Local 98, Plumbers, AFL-CIO

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 17, 1970

183 N.L.R.B. 478 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

478 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Local 98 , United Association of Journeymen and
Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting In-
dustry of the United States and Canada,
AFL-CIO and Parks Installation Company and
Local 7-389, Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers
International Union , AFL-CIO. Case 7-CD-201
June 17, 1970
DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN , AND JENKINS
Upon a charge filed on April 29, 1968, and an
amended charge filed on May 14, 1968, by Parks
Installation Company, herein called the Employer,
the General Counsel of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, by the Regional Director for Region 7,
issued a complaint dated August 12, 1969, against
Local 98, United Association of Journeymen and
Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting In-
dustry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO,
herein called the Respondent, alleging that the
Respondent had engaged in unfair labor practices
affecting commerce within the meaning of Section
8(b)(4)(i) and (ii)(D) and Section 2(6) and (7) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. Co-
pies of the charges and the complaint with notice of
hearing were duly served on the parties. Thereafter,
the Respondent filed an answer in which, inter alia,
it denied, the commission of any unfair labor prac-
tices.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connec-
tion with this case to a three-member panel.
With respect to the unfair labor practices, the
complaint alleged that: pursuant to Section 10(k)
of the Act, the Board heard and made a determina-
tion of dispute out of which the charged unfair
labor practices arose; the employees of the Em-
ployer, who are currently represented by Local
7-389, Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Interna-
tional Union, AFL-CIO, herein called OCAW, are
entitled to perform the installation of fuel, lubricat-
ing oil, pneumatic piping systems, including the
setting and placement of associated storage tanks,
piping systems, air compressors, pneumatic lifts and
pumps, at gasoline service stations located within
the Respondent's geographic jurisdiction; the
Respondent is not entitled by means proscribed by
Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act to force or require
the Employer to award the above work to its mem-
bers or employees it represents; the Respondent has
not complied with the Board's Decision and Deter-
mination of Dispute (177 NLRB 879); the Respon-
dent since sometime in February 1968, and at all
times thereafter, by means proscribed by Section
8(b)(4)(D) has engaged in conduct an object of
which was to force or require the Employer to as-
sign the disputed work to employees who are mem-
bers of Respondent rather than to employees who
are represented by the OCAW; and by such con-
duct the Respondent has engaged in unfair labor
practices affecting commerce within the meaning of
Section 8(b)(4)(i) and (ii)(D) and Section 2(6)
and (7) of the Act.
On October 7, 1969, the parties filed with the
Board under the provisions of Section 102.50 of the
Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as
amended, a joint motion that the proceedings be
transferred to the Board. The motion contains a
stipulation that the charge, amended charge, com-
plaint, answer, order postponing hearing indefinite-
ly dated September 10, 1968, and the entire record
made at the hearing held pursuant to Section 10(k)
of the Act, as evidenced by the official transcript of
the hearing held on August 15, 19, and 28, 1968,
including all exhibits, constitutes the entire record
in this case, and that no further oral testimony is
necessary or desired by any of the parties. The
parties also waived any further hearings, the mak-
ing of findings of fact and conclusions of law by a
Trial Examiner, the issuance of a Trial Examiner's
Decision, and submitted the case for findings of
fact, conclusions of law, and an order directly by
the Board. On October 8, 1969, the Board granted
the motion and this proceeding was duly trans-
ferred to and continued before the Board.
Thereafter, the General Counsel filed a memoran-
dum with the Board.
Upon the basis of the aforesaid stipulation, the
General Counsel's memorandum, and the entire
record in this case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Parks Installation Company is a Michigan cor-
poration engaged in the business of installing tanks,
air piping, hydraulic lifts, and service station equip-
ment in gasoline service stations. During the fiscal
year, ending November 30, 1967, its gross revenue
was approximately $500,000. During the same
period of time, its gross revenue from sales and per-
formance of services to Mobil Oil Corporation ex-
ceeded $50,000. We find that the Employer is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of Section
2(6) and (7) of the Act and that it will effectuate
the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
Upon the basis of the facts developed at the 10(k)
proceeding and the facts alleged in the complaint
and admitted by the Respondent, we find that Bor-
man Food Stores, Inc., Mobil Oil Corporation,
183 NLRB No. 57
LOCAL 98, PLUMBERS , AFL-CIO 479
Smith & Andrews Construction Company , McFar-
land-Dorman Plumbing & Heating , Inc., Coster-
Kitti Company , and Trevarrow , Inc., are also em-
ployers engaged in commerce within the meaning of
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
H. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The parties stipulated , and we find , that the
Respondent and the OCAW are labor organizations
within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE RESPONDENT 'S UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
In its Decision and Determination of Dispute, the
Board determined that the Respondent was not en-
titled by means proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D)
of the Act to force or require the Employer to as-
sign the work of the installation of fuel, lubricating
oil, pneumatic piping systems, including the setting
and placement of associated tanks, piping systems,
air compressors , pneumatic lifts and pumps, at
gasoline stations located within its geographic ju-
risdiction to its members or employees it
represents . The Board directed the Respondent to
notify the Regional Director in writing with respect
to its intention to comply with the Board's deter-
mination . In its answer to the complaint, the
Respondent admits that it has not signified an in-
tent to comply and indicates that it does not intend
to comply.
Section 10(k) of the Act requires that, if the
Respondent has complied with the Board's deter-
mination , the 8(b)(4)(D) charge must be
dismissed. As the Respondent has not complied
with the 10(k) determination, we turn now to the
merits of the complaint which, as we have in-
dicated, is concerned with whether the Respondent
has engaged in unfair labor practices in violation of
Section 8(b)(4)(D).
The evidence in the 10(k) proceeding is clear
and uncontradicted that the Respondent engaged in
unlawful inducement and threats with the objective
of forcing the Employer to assign the disputed work
to its members rather than to the Employer's em-
ployees who are represented by the OCAW. Thus,
in February 1968, Respondent' s agent , Joseph
Sposito, claimed for the Respondent the work being
performed by the Employer's employees at the Bor-
man Food Stores, Inc., warehouse project, herein
called Borman jobsite, and threatened the Em-
ployer's general foreman with a picket line if the
Employer's employees continued to perform this
work. There was a resulting work stoppage.
Thereafter, during the latter part of April 1968,
Respondent's agent, Jack Whitson, on two occa-
sions, caused the Employer to stop work at the Bor-
man jobsite. On the first occasion, Whitson claimed
for the Respondent the work being performed there
by the Employer's employees and threatened the
Employer with a picket line and a shutdown of
the whole job if the Employer's employees con-
tinued to work. As a result of this threat, a
representative of the Borman Food Stores, Inc., or-
dered the Employer's general foreman and its em-
ployees off the job. On the second occasion, a day
or two later, the Employer's general foreman and
employees returned to the Borman jobsite, and
Whitson again claimed the work for the Respon-
dent and threatened the Employer's general
foreman, as well as representatives of Borman Food
Stores, Inc., Smith & Andrews Construction Com-
pany, and Mobil Oil Corporation, with a shutdown
of the job. Whitson, on this occasion, also ordered
plumbers employed by the McFarland-Dorman
Plumbing & Heating, Inc., to leave the Borman
jobsite, which they did. Other employees in various
trades on this jobsite also stopped working, all of
which resulted in a representative of Borman Food
Stores, Inc., again ordering the Employer's general
foreman and employees off the jobsite. In addition
to the dispute at the Borman jobsite, it also appears
that similar disputes involving the Employer and
the Respondent occurred elsewhere in the area.
Thus, a representative of Coster-Kitti Company,
which subcontracts to the Employer, testified that
in late April 1968 Respondent's agent, James Cum-
mings, threatened a representative of Coster-Kitti
Company with a refusal to let the plumbers work
on any of its jobs where the Employer was working.
For about 2 weeks thereafter, until a court injunc-
tion was issued, the plumbers employed by Trevar-
row, Inc., did not work on Coster-Kitti jobs where
the Employer was working. By the foregoing con-
duct, it is evident that the Respondent induced em-
ployees of the McFarland-Dorman Plumbing &
Heating, Inc., and Trevarrow, Inc., to engage in a
cessation of work, and that it threatened the Em-
ployer, Borman Food Stores, Inc., Mobil Oil Cor-
poration, Smith & Andrews Construction Com-
pany, McFarland-Dorman Plumbing & Heating,
Inc., Coster-Kitti Company, and Trevarrow, Inc.,
with the objective of forcing the Employer to assign
the disputed work to employees represented by the
Respondent rather than to those represented by the
OCAW. It is admitted that the Employer was not
failing to conform to an order or certification of the
Board determining the bargaining representative
for employees performing the disputed work. In
such circumstances, Respondent's actions were un-
lawful. Accordingly, we find that the Respondent,
480 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
by the conduct set forth above , has engaged in
violations of Section 8(b)(4)(i ) and (ii )( D) of the
Act.'
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
UPON COMMERCE
The activities of the Respondent set forth above,
occurring in connection with the operations of the
Employer, Borman Food Stores, Inc., Mobil Oil
Corporation, Smith & Andrews Construction Com-
pany, McFarland-Dorman Plumbing & Heating,
Inc., Coster-Kitti Company, and Trevarrow, Inc.,
have a close, intimate, and substantial relation to
trade, traffic, and commerce among the several
States and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening
and obstructing commerce and the free flow of
commerce.
V. THE REMEDY
Having found that the Respondent has engaged
in certain unfair labor practices, we shall order it to
cease and desist therefrom and take certain affir-
mative action designed to effectuate the policies of
the Act.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Respondent , Local 98 , United Association of
Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and
Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and
Canada , AFL-CIO, is a labor organization within
the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
2. By engaging in, or inducing or encouraging
employees of McFarland -Dorman Plumbing &
Heating , Inc., and Trevarrow , Inc., or of other per-
sons engaged in commerce or in an industry affect-
ing commerce to engage in, a strike or a refusal in
the course of their employment to use , manufac-
ture , process, transport, or otherwise handle or
work on any goods, articles, materials , or commodi-
ties or to perform services ; or by threatening,
coercing , or restraining Parks Installation Com-
pany, Borman Food Stores, Inc., Mobil Oil Cor-
poration, Smith & Andrews Construction Com-
pany , McFarland-Dorman Plumbing & Heating,
Inc., Coster- Kitti Company, and Trevarrow, Inc., or
other persons engaged in commerce or in an indus-
try affecting commerce , where, in either case, an
object thereof is forcing or requiring Parks Installa-
tion Company to assign the work of the installation
' Although the General Counsel also has included allegations in the com-
plaint that employees of Hertz Corporation, Standard Oil Company
(Ohio), and Standard Oil Company (Indiana) were unlawfully induced and
that these same employers were also unlawfully threatened, we find only
of fuel , lubricating oil, pneumatic piping systems,
including the setting and placement of associated
storage tanks , piping systems , air compressors,
pneumatic lifts and pumps , at gasoline service sta-
tions located within the Respondent 's geographic
jurisdiction to members of the Respondent rather
than to employees of the Employer represented by
Local 7-389, Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers
International Union , AFL-CIO, where the Parks
Installation Company is not failing to conform to an
order or certification of the Board determining the
bargaining representative for employees perform-
ing such work , Respondent has thereby engaged in
and is engaging in unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8 (b)(4)(i) and (ii)(D) and Sec-
tion 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
3. The aforesaid unfair labor practices are unfair
labor practices affecting commerce within the
meaning of Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended , and upon the entire
record in this case , the National Labor Relations
Board hereby orders that the Respondent, Local
98, United Association of Journeymen and Ap-
prentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry
of the United States and Canada , AFL-CIO, and
its officers , agents, and representatives , shall:
1. Cease and desist from engaging in, or induc-
ing or encouraging individuals employed by McFar-
land-Dorman Plumbing & Heating , Inc., and
Trevarrow , Inc., or by other persons engaged in
commerce or in an industry affecting commerce to
engage in , a strike or a refusal in the course of their
employment to use , manufacture , process, trans-
port , or otherwise handle or work on any goods, ar-
ticles, materials, or commodities or to perform any
services; or threatening , coercing , or restraining
Parks Installation Company , Borman Food Stores,
Inc., Mobil Oil Corporation , Smith & Andrews
Construction Company, McFarland -Dorman
Plumbing & Heating , Inc., Coster -Kitti Company,
and Trevarrow , Inc., or any other person engaged
in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce,
where in either case an object thereof is to force or
require Parks Installation Company to assign the
work of the installation of fuel, lubricating oil,
pneumatic piping systems , including the setting and
placement of associated storage tanks , piping
systems, air compressors , pneumatic lifts and
the unlawful inducement of employees of, and threats to, those employers
that are fully supported by the testimonial evidence developed at the hear'
ing under Sec l0(k) of the Act
LOCAL 98, PLUMBERS , AFL-CIO 481
pumps, at gasoline service stations located within
the Respondent's geographic jurisdiction, to mem-
bers of the Respondent rather than to employees of
Parks Installation Company represented by Local
7-389, Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Interna-
tional Union, AFL-CIO, unless the Parks Installa-
tion Company is failing to conform to an order or
certification of the Board determining the bargain-
ing representative for employees performing such
work.
2. Take the following affirmative action which
the Board finds will effectuate the policies of the
Act:
(a) Post at Respondent's business offices and
meeting halls copies of the attached notice marked
"Appendix."2 Copies of said notice, on forms pro-
vided by the Regional Director for Region 7, after
being duly signed by an authorized representative
of the Respondent, shall be posted by it immediate-
ly upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by it for
60 consecutive days thereafter, in conspicuous
places, including all places where notices to mem-
bers are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall
be taken by Respondent to insure that said notices
are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other
material.
(b) Sign and mail sufficient copies of said notice
to the Regional Director for Region 7 for posting
by Parks Installation Company, Borman Food
Stores, Inc., Mobil Oil Corporation, Smith & An-
drews Construction Company, McFarland-Dorman
Plumbing & Heating , Inc., Coster-Kitti Company,
and Trevarrow, Inc., if they are willing, at all loca-
tions upon their premises where notices to their
respective employees are customarily posted.
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 7, in
writing, within 10 days from the date of this Order,
what steps have been taken to comply herewith.
Dorman Plumbing & Heating , Inc., and
Trevarrow , Inc., or any other persons engaged
in commerce , or in an industry affecting com-
merce to engage in, a strike or refusal in the
course of their employment to use , manufac-
ture , process, transport , or otherwise handle or
work on any goods, articles , materials , or com-
modities or to perform any services; or
threaten , coerce , and restrain Parks Installa-
tion Company , Borman Food Stores, Inc.,
Mobil Oil Corporation , Smith & Andrews Con-
struction Company , McFarland -Dorman
Plumbing & Heating , Inc., Coster - Kitti Com-
pany , and Trevarrow , Inc., or any other per-
sons engaged in commerce, or in an industry
affecting commerce , with the object of forcing
or requiring Parks Installation Company to as-
sign to employees represented by Local 98,
United Association of Journeymen and Ap-
prentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting In-
dustry of the United States and Canada,
AFL-CIO, the work of installating fuel,
lubricating oil, pneumatic piping systems, in-
cluding the setting and placement of associated
storage tanks, piping systems, air compressors,
pneumatic lifts and pumps, at gasoline service
stations located within our geographic jurisdic-
tion.
LOCAL 98 , UNITED
ASSOCIATION OF
JOURNEYMEN AND
APPRENTICES OF THE
PLUMBING AND PIPE
FITTING INDUSTRY OF THE
UNITED STATES AND
CANADA, AFL-CIO
(Labor Organization)
Dated By
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 be changed to read "Posted
Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an
Order of the National Labor Relations Board "
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
WE WILL NOT engage in, induce, and en-
courage individuals employed by McFarland-
(Representative ) (Title)
This is an official notice and must not be defaced
by anyone.
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecu-
tive days from the date of posting and must not be
altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.
Any questions concerning this notice or com-
pliance with its provisions may be directed to the
Board's Office, 500 Book Building, 1249 Washing-
ton Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan 48226,
Telephone 313-226-3200.