Local 59, Wood, Wire, & Metal Lathers Int'l Union

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 13, 1959

125 N.L.R.B. 138 (N.L.R.B. 1959)

138 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Local 59, Wood , Wire & Metal Lathers International Union,
AFL-CIO, and its agents and Jacksonville Tile Company, Inc.
Jacksonville Building Trades Council , its President, John
Bowden , and agents ; Local 19, Bricklayers and Masons, and
its agents ; Local No. 2, Bricklayers and Masons , and its
agents ; Local No. 177, International Brotherhood of Electri-
cal Workers, and its agents ; Local 597, International Associa-
tion of Bridge, Structural , and Ornamental Iron Workers,
and its agents ; Local No. 673, International Union of Operat-
ing Engineers , and its agents ; Local No. 401, Operative
Plasterers and Cement Masons , and its agents ; Local No. 234,
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the
Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and
Canada, and its agents ; Local No. 435, Sheetmetal Workers
International Association , and its agents and Jacksonville
Tile Company, Inc. Cases Nos. I0-CD-6 and 10-CD-7. Novem-
ber 13, 1959
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
STATEMENT OF TFIE CASE
This proceeding arises under Section 10 (k) of the Act, which pro-
vides that "Whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in an
unfair labor practice within the meaning of paragraph (4) (D) of
section 8 (b), the Board is empowered and directed to hear and deter-
mine the dispute out of which such unfair labor practice shall have
arisen . . . ."
On July 16, 1959, Jacksonville Tile Company, Inc., herein called
Jacksonville, filed with the Regional Director for the Twelfth Region
charges alleging that Local 59, Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers Inter-
national Union, AFL-CIO, and its agents, herein called the Lathers;
and Jacksonville Building Trades Council, herein called the Council,
its president, John Bowden, and agents; Local 19, Bricklayers and
Masons, and its agents; Local No..2, Bricklayers and Masons, and its
agents; Local No. 177, International Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers, and its agents; Local 597, International Association of Bridge,
Structural, and Ornamental Iron Workers, and its agents; Local No.
673, International Union of Operating Engineers, and its agents;
Local No. 401, Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons, and its
agents; Local No. 234, United Association of Journeymen and
Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United
States and Canada, and its agents; and Local No. 435, Sheetmetal
Workers International Association, and its agents, herein referred to
125 NLRB No. 13.
LOCAL 59, WOOD, WIRE & METAL LATHERS INT'L UNION 139
as the unions affiliated with the Council, had engaged in and were en
gaging in certain unfair labor practices within the meaning of Sec-
tion 8 (b) (4) (D) of the Act. It was charged, in substance, that the
Lathers, the Council, and the named affiliated unions had induced and
encouraged employees of S. S. Jacobs Company, general contractor,
and its various subcontractors to engage in a strike or concerted re-
fusal to work with the object of forcing or requiring Jackonsville to
assign certain work to members of the Lathers, rather than to its em-
ployees, who were represented by Carpenters Local Union No. 627,
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-
CIO, herein called the Carpenters.
Thereafter, pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act and Sections
102.79 and 102.80 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 7, the
Regional Director investigated the charges and provided for a con-
solidated hearing upon due notice to the parties.' The hearing was
held before Norman A. Cole, hearing officer, on August 12, 1959. All
parties appeared at the hearing and were afforded full opportunity to
be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to adduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues. The rulings of the hearing officer made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Lathers and Jacksonville filed briefs with the Board.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel [Chairman Leedom and Members Rodgers and
Jenkins].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Employer, Jacksonville, is engaged in the business of in-
stalling tile of various types, including acoustical tile ceilings. Dur-
ing the 12-month period immediately preceding the hearing in the
instant case, it had purchased and received directly from outside the
State of Florida, wherein its operations are located, materials valued
at approximately $342,000. We find that the Employer is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the Act, and that it will effectuate
the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein 2
' Although Carpenters, through inadvertence, did not receive its notice of hearing
10 days, or more, prior to the date of the hearing, as required by the Board's Rules and
Regulations, it had actual knowledge of the scheduling of such proceedings more than
10 days before said date. In addition, Carpenters, at the hearing, waived any rights it
might have as a result of the untimely service. Under these circumstances, and inasmuch
as there is no indication that the dispute could have been adjusted during the 10-day
period prior to the date of hearing, we find that the failure to make timely service upon
Carpenters, while constituting error on the part of the Regional Director, was not an
error requiring the quashing of the notice of hearing. Cf. Bay Counties District Council
of Carpenters, etc. (Associated Horne Builders of San Francisco, Inc.), 115 NLRB 1757,
1758-1759.
2 Siemons Mailing Service, 122 NLRB 81.
140 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. Local 59, Lathers; Local 627, Carpenters ; the Council; and the
affiliated members of the Council are labor organizations within the
meaning of the Act.
3. The dispute :
a. The facts
For a great many years Jackonsville 's employees have been repre-
sented by the Carpenters . The last contract between Jackonsville and
the Carpenters expired on May 1, 1959 , and no new contract has been
executed nor has the expired contract been extended.
In March of 1959, Jacksonville was awarded a subcontract by the
S. S. Jacobs Company, the prime contractor , for the installation of
acoustical tile on two construction projects , referred to herein as the
Jacobs Building and the City Hall jobs. When work commenced on
the first of these projects , the Jacobs Building , Jacksonville assigned
its own employees , who are members of the Carpenters and who work
full time for Jacksonville , to do the work . Thereafter , on May 28,
1959, John F. Mack, business agent of the Lathers, asked Jacksonville
to assign to members of the Lathers the work of installing primary
metal furring , one of the initial steps in the installation of acoustical
tile. When Jacksonville informed Mack that the work had been as-
signed to its own employees , Mack stated that he would file his juris-
dictional claim with the National Joint Board . Subsequently, the
Joint Board awarded the disputed work at both the Jacobs Building
and City Hall jobs to Lathers. On July 10 , Mack again requested
that Jacksonville use members of the Lathers. Jacksonville again
refused, and Mack threatened to "take steps."
On July 15, 1959, the Lathers began picketing at the Jacobs Build-
ing with signs reading :
THE JACKSONVILLE TILE CO.
Refuse to abide by National Joint
Board decision , as of June, 1959
on this job
LATHER'S 59
This same day, the president of the Council, John Bowden, and busi-
ness agents of unions affiliated with the Council appeared at the con-
struction site. At that time, Bowden told officials of Jacksonville
and the S. S. Jacobs Company that the Lathers' picket line would be
honored by the other crafts. Subsequently, all employees left the
Jacobs Building site, with the exception of the Carpenters. Such
picketing and refusal to cross the picket lines continued until July 17,
1959, at which time Jacksonville's employees left the jobsite , having
completed as much of their work as was possible prior to the return
to work of the other crafts.
LOCAL 59, WOOD, WIRE & METAL LATHERS INT'L UNION 141
b. Contentions of the parties
Jacksonville contends that the Lathers picketed the jobsite and
that the other Respondents engaged in a work stoppage against the
S. S. Jacobs Company and other subcontractors with the object of
inducing Jacksonville to award the installation of primary metal
furring to members of the Lathers.
Lathers admits that its picketing was intended to cause Jackson-
ville to award the disputed work to its members. It contends, how-
ever, that Jacksonville had agreed to a method of satisfactorily
adjusting the dispute and that, therefore, the notice of hearing should
be quashed and the charge herein should be dismissed. Lathers
asserts that the agree-upon method of adjustment was the submission
of the dispute to the National Joint Board and that Jacksonville is
bound by the decisions of the Joint Board because of a contract with
the Carpenters and because Jacksonville submitted to the processes of
the Joint Board.
The Council and its affiliated members contend that they had not
authorized employees working on the Jacobs Building to cease work
and that they are not responsible for the work stoppage. They also
contend that they had not attempted to induce Jacksonville to award
the disputed work to members of the Lathers. They further contend
that Jacksonville had agreed to be bound by the decisions of the
Joint Board.
APPLICABILITY OF THE STATUTE
Section 10(k) of the Act empowers and directs the Board to hear
and determine disputes out of which 8(b) (4) (D) charges have
arisen. However, before the Board may proceed to a determination
of the dispute in 10(k) proceedings, it must be satisfied that there is
reasonable cause to believe that Section 8(b) (4) (D) has been vio-
lated. In order to conclude that reasonable cause exists, the Board
must find some evidence in the record showing a strike or concerted
refusal, or an inducement or encouragement of employees to engage
in a strike or concerted refusal, to perform services for their employer
for the purposes proscribed by that section of the Act.'
It is admitted, and we find, that the picket line was established by
the Lathers with the intent to induce or encourage employees not to
perform services for their employers in an attempt to force or require
Jacksonville to assign the installation of primary metal furring to
members of Lathers. Such picketing for this purpose is within the
proscription of Section 8(b) (4) (D) ; and, accordingly, a dispute
exists within the purview of Section 10(k) .'
$Local 4 50, International Union of Operating Engineers , AFL-CIO (Painting and
Decorating Contractors of America , Houston Chapter, etc.), 119 NLRB 1725, 1729.
4 Samuel A . Agnew, d/b/a .Klamath Cedar Co., 105 NLRB 562.
142 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
With respect to the responsibility of the Council and its affiliated
members for the work stoppage, there is no such admission. John
Fox, vice president and general manager of Jacksonville, and James
A. Credle, S. S. Jacobs Company's superintendent on the Jacobs
Building job,5 testified that about 10 a.m. on the morning of July 15,
1959, the first day of the picketing, John Bowden, president of the
Council, and business agents of various unions affiliated with the
Council appeared at the Jacobs Building jobsite. According to Fox
and Credle, Bowden stated that: He was speaking for the Council;
he and the others had just held a meeting; they had unanimously
voted to support the Lathers' claims; they would honor the picket
line; and the other crafts would not return to the jobsite until the
disputed work was given to the Lathers in accordance with the deci-
sion of the Joint Board. Bowden admitted that he may have stated
that the other crafts would honor the picket line, but he denied hav-
ing made any further statements other than one in which sympathy
for the Lathers' position was expressed.
In all of these circumstances, and without resolving conflicting testi-
mony,s we are persuaded that there is reasonable cause to believe that
the work stoppage took place under the authority and with the knowl-
edge and consent of the Council, its president, John Bowden, and its
agents, as well as under the authority and with the knowledge and
consent of each of the named unions, and its agents, individually,
and that an object thereof was the reassignment of the disputed work
from Jacksonville's employees, who were members of the Carpenters,
to members of the Lathers. Such conduct is plainly prohibited by
Section 8(b) (4) (D) ; and, therefore, the dispute with respect to the
Council and its named affiliates is properly before us for determina-
tion under Section 10 (k) of the Act.
The Respondents assert that the notice of hearing herein should be
quashed and the charges dismissed on the ground that the parties
had agreed upon a method for voluntary adjustment of the dispute-
i.e., submission to the Joint Board. In particular, they urge that
Jacksonville had agreed upon such method by reason of a contract
with the Carpenters and also by reason of its submission to the proc-
esses of the Joint Board. The contract referred to contained a
clause which provided : "It is agreed that there shall be no work
stoppages by the Local because of jurisdictional disputes and that
such disputes shall be referred to the National Joint Board for
5It should be noted, with respect to the testimony of Credle, that the S . S. Jacobs
Company, for whom he works, is not a party to the dispute and that said Company, on
July 7 , 1959, sent a telegram to Jacksonville which stated, in part : "Expect your organi-
zation to take immediate necessary action to man subject job [Jacobs Building ] in accord-
ance with Jurisdictional ( sic) decision rendered by the National Joint Board."
6Local 4 50, International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO (Painting and
Decorating Contractors of America, Houston Chapter ), supra.
LOCAL 59, WOOD, WIRE & METAL LATHERS INT 'L UNION 143
Jurisdictional Disputes for settlement." As noted above, however,
this contract expired on May 1, 1959, prior to any claim to the dis-
puted work by the Lathers, and no new contract has as yet been exe-
cuted. Moreover, it is uncontradicted that there will be no such
clause in any future agreement between Jacksonville and the Car-
penters. In such circumstances, we are unable to find that Jackson-
ville, because of any contract with the Carpenters, had agreed to the
Joint Board's settlement of jurisdictional disputes. Furthermore,
there is no evidence of the existence of any agreement between
Jacksonville and the S. S. Jacobs Company binding the former to
accept decisions of the Joint Board.
As indicated above, the Respondents also contend that Jacksonville,
by its conduct, submitted to the Joint Board's processes. In support
of this position, they note that Jacksonville had supplied certain
"information" to the Joint Board in conjunction with the instant
dispute. With respect to the character of the "information" sub-
mitted, however, the record is silent. Nor does the record reveal
under what circumstances the "information" was submitted. We are
not convinced that the mere submission of unidentified "information,"
under unknown circumstances, is sufficient to establish that Jackson-
ville agreed to an adjustment of the work dispute by the Joint Board?
The facts in the present case are plainly distinguishable from those
in the Lee and Meyer Furnace cases,8 which are urged upon us for a
contrary result. In the Lee case, this Board found that the employer
had submitted to the Joint Board's processes because, among other
things, the employer had fully complied with the Joint Board's deci-
sion, requested the Joint Board to intervene to halt the union's
work stoppage, requested it to reconsider its initial decision, and
previously acquiesced in the Joint Board's control of its job. In the
Meyer Furnace case, the employer submitted to the Joint Board's
processes by itself submitting the dispute to the Joint Board for its
determination. It is clear that the facts which persuaded the Board
to find a voluntary submission in the decided cases are absent in the
instant case.
We do not find it necessary to pass upon any agreement which may
exist under which the Carpenters might be considered to have agreed
upon the submission of disputes to the Joint Board, inasmuch as we
find that the record does not contain satisfactory evidence of Jack-
sonville's having agreed to any method for voluntary adjustment of
disputes within the meaning of Section 10(k) of the Act.
7 Local 450 , International Union of Operating Engineers , AFL-CIO ( Painting and
Decorating Contractors of America , Houston Chapter), supra.
8 A. W. Lee, Inc., 113 NLRB 947; Local Union No. 1, Sheetmetal Workers International
Association, AFL, et at. ( Meyer Furnace Company ), 114 NLRB 924.
144 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
THE MERITS OF THE DISPUTE
As indicated above, there is evidence that the dispute involved
Jacksonville's assignment of the installation of the primary metal
furring to its own employees, who were members of the Carpenters,
rather than to members of the Lathers. It is well established that
an employer is free to make work assignments without being subject
to pressures by a labor organization seeking the work for its members,
unless the employer is thereby failing to conform to an order or certi-
fication of the Board determining the bargaining representative for
employees performing such work, or unless an employer is bound by
an agreement to assign the work in dispute to other employees.
Lathers has no order, certification, or contractual claim to the work.
Accordingly, we find that neither the Lathers nor the Council and
its affiliated members are entitled, by means proscribed by Section
8(b) (4) (D) of the Act, to force or require Jacksonville to assign the
disputed work to members of the Lathers rather than to its own em-
ployees. However, we are not by this action to be regarded as assign-
ing the work in question to members of the Carpenters.
DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
On the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and the entire record
in this case, the Board makes the following determination of dispute
pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act:
1. Local 59, Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers International Union,
AFL-CIO, is not, and has not been, lawfully entitled to force or re-
quire Jacksonville Tile Company, Inc., to assign the work of install-
ing primary metal furring to employees who are members of Lathers,
rather than to Jacksonville Tile Company's own employees, who are
members of Carpenters Local Union No. 627, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO.
2. Jacksonville Building Trades Council, its president, John
Bowden, and agents; Local 19, Bricklayers and Masons, and its
agents; Local No. 2, Bricklayers and Masons, and its agents; Local
No. 177, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and its
agents; Local 597, International Association of Bridge, Structural,
and Ornamental Iron Workers, and its agents; Local No. 673, Inter-
national Union of Operating Engineers, and its agents; Local. No.
401, Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons, and its agents; Local
No. 234, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices for the
Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada,
and its agents; and Local No. 435, Sheetmetal Workers International
Association, and its agents are not, and have not been, lawfully en-
titled to force or require Jacksonville Tile Company, Inc., to assign
the work of installing primary metal furring to members of Lathers,
rather than to Jacksonville Tile Company's own employees, who are
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 145
members of Carpenters Local Union No. 627, United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO.
3. Within 10 days from the date of this Decision and Determina-
tion of Dispute, Local 59, Lathers, the Council, and each of the
affiliated members of the Council respondent herein shall notify the
Regional Director for the Twelfth Region, in writing, whether or not
it will refrain from forcing or requiring Jacksonville Tile Company,
Inc., by means proscribed by Section 8(b) (4) (D) of the Act, to
assign disputed work to members of Lathers rather than to Jackson-
ville's own employees, who are members of Carpenters Local Union
No. 627.
General Electric Company and Hanford Atomic Metal Trades
Council (AFL-CIO) federated with the American Federation
of Labor, Petitioner . Case No. 19-RC-208. November 13, 1959
SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
On February 24, 1949, after an election conducted pursuant to a
stipulation for certification upon consent election, the Board issued
a Decision and Certification of Representatives in the above-entitled
proceeding in which the Council was certified as the collective-
bargaining representative of the following unit of the Employer's
employees :
All weekly salaried production and maintenance employees in
and about Hanford Works of General Electric Company, Rich-
land, Washington, excluding clerical employees, patrolmen, fire-
men, medical division employees, health instrument division
employees, laboratory assistants, technologists, technical gradu-
ates, electrical division dispatchers, "P" and "S" division chief
operators, glass blowers classified as instrument mechanics,
messengers and motor messengers, transitmen, axemen, chain and
rodmen, draftsmen, designers, and engineering assistants, all
persons on the exempt salary payroll and no other constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act, as amended.
On February 2, 1959, the Employer and the Council filed with the
Board a joint petition for a decision "as to whether certain General
Electric employees classified as `specialists-instrument development'
in the Irradiation Processing Department are excluded from the bar-
gaining unit described in the certification or are engaged in produc-
tion and maintenance work and therefore included in the unit." 1 On
I On November 30, 1956, the Employer and the Council filed similar joint petitions for
the clarification of the same certification as to the unit placement of 13 engineering
assistants . 118 NLRB 1108.
125 NLRB No. 14.