Intl. Brotherhood Of Teamsters 584Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsOct 28, 1975221 N.L.R.B. 125 (N.L.R.B. 1975) Copy Citation INTL. BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS 584 125 Local Union No. 584, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Help- ers of America and The Hertz Corporation. Case 29-CD-171 October 28, 1975 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN MURPHY AND MEMBERS FANNING AND JENKINS Upon charges filed by The Hertz Corporation, herein called Hertz, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, by the Regional Director for Region 29, issued a complaint on September 27, 1974, against Local Union No. 584, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, herein called Local 584 or''Respondent, alleging that the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(D) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. In substance, the complaint alleges that the Respondent has violated the Act by engaging in threats to picket and to stop work at Hertz' service, repair, and maintenance facilities located at 5657 58th Street and 5624 58th Street, Maspeth, Queens, city and State of New York, with an object of forcing and requiring Hertz to continue to assign the work of servicing and repairing nonmilk trucks at the above facilities to employees who are members of Respon- dent rather than to employees who are members of Local Union No. 447 of District 15 of the Interna- tional Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO (herein called Local 447, IAM). The Respondent filed an answer to the complaint, denying the commission of any unfair labor practice. A hearing was held on November 4, 1974, in the above-entitled proceeding before Administrative Law Judge Ivar H. Peterson of the National Labor Relations Board, at which time certain exhibits were received into evidence and certain stipulations were entered into on the record. Pursuant to the stipula- tions, the parties agreed that the current collective- bargaining agreement between The Hertz Corpora- tion and Respondent Union, Local 584, be admitted into evidence a$ General Counsel's Exhibit 2. They further agreed to waive the filing of briefs to the Administrative Law Judge and to submit the matter directly to the Board. I On July 23, 1974, in a proceeding pursuant to Sec. 10(k), the Board issued its Decision and !Determination of Dispute (212 NLRB 532 (1974)) to which it concluded that employees of Hertz who are represented by Local 447, IAM,'were entitled to perform the disputed work. 2 Case 29-CD-170 was severed from this proceeding on September 27, 1974 Thereafter, on April 28, 1975, the parties filed a joint motion to transfer the proceeding directly to the Board in which they agreed that the record in this proceeding shall consist of the transcript and exhibits in the 10(k) hearing' in Cases 29-CD-170 and 29- CD-171,2 the complaint, Respondent's answer,3 and the transcript and exhibits in the instant case. They waived the issuance of an Administrative Law Judge's Decision and the filing of exceptions thereto, and moved that the Board issue its Decision and Order based upon the record. They requested that the Board set a time for the filing of briefs. Thereafter briefs were filed by the Respondent4 and Local 447, 1AM. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The parties stipulated that The Hertz Corporation is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business located at 660 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, and with numerous other' places of business, including garage maintenance facilities located at 5624 58th Street and 5657 58th Street, Maspeth, Queens, New York, and in all 50 States of the United States, where it is primarily engaged in the rental and lease of automobiles and trucks. During the past year it derived gross revenue from its lease and rental services in excess of $1 million and has purchased in excess of $50,000 worth of cars and trucks directly from firms located outside the State of New York. The parties stipulated and we find that Hertz is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act; and we find that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The parties stipulated, and we find, that Local 447 and Local 584 are labor organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. 3 For purposes of the motion to transfer the case to the Board, Respondent amended its answer to admit that it had in fact engaged in the alleged 8(b)(4)(ii)(D) conduct 4 To the extent that Respondent's brief may be taken as a request for reconsideration of the Board's determination in the prior proceeding, such request plainly lacks ment and is hereby denied. 221 NLRB No. 18 126 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD III. UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES A. Background and Facts of the Dispute The Employer has had a series of collective- bargaining agreements with Local 447 since it took over the business of Metropolitan Distributors, Inc., herein called Metropolitan, in 1955. At that time, it assumed the then existing contract that Metropolitan had with Local 447. Prior agreements like the current agreement cover the approximately 300 maintenance mechanics at all of the Employer's locations in the New York metropolitan area. The situs in dispute is located in the Long Island City district. Sometime in late 1959 or 1960, negotiations took place between the Employer and Hegeman Holland Farms, sometimes referred to as Holland or Holland Farms, for a leasing arrangement for Holland's milk trucks. The Employer was made aware by Holland of an existing collective-bargaining agreement it had with Local 584 covering the approximately nine maintenance mechanics it utilized for service and repair of its milk trucks. One of the conditions imposed by Holland in granting the lease was that Hertz assume the aforementioned collective-bargaining agreement with Local 584. The Employer sought and received the assent of Local 447 to assume the Local 584 agreement. When the Employer assumed the Local 584 agreement, it also took over the Holland garage for the purpose of maintaining, servicing, and repairing nonmilk trucks in Holland's garage. While the number of trucks serviced and repaired at this garage has fluctuated over the years, at present there are approximately 160 milk trucks and 35 nonmilk trucks maintained and serviced at the Holland garage by about 20 mechanics who are members of Local 584. In late 1972, representatives of Local 447 reportedly first learned that Local 584 mechanics were performing work on nonmilk trucks at the Holland garage. At that time, Business Representa- tive Ronald Touanen of Local 447 complained to Employer's personnel director, Roger Keehn, about the utilization of Local 584 mechanics to perform mechanical work on the nonmilk trucks. Touanen pointed out that the Employer's collective-bargaining agreement with Local 447 covers the maintenance mechanics at all of the Employer's locations in the New York metropolitan area. Keehn promised to discuss the matters again with Touanen, but never did. During the spring of 1973, Local 447 requested arbitration, but the request failed as the parties did not reach agreement on the selection of an arbitrator. Also during the spring of 1973, the Employer and Holland entered into lease renewal negotiations. Holland insisted that it would not renew the lease unless the Employer ceased maintenance work on nonmilk trucks in the garage before approximately 54 new milk trucks were delivered. The Employer accepted this condition and planned to use a lot and garage facility5 located across the street for the repair and maintenance of its nonmilk trucks. The new milk trucks were scheduled to be delivered during the fall of 1973; however, due to production delays, only 6 of the 54 trucks ordered have been delivered, with the remainder scheduled to arrive sometime in July of this year. On November 7, 1973, Keehn requested that the parties hold a meeting for the purpose of resolving the imminent dispute over the assignment of the work in connection with the maintenance and repair of the nonmilk trucks. Present at the meeting were Keehn, for the Employer; Touanen, for Local 447; and Business Representatives Joseph Barone, for Local 584. According to Keehn, he was threatened with picketing by the business representatives of both Unions if the work in dispute were not awarded to employees who were members of their respective Unions. B. The Determination of the Dispute On July 23, 1974, the Board issued its Decision and Determination of Dispute assigning the disputed work to the Employer's employees represented by Local 447, IAM, and finding that Respondent was not entitled, by means proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the Act, to force the Employer to assign the' disputed work to employees represented by the Respondent. C. The Respondent's Refusal To Comply In addition to its threats to picket on or about November 7, 1973, the Respondent has refused and continues to refuse to comply with the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute that it is not entitled to force or require the Employer to assign the disputed work to employees represented by it and that it notify the Regional Director to that effect. D. The Unfair Labor Practices As alleged in the complaint, the Respondent's amended answer and its refusal to comply with the Board's Decision and Determination of Dispute in this proceeding clearly show that Respondent's coercive threats of picketing and work stoppages at the Employer's above-described service, repair, and maintenance facilities had an object of forcing and requiring Hertz to continue to assign the work of 5 This leased lot and garage has been used for storage and minor repairs. INTL. BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS 584 servicing, maintaining, and repairing nonmilk trucks at its service facility_ located at 5657 58th Street, and at 5624 58th Street, Maspeth, Queens, city and State of New York, to employees who are members of Respondent Local 584 rather than to employees who are members of Local 447. The Respondent's admitted conduct at the above facility is proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(D). Accordingly, we find that the Respondent violated the foregoing provision of the Act by engaging in the above-specified conduct. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES UPON COMMERCE The activities of the Respondent set forth in section III, above, occurring in connection with the opera- tions of the Employer herein involved, 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 thereof. THE REMEDY Having found that the Respondent violated Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(D) of the Act, we shall order it to cease and desist therefrom and to take certain affirmative action designed to effectuate the purposes of the Act. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 2. The Respondent and Local 447 are labor organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. 3. By engaging in threats to picket and to cause work stoppages directed at Hertz with an object of forcing or requiring Hertz to continue to assign the work of servicing, maintaining, and repairing non- milk trucks at its facilities located at 5657 58th Street and at 5624 58th Street, Maspeth, Queens, city and State of New York, to employees who are members of Respondent Local 584 rather than to employees who are members of Local 447, the Respondent has engaged in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(D) of the Act. 4. The aforesaid unfair labor practices are unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the mean- ing of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. ORDER 127 Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the Respondent, Local Union No. 584, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, New York, New York, its officers, agents, and representatives, shall: 1. Cease and desist from threatening, coercing, or restraining The Hertz Corporation where an object thereof is to force or require the said Employer to assign the work of ,servicing, repairing, or maintain- ing nonmilk trucks at its facilities located at 5657 and 5624 58th Street, Maspeth, Queens, city and State of New York, to employees represented by Respondent, rather than to employees represented by Local Union No. 447 of District 15 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO. 2. Take the following affirmative action which the Board finds will effectuate the purposes of the Act: (a) Post at the business offices and meeting halls of the Respondent, New York, New York, copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix."6 Copies of said notice, on forms to be provided by the Regional Director for Region 29, after being duly signed by an authorized representative of Respondent, shall be posted by Respondent immediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive' days thereafter, in conspicuous places, including all places where notices to members are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondent to insure that such notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. (b) Sign and mail copies of said notice to the Regional Director for Region 29 for posting by The Hertz Corporation, if willing, at all locations where notices to its employees are customarily posted. (c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 29, in writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order, what steps the Respondent has taken to comply herewith. 6 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 read "Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National Labor Relations Board." 128 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD APPENDIX NOTICE To EMPLOYEES AND MEMBERS POSTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD An Agency of the United States Government WE WILL NOT threaten, coerce, or restrain The Hertz Corporation where an object thereof is to force or require said Employer to assign the work of servicing, repairing, or maintaining nonmilk trucks at its facilities located at 5657 and 5624 58th Street, Maspeth, Queens, city and State of New York, to employees represented by us, rather than to employees represented by Local Union No. 447 of District 15 of the International Association Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO. LocAL UNION No. 584, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation