Federal-Mogul Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 12, 1969

176 N.L.R.B. 619 (N.L.R.B. 1969)

NATIONAL SEAL DIV. OF FEDERAL-MOGUL 619
National Seal Division of Federal-Mogul Corporation
and International Union of District 50, United
Mine Workers of America, Petitioner. Case
8-RC-7331
June 12, 1969
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
By MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS AND ZAGORIA
On December 31, 1968 , the Regional Director for
Region 8 issued a Decision and Direction of
Election in which he found the existing
collective- bargaining agreement between the
Employer and the Intervenor ' not to be a bar on the
ground that its union -security provisions failed to
provide the requisite 30-day grace period to
nonmember incumbent employees and/or new
employees following its execution date . Thereafter,
in accordance with Section 102.67 of the National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations,
Series 8, as amended , the Employer and the
Intervenor filed timely requests for review on the
grounds, inter alia, that the Regional Director
erroneously failed to apply Paragon Products
Corporation, 134 NLRB 662, and misapplied
Standard Molding Corporation, 137 NLRB 1515.
The Intervenor also requested oral argument. On
January 30, 1969, the Regional Director , in response
to matters raised in the requests for review, issued a
Supplemental Decision On Reconsideration more
fully explicating his reasons for concluding that the
contract was not a bar . Thereafter , the Employer
filed a supplemental request for review incorporating
therein its on inal request for review . The Board, by
telegraph Order dated March 6 , 1969, granted the
requests for review and stayed the election. The
Petitioner and the Intervenor filed briefs on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three -member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in this
case with respect to the issues under review,
including the requests for review and the briefs,' and
makes the following findings:
The petition herein was filed on November 13,
1968, for a unit of all production and maintenance
employees employed by the Employer at its Van
Wert, Ohio factory. The Employer and the
Intervenor contended that the petition was barred by
their most recent collective-bargaining agreement3
which by its terms was made and entered into on
May 20, 1968,' effective from May 20 , 1968 through
July 31, 1970, but not memorialized in a signed
formal document until June 10, 1968.' The
Petitioner asserted that the agreement was not a bar
because the union-security provisions failed to
accord nonmember incumbent employees and new
hires the 30-day grace period required by law for
obtaining union membership subsequent to the
execution date of the agreement . The Regional
Director concluded that the difference between the
effective date of the agreement and the date on
which it was signed made the contract retroactively
effective and rendered the union -security provisions
"incapable of a lawful interpretation" under
Standard Molding. The Employer and the
Intervenor contend , inter alia , that he erred in
finding the contract to be retroactively effective. We
find merit in this contention.
In Standard Molding the Board found that the
contract involved showed on its face that it was
retroactively effective . In the instant case , it is clear
from the terms of the contract itself that it was
made and entered into on May 20, 1968, that it was
effective on that date , and that the formal written
agreement was signed by the parties on June 10,
1968. In these circumstances , we conclude that the
contract was not retroactively effective. Accordingly,
the case of Standard Molding is inapplicable. As the
union-security provision of the contract is not
clearly unlawful on its face , we find that the
contract may operate to bar the instant petition
which was untimely filed after its execution date.'
Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein
be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
'United Rubber , Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America,
AFL-CIO, CLC and its Local Union No. 426, United Rubber, Cork,
Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America , AFL-CIO.
'As the parties' requests for review and briefs , and the record adequately
present the issues under review , and the positions of the parties, the
Intervenor's request for oral argument is hereby denied.
'The previous contract extended from May 1, 1966 until April 30, 1968.
The 48-page printed document states in a preamble "Agreement"
section : "This Agreement made and entered into this 20th day of May,
1968, by and between the Van Wert , Ohio, Plant of the National Seal
Division of Federal -Mogul Corporation , hereinafter referred to as the
'Company ', and Local No . 462, United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and
Plastic Workers of America , hereinafter referred to as the 'Union: "
'The following appears before the signatures of the parties. "IN
WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have hereunto set their hands this
10th day of June, 1968."
'Paragon Products Corporation, supra
176 NLRB No. 87