
and which would have been paid absent Respond-
ent's unlawful unilateral discontinuance of such
payments and by paying liquidated damages as pro-
vided in the collective-bargaining agreement for
failure to remit the fringe benefit fund payments.
(b) Post at its Southfield, Michigan, place of
business copies of the attached notice marked "Ap-
pendix."2 Copies of said notice, on forms provided
2 In the event that this Order is enforced by a Judgment of a United
States Court of Appeals, the words in the notice reading "Posted by
Order of the National Labor Relations Board" shall read "Posted Pursu-
by the Regional Director for Region 7, after being
duly signed by Respondent, shall be posted by Re-
spondent immediately upon receipt thereof, and be
maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter,
in conspicuous places, including all places where
notices to employees are customarily posted. Rea-
sonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to
ensure that.said notices are not altered, defaced, or
covered by any other material.
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 7, in
writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order,
what steps Respondent have been taken to comply
herewith.
ant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enfircing an
Order of the National Labor Relations Board."
APPENDIX
NOTICE To EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
WE WILL NOT fail and refuse to bargain col-
lectively with the Union by unilaterally and
without notice to and agreement of the Union
failing to make full and proper fringe benefit
contributions to certain fringe benefit funds,
including pension and health and welfare, pur-
suant to the collective-bargaining agreement
between Millmens Local 1452, United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
AFL-CIO, and us.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner
interfere with, restrain, or coerce our employ-
ees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed
them in Section 7 of the Act.
WE WILL make our employees whole by
making full and proper contributions on their
behalf to certain fringe benefit funds, including
pension and health and welfare, as required by
the collective-bargaining agreement between
the Union and us, which have not been paid
and which would have been paid absent our
unilateral discontinuance of such payments and
by paying liquidated damages as provided in
the collective-bargaining agreement for failure
to remit the fringe benefit fund payments.
ARTISTAN PLASTIC, INC.
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