Local 157, United Association, Plumbers

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 1, 1965

153 N.L.R.B. 1184 (N.L.R.B. 1965)

1184 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Pursuant to Section 10 (k) of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended, and upon the basis of the foregoing findings and the entire
record in this proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board hereby
makes the following Determination of the Dispute:
1. Employees engaged in installing and servicing refrigeration
equipment, currently represented by International Union of Operat-
ing Engineers, Locals Nos. 6, 6A and GB, AFL-CIO, are entitled to
connect and service this equipment at the Commerce Towers Building,
Kansas City, Missouri.
2. United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumb-
ing & Pipe Fitting Industry of the U.S. & Canada, Local No. 533,
AFL-CIO, is not and has not been lawfully entitled to force or require
Hall Refrigeration Sales and Service to assign to Operating Engi-
neers' members the work of connecting and servicing refrigeration
equipment.
3. Within 10 days from the date of this Decision and Determination
of Dispute, United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the
Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry of the U.S. & Canada, Local No. 533,
AFL-CIO, shall notify the Regional Director for Region 17, in writ-
ing, whether or not it will refrain from forcing or requiring Hall
Refrigeration Sales and Service by means proscribed by Section 8 (b)
(4) (D) to assign the work in dispute to its members rather than to
the employees of Hall Refrigeration Sales and Service represented
by Operating Engineers.
Local 157, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of
the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States
and Canada, AFL-CIO and Midwest Homes, Inc. Case No. 25-
CD-53. July 1, 1965
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
This is a proceeding under Section 10(k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, following a charge filed by Midwest Homes,
Inc., herein called Midwest or the Company, alleging that Local 157,
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing
and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO,
herein called Local 157 or Respondent, had violated Section 8(b) (4)
(D) of the Act. Pursuant to notice a hearing was held before Hearing
Officer William B. Kenney on April 29, 1965. The Company, Local
157, and Local 3010, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
of America, AFL-CIO, herein called Local 3010, appeared at the.
153 NLRB No. 94.
LOCAL 157 , UNITED ASSOCIATION , PLUMBERS 1185
hearing and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross -examine witnesses, and to adduce evidence bearing upon the
issues. ' The rulings of the Hearing Officer made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirlned. None of the par-
ties filed briefs.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National
Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this
case to a three-member panel [Members Fanning, Brown, and
Jenkins].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following
findings :
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The parties stipulated that the Company, an Indiana corporation
doing business in Carlisle, Indiana, in 1964 manufactured and shipped
to States of the United States, other than Indiana, goods valued at
more than $50,000 and received goods shipped from other States valued
at more than $50,000. We find that the Company is engaged in coin
merce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, and that
it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
H. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
We find that Local 157 and Local 3010 are labor organizations within
the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE DISPUTE
A. The work in dispute ; background facts
The Company manufactures , on a production -line basis , and sells
prefabricated residential , commercial, institutional , and other types
of building units. These units , in sections , are sold throughout the
United States to "customer builders" who, in turn , through subcon-
tractors , erect the buildings , connect and install all plumbing , electri-
cal, and other fixtures , prepare foundations , and otherwise perform all
work required for the erection of the building. The Company employs
about 115 men in its plant production work, including two experienced
plumbers who spend an average of 3 hours a day in "rough -in" plumb-
ing work, installing wall vents and certain built-in plumbing fixtures
such as concealed water lines. Their work averages about 10 percent
of the total plumbing work for the completed building as finally
'Early in the healing , Local 157 withdrew from participation after denial of its motion
to adjourn the hearing until after June 2 , 1965, the motion being made on the grounds that
the matter here in issue had been referred to the National Joint Board for Settlement of
Jurisdictional Disputes . Local 157 contended that further proceedings were inappro-
priate under Section 10 ( k) pending final action by the Joint Board. The record demon-
strates, however , that Midwest has not agreed to be bound by decisions of the National
Joint Board.
796-027-66-vol. 153-76
1186 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
erected. The two plant plumbers spend the remainder of their time on
wall jigs, building side walls, setting panels, roofing, masking, or per-
forming other necessary fabricating tasks of a skilled nature in the
construction of the building units. The plant plumbers are classed as
skilled workmen, the highest labor grade classification in the plant.
The Company and Local 3010 have a collective-bargaining agree-
ment covering all employees, including the two plumbers, at the Com-
pany's Carlisle plant. It is in the second year of a 3-year term. This
is the second 3-year agreement between the two parties. Prior to the
first agreement, the employees were represented by an independent
union.
The Company, as a condition to the sale of its units, requires that
all onsite installation and erection work be done by building trades
union contractors or subcontractors. In the past, Local 157 has thus
represented plumbers engaged in the traditional type of plumbing
installations on the Company's units erected within Local 157's terri-
torial jurisdiction which embraces all of Sullivan County wherein the
Company's Carlisle plant is located.
In late 1962 or early 1963, in a meeting with representatives of the
Company and Local 3010, Grover Osborn, Respondent's business man-
ager, demanded that the plumbing work in the Company's plant be
assigned to Local 157 plumbers. The demand was refused because of
the agreement between the Company and Local 3010. Nothing fur-
ther was done at the time by any of the parties involved.
About a year later, Modern Housing Facilities, Inc., herein called
MHF, one of the Company's "customer builders," purchased the com-
ponent units for a nursing home to be erected by MHF near Sullivan,
Indiana. In January 1965, MHF, in accordance with the usual prac-
tice, let the plumbing subcontract to Roach Plumbing and Heating
Company at Vincennes which is in the territorial jurisdiction of
Plumbers Local 136 of Evansville, Indiana. Roach Plumbing is a
partnership of Merle Roach and his twin brother Burel Roach, both of
whom are members of Local 136.
Before beginning work on the nursing home job, Roach was required
to obtain clearance from Local 157. Such clearance was furnished;
and, at the same time, Local 157 gave a permit card to a third Roach
brother, a nonunion plumber. Work then started and continued
through March 5, 1965. On that day Richard Allison, president of
MHF, and Howard McKinley, president of Midwest, were told by
Local 157's business agent, Mansard, that the Sullivan job would be
shut down unless the plumbing work done at the Company's Carlisle
plant was given to Local 157 plumbers. On Monday, March 8, Gesho,
one of the plumbers working at the site, who was a member of Local
157, began picketing, carrying a sandwich board sign reading
"UNFAIR TO PLUMBERS AND PIPEFITTERS LOCAL 157."
LOCAL 157 , UNITED ASSOCIATION, PLUMBERS 1187
Upon being notified of the picketing, Midwest's President McKinley
went to the jobsite and asked Gesho what the trouble was. Gesho said
"There is no trouble here." Asked why he was picketing he said,
"Well you are unfair." Asked in what way, Gesho merely pointed to
the sign. Later that day President McKinley again talked with Gesho
and was told, "You know what's wrong. You don't have any Local
157 members in your plant and our instruction is from Osborn that we
do no more work here as far as plumbers is concerned."' President
McKinley then called Osborn of Local 157, and received substantially
the same explanation. Some weeks later, the picket sign was altered
by the addition in hand lettering of "ROACH BROS." above the leg-
end. Burel Roach testified that at no time had Local 157 complained
to his company or found any fault with its performance under its
plumbing contract. Nor had he been informed of any failure to abide
by union rules or of any breach of his agreement with Local 157.
No work was performed at the building site on March 8 but the fol-
lowing day all craft workers, except the plumbers, crossed the picket
line and the work proceeded. The picketing was still in progress on
April 29, the date of the hearing, but because of it, completion of the
building was seriously delayed and the costs materially increased.
B. Contention of the parties
Local 3010 and Midwest rely on their contract. Local 157 contends
that the work in dispute is that of plumbers .2
C. Applicability of the statute
We find that there is reasonable cause to believe, from the record
before us, that the action of Local 157 in picketing the Sullivan Nurs-
ing Home project, which caused the stoppage of all plumbing work
there, was undertaken in an attempt to force Midwest to assign to
Local 157's members the plumbing work performed in the Company's
plant at Carlisle, in violation of Section 8(b) (4) (D) of the Act.
Accordingly, this dispute is properly before the Board for
determination.
D. Merits of the dispute
Section 10 (k) of the Act requires that the Board make an affirmative
award of disputed work after giving due consideration to the various
relevant factors .' In this case the factors discussed below are
determinative.
2 We make this finding despite the fact that the Respondent , prior to walking out of
the hearing , asserted it was not claiming the work found herein to be in dispute.
3 N L.R.B. v. Radio & Television Broadcast Engineers Union, Local 1212, International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ( Columbia Broadcasting System ), 364 U.S. 573;
International Association of Machinists, Lodge No. 1743 (J. A. Jones Construction Com-
pany ), 135 NLRB 1402, 1411.
1188 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
1. Collective-bargaining agreement
Local 3010 and the Company are parties to a current collective-bar-
gaining agreement, which is now in the second year of a 3-year term.
This is the second 3-year agreement executed by the parties and, like
its predecessor, confers exclusive bargaining representation rights on
Local 3010 "for all the employees of the Company," described as includ-
ing "all production and maintenance employees, watchmen, watchmen-
janitors and working foremen." Its validity is uncontested. Clearly
it covers the plant's two plumbers. Local 157 has furnished no evi-
dence or arguments in support of its demand and has failed to show
any reason why the Company's present contract with Local 3010
should not cover the two plant plumbers.
2. Efficiency of operation
The contract with Local 3010, in recognition of the Company's man-
ufacturing methods, permits production employees to perform a vari-
ety of tasks not necessarily related to their particular crafts. Thus,
according to the Company and Local 3010, it encourages the most effi-
cient utilization of manpower. As above noted, the plant plumbers
perform other work a majority of the time. There is nothing in the
record to indicate what the precise status of the two plumbers would
be if Local 157's demands were accepted. It is not known whether they
would be permitted to perform other tasks.
3. Other considerations
Other factors usually considered by the Board in cases involving
jurisdiction have no application here. The practice of other prefabri-
cated building manufacturers in the employment and recognition of
various craftsmen in their plants has not been shown. There have been
no allegations or evidence concerning comparative work skills.
Based upon the entire record and after full consideration of all rele-
vant factors involved, we shall resolve the issue here by awarding all
plumbing work on prefabricated building units manufactured by the
Company at its Carlisle plant to employees there represented by Local
3010 but not to that union or to its members. This determination is
limited to the particular controversy giving rise to this dispute.
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings, and upon the entire record
in this proceeding, the Board makes the following Determination of
Dispute, pursuant to Section 10 (k) of the Act :
1. Plumbers employed by the Midwest Homes, Inc., who are repre-
sented by Local 3010, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
WOOD, WIRE AND LATHERS INT'L UNION, LOCAL 68 1189
of America, AFL-CIO, are entitled to perform all plumbing work on
prefabricated building units manufactured by Midwest Homes, Inc.,
in its plant at Carlisle, Indiana.
2. Local 157, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices
of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and
Canada, AFL-CIO, is not entitled to force or require Midwest Homes,
Inc., its successors or assigns, to assign any of the above work to
employees represented by such union.
3. Within 10 days from the date of this Decision and Determination
of Dispute, Local 157, United Association of Journeymen and Appren-
tices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States
and Canada, AFL-CIO, shall notify the Regional Director for Region
25, in writing, whether it will or will not refrain from forcing or requir-
ing Midwest Homes, Inc., its successors or assigns, by means pro-
scribed by Section 8(b) (4) (D) of the Act, to assign the above-de-
scribed work to employees of such Company represented by such
Union.
The Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers International Union, Local
Union No. 68, AFL-CIO and State Lathing Co ., Inc., and Dry-
Wall Steel Erectors, Inc.' and Carpenters District Council of
Denver and Vicinity, an affiliate of United Brotherhood of Car-
penters and Joiners of America, AFL -CIO. Case No. 27-CD-
59. July 1, 1965
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
This is a proceeding under Section 10 (k) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, following a charge filed by State Lathing
Co., Inc. and Dry-Wall Steel Erectors, Inc., herein referred to as State
Lathing and Steel Erectors, respectively, or jointly as the Employer,
alleging that The Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers International Union,
Local Union No. 68, AFL-CIO, herein referred to as the Lathers or
the Respondent, had induced and encouraged employees of State Lath-
ing to strike for the purpose of forcing or requiring the Employer to
assign particular work to members of the Respondent rather than to
members of Carpenters District Council of Denver and Vicinity, an
affiliate of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of Amer-
ica, AFL-CIO, herein referred to as Carpenters. A hearing was held
before Hearing Officer Allison E. Nutt, on February 18, 1965. All
parties appeared at the hearing and were afforded full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to adduce
i For reasons stated in this Decision, we find that these corporations constitute a single
employer within the meaning of Section 2(2) of the Act.
153 NLRB No. 90.