Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 7, 1963

142 N.L.R.B. 491 (N.L.R.B. 1963)

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 491
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Insurance Workers
International Union , AFL-CIO. Case No. 1-CA-4038. May 7,
1963
DECISION AND ORDER
On March 7, 1963, Trial Examiner A. Norman Somers issued his
Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding finding that
Respondent Metropolitan Life Insurance Company had engaged in
and was engaging in certain unfair labor practices and recommending
that it cease and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action,
as set forth in the attached Intermediate Report. Thereafter, the
Respondent filed exceptions to the Intermediate Report.
The Board has reviewed the rulings made by the Trial Examiner
at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The
rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Inter-
mediate Report, the exceptions, and the entire record in this case, and
hereby adopts the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the
Trial Examiner.
ORDER
The Board adopts as its Order the Recommended Order of the Trial
Examiner with the following modifications :
1. Substitute the following for paragraph 1(b) of the Recom-
mended Order : "'Interfering with the efforts of the Insurance Work-
ers International Union, AFL-CIO, to negotiate for or represent the
employees in the said appropriate unit as the exclusive bargaining
agent."
2. Substitute the following for the last paragraph above the signa-
ture line of the notice in the Appendix to the Intermediate Report:
WE WILL NOT interfere with the efforts of the Insurance Work-
ers International Union, AFL-CIO, to negotiate for or represent
the employees in the said appropriate unit as the exclusive bar-
gaining agent.
MEMBERS RODGERS and LEEDoM , dissenting :
In our dissenting opinion in the representation proceeding which
underlies this complaint case, issued October 24, 1962 , we indicated
that we would have found inappropriate the unit that the Union
was seeking . We adhere to our views there expressed and would ac-
cordingly dismiss the complaint . See also the dissenting opinions in
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 138 NLRB 512, 565 and 734;
and Equitable Life Insurance Company, 138 NLRB 529.
'See Metropoixtan Life Insurance Company, 141 NLRB 337 and 1074 ( Members
Rodgers and Leedom dissenting).
142 NLRB No. 60.
492 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
INTERMEDIATE REPORT AND RECOMMENDED ORDER I
STATEMENT AND FINDINGS
On December 3, 1962 , the Regional Director of the First Region of the Board
in Case No. 1-RC-7024, on the basis of the Union 's polling a majority of the votes
in an election duly conducted November 23, 1962, pursuant to a Decision and
Direction of Election of the Board, certified the Charging Party, which was the
petitioning union in said proceeding , as the exclusive bargaining representative of
the employees in the unit described in the Recommended Order below. In its
Decision and Direction of Election herein issued October 24, 1962, the Board,
reaffirming its unit finding in a prior proceeding involving the same parties and
based on the same record,2 and found to be appropriate and directed the election
to be held among a unit of employees other than what Respondent contended was
appropriate . Claiming the Board 's ruling thereon to have been erroneous , Respond-
ent disputes the validity of the certification . To test that issue, Respondent, as it
concedes , has refused and continues to refuse to bargain with the Union in respect
to the employees in the unit embodied in the certification, though requested to do so.
All else is not dispute , and is hereby found , namely, that Respondent is engaged
in commerce and that the Union is a labor organization.
As to the matter in dispute, under well-established doctrine, Trial Examiner
A. Norman Somers is bound by the Board 's ruling in the representation proceeding
and the ensuing certification .3 On the basis thereof, it is found and concluded that
the Union was duly designated as collective-bargaining representative by a majority
of the employees in the unit described in the certification, and, in accordance with
the certification , is the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of all the em-
ployees in the unit in question, within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the Act.
Hence, by refusing to bargain with the Union so certified , Respondent has engaged
in and is engaging in an unfair labor practice within the meaning of Section 8(a) (5)
and, derivatively, also 8 (a) (1) of the Act.
On the basis of the foregoing and the record in this and the representation pro-
ceeding, the Trial Examiner , pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act, hereby issues the
following:
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Respondent, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, its agents, officers, successors,
and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively with Insurance Workers International Union,
AFL-CIO, as the duly certified exclusive bargaining representative of its employees
in the following unit:
All debit insurance agents, including all canvassing regular and office account
agents of the Employer selling industrial life insurance and other forms of insurance
sold by the Employer at its district office in Woonsocket, Rhode Island; but excluding
independent agents, retired agents , Metropolitan Insurance consultants , managers,
assistant managers, cashiers , clerical employees , secretaries, professional employees,
guards, watchmen, and all supervisors as defined in the Act.
(b) In any like or related manner , interfering with, restraining , or coercing its
employees in the exercise of the right to bargain collectively through said Union, or
any other labor organization of their own choosing.
2. Take the following affirmative action , which it is found will effectuate the
policies of the Act:
(a) Upon request , bargain collectively with the said certified union as the ex-
clusive representative of the employees in the unit described above, with respect to
grievances , labor disputes , rates of pay, wages , hours of employment, and other
conditions of work; and , if an agreement is reached , embody it in a signed contract.
'Procedural chronology- charge filed and served January 4, 1963; complaint issued
February 18, 1963; and hearing thereon held in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 6, 1963.
2138 NLRB 734.
8 E g, Royal McBee Corp, 133 NLRB 1450, and cases cited at footnote 5. Cf. Pitts-
burgh Plate Glass Co v . N L R B , 313 U S 146 , 158 ("The unit proceeding and this
complaint on unfair labor practices are really one.")
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY 493
(b) Post at its district office in Woonsocket, Rhode Island , copies of the attached
notice marked "Appendix ." 4 Copies of the said notice , to be furnished by the
Regional Director for the First Region , shall, after being duly signed by the Re-
spondent 's representative , be posted by it immediately upon receipt thereof and
maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter in conspicuous places, including
all places where notices to employees are customarily posted . Reasonable steps
shall be taken by the Respondent to insure that said notices are not altered, defaced,
or covered by any other material.
(c) Notify the said Regional Director , in writing , within 20 days of the receipt
of this Recommended Order, what steps it has taken to comply therewith .5
In the event that this Recommended Order be adopted by the Board , the words "a
Decision and Order" shall be substituted for the words " the Recommended Order of a
Trial Examiner" in the notice . In the further event that the Board 's Order be enforced
by a decree of a United States Court of Appeals , the words "a Decree of the United
States Court of Appeals , Enforcing an Order" shall be substituted for the words "a Deci-
sion and Order "
5In the event that this Recommended Order be adopted by the Board , this provision
shall be modified to read. "Notify said Regional Director in writing within 10 days from
the date of this Order what steps the Respondent has taken to comply herewith."
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
Pursuant to the Recommended Order of a Trial Examiner of the National Labor
Relations Board , and in order to effectuate the policies of the Labor Management
Relations Act, we hereby notify our employees that:
WE WILL bargain collectively, upon request , with Insurance Workers Inter-
national Union , AFL-CIO, as the exclusive bargaining representative of all
employees in the bargaining unit described below concerning grievances, labor
disputes , wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, and other conditions of
work , and if an understanding is reached , embody it in a signed agreement.
The bargaining unit is:
All debit insurance agents, including all canvassing regular and office
account agents of the Employer selling industrial life insurance and other
forms of insurance sold by the Employer at its district office in Woonsocket,
Rhode Island , but excluding independent agents, retired agents, Metropoli-
tan Insurance consultants , managers, assistant managers, cashiers , clerical
employees, secretaries , professional employees, guards, watchmen, and all
supervisors as defined in the Act.
WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain collectively as aforesaid , nor will we, in any
like or related manner, interfere with , restrain , or coerce our employees in the
exercise of their right to bargain collectively through the said union or any other
labor organization of their own choosing.
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY,
Employer.
Dated------------------- By-------------------------------------------
(Representative ) ( Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 days from the date of posting , and must
not be altered , defaced , or covered by any other material.
Employees may communicate directly with the Board 's Regional Office, Boston
Five Cents Savings Bank Building , 24 School Street , Boston , Massachusetts , 02108,
Telephone No. Lafayette 3-8100 , if they have any question concerning this notice
or compliance with its provisions.