Santa Fe Drilling Co.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsFeb 3, 1970180 N.L.R.B. 1049 (N.L.R.B. 1970) Copy Citation SANTA FE DRILLING CO. 1049 Santa Fe Drilling Company and Alaska Petroleum Crafts Council and International Union of Petroleum Workers, AFL-CIO. Cases 19-CA-3324- 1, 19-CA-3328, 19-CA-3470, 19-RC-3851, and l9-RM-598 February 3, 1970 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS BROWN AND JENKINS On May 2, 1968, the National Labor Relations Board issued its Decision and Order in the above-entitled proceeding,' finding that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by threats and coercive statements to employees, and Section 8(a)(3) and (1) by discriminatorily discharging employees because of their union activity. The Board ordered the Respondent to cease and desist from the unfair labor practices found and to reinstate and make whole the employees discriminatorily discharged or laid off. Thereafter, the Respondent filed a petition for review of the order of the National Labor Relations Board with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Board filed a cross-petition for enforcement of its Order. The court enforced the Board's Order except as to Barefield. With respect to Barefield, the court remanded the case to the Board for its determination as to whether or not to draw the inference from the record that Supervisor Roady who discharged Barefield knew of Barefield's union activities and that Barefield's discharge was based upon such union activities.' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. In accordance with the court's remand, we have reexamined the record of the hearing held before Trial Examiner Irving Rogosin, the Trial Examiner's Decision and the exceptions of the parties thereto and the accompanying briefs, and our prior Decision. We reaffirm our adoption of the Trial Examiner's finding that Barefield was discriminatorily discharged and our order that the Respondent offer him immediate and full reinstatement to his former or substantially equivalent position, without prejudice to his seniority and other rights and privileges, and make him whole in the manner set forth in the section entitled "The Remedy." As the court noted in its decision, the essential '171 NLRB No 27. 'Santa Fe Drilling Company v N L R B, 416 F 2d 725 (C A. 9) facts are not in dispute. Barefield was employed as a roughneck or pit watcher in December 1965, working on Driller Olds' crew. On June 9, 1966, the power was shut down on the platform on which Barefield was working. Driller Olds told Barefield and other members of his crew to do as much painting and scraping as possible. Supervisors Roady and Olds soon thereafter found Barefield in the mud loggers shack reading a magazine. Roady discharged Barefield on the spot. The Trial Examiner conceded that Barefield's conduct could have furnished ample cause for discharge. However, he found substantial evidence warranting the finding that Barefield's discharge was for discriminatory purposes. In arriving at his finding the Trial Examiner took into consideration the Respondent's conduct constituting interference, restraint, and coercion, Supervisors Blair 's and Roady's remarks to Barefield and other employees, Barefield's long work experience and satisfactory prior employment record, the absence of evidence that he had been previously disciplined, the dearth of qualified oilfield personnel, and the precipitate manner in which Barefield was discharged. We agree with the Trial Examiner that Respondent discharged Barefield because of his union adherence and activities and not because of the purported reason of loitering in the loggers' shack to escape doing maintenance work on the platform during the power shutdown. Upon reexamination of the record evidence in this case, we conclude that the Respondent, including Supervisor Roady, had knowledge of Barefield' s union adherence and activities at the time. In so finding we rely particularly on the following: (1) Barefield's uncontradicted testimony that he informed Supervisor Blair of his support of the Union prior to his discharge; (2) about the same time, Roady advised Barefield that a union was not necessary and "you [have] got a good job;" (3) a few hours after the Union had won the election, Roady told a small group of employees, including Barefield, who were in the recreation room, "All right you sons of bitches, you voted for this union. From now on one man will go after coffee and there won't be no other breaks. You will work from 6:00 to 6:00," and, "You will have lunch with one glove off."; and (4) a few days later, Blair told Barefield and Gardner (who was later discriminatorily discharged), after castigating those who voted for the Union, "I am going to run every [god] damned one of you off," adding, "And you two are going to be first." Moreover, we find in the circumstances here that Respondent's knowledge, including Supervisor Roady's, of Barefield's union activities may be inferred from the small size of the work force and the nature of the off-shore oil drilling operation. We find significant that the Respondent's drilling operations are conducted on a 24-hour basis by three drilling crews, each working a 12-hour tour of duty, 10 days on and 5 days off duty. Each crew 180 NLRB No. 160 1050 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD consists of approximately seven employees plus supervisors. Both the employees and the supervisors live and work together in close quarters on the drilling platform off-shore during the 10-day periods they are on duty. Clearly, in these circumstances, it is reasonable to infer that little in the way of union activity or sympathy on the part of any employee escaped the notice of the supervisors, including Roady. Accordingly, we infer and find that Roady knew of Barefield's union activities and that his discharge was based upon such union activities. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation