Inwood Material Terminal LLC

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 30, 2019

29-RD-206581 (N.L.R.B. Jan. 30, 2019)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
INWOOD MATERIAL TERMINAL, LLC
Employer
and Case 29-RD-206581
CARLOS CASTELLON
Petitioner
and
UNITED PLANT & PRODUCTION WORKERS
LOCAL 175 P
Intervenor
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
The issue presented in this case is whether the Regional Director correctly found
that there was no contract bar in place at the time the Petitioner filed a decertification
petition in the above-captioned case.
On February 20, 2018, the Regional Director issued a Decision and Direction of
Election, in which she found that a collective bargaining agreement, which the Petitioner
alleged was effective as of July 17, 2017, was not a bar to proceeding with the
petitioned-for decertification election. Thereafter, in accordance with Section 102.67 of
the Board’s Rules and Regulations, the Intervenor filed a timely request for review. The
Employer filed an opposition.
On May 7, 2018, the Board granted the Intervenor’s request for review with
respect to whether the parties’ emails were sufficient to constitute a signed agreement
that would establish a contract bar. Thereafter, the Intervenor and Employer filed briefs
on review. The Board also accepted amicus briefs from the law firm of Weinberg,
Roger & Rosenfeld and from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
The Employer also filed briefs in response to each amicus brief.
Pursuant to the Decision and Direction of Election, an election was held on
March 8, 2018. The Tally of Ballots shows none for and 11 against the Intervenor, with
one nondeterminative challenged ballot. The Intervenor thereafter filed timely
objections. On May 2, 2018, the Regional Director issued a Decision on Objections and
Certification of Results, overruling all of the Intervenor’s objections. Thereafter, the
Intervenor filed a timely request for review of the Regional Director’s Decision on
2
Objections and Certification of Results. The Employer has not filed an opposition to the
request.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding
to a three-member panel. Having carefully considered the entire record in this
proceeding, including the briefs on review and the amicus briefs, we affirm the Regional
Director’s Decision and Direction of Election.1 We also deny the Intervenor’s Request
for Review of the Regional Director’s Decision on Objections and Certification of Results
as it raises no substantial issues warranting review.
ORDER
The Regional Director’s decision to proceed with processing the decertification
petition is affirmed.
JOHN F. RING, CHAIRMAN
MARVIN E. KAPLAN, MEMBER
WILLIAM J. EMANUEL, MEMBER
Dated, Washington, D.C., January 30, 2019.

1 In affirming the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of Election, we agree with
the Regional Director that, while an exchange of emails can constitute a signed
agreement that triggers the contract bar, the facts of this case do not indicate that the
email exchange between the parties here was sufficient to execute the agreed-upon
collective-bargaining agreement. We note, however, that we would consider, in a
further appropriate proceeding, implementing the requirement that a single, signed
document be present in order to establish a contract bar.