International Longshoremen's Association

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 23, 1952

101 N.L.R.B. 77 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION 77
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN 'S ASSOCIATION, DISTRICT COUNCIL OF
PORTS OF PUERTO Rico, AFL, AND ITS AFFILIATED LOCALS 1740 AND
1674 and CENTRAL ROIG REFINING COMPANY, INC.
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN 'S ASSOCIATION, DISTRICT COUNCIL OF
PORTS OF PUERTO Rico, AFL, AND ITS PRESIDENT E. G. MORENO and
FRANCISCO VEGA OTERO D/B/A COMPANIA DE TRANSPORTE FRANCISCO
VEGA OTERO
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN 'S ASSOCIATION, DISTRICT COUNCIL OF
PORTS OF PUERTO RICO , AFL, ITS PRESIDENT E. G. MORENO AND ITS
LOCAL 1740 and PUERTO Rico STEAMSHIP ASSOCIATION . Cases Nos.
24-CD-2, 24-CD-3, and 24-CD-4. October 23,1952
Decision and Determination of Dispute
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This proceeding arises under Section 10 (k) of the Act, which pro-
vides that "whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in an
unfair labor practice within the meaning of paragraph (4) (D) of
Section 8 (b), the Board is empowered and directed to hear and de-
termine the dispute out of which such unfair labor practice shall have
.arisen...."
On May 28, 1952, Central Roig Refinery Company, herein called
Roig Refinery, filed charges against International Longshoremen's
Association, District Council of Ports of Puerto Rico, herein called
the ILA, and its affiliated Locals 1740 and 1674. On May 29, 1952,
Francisco Vega Otero, d/b/a Compania de Transporte Francisco Vega
Otero, herein called Vega Otero, filed charges against the ILA and
its president, E. G. Moreno. On June 4 and 17, 1952, the Puerto Rico
Steamship Association, herein called the Association, filed charges and
amended charges against the Council, its president, and its Local
1740. The charges alleged that the Respondents had engaged in and
were engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section
8 (b) (4) (D) of the Act.
Thereafter, pursuant to Section 10 (k) of the Act and Sections
102.71 and 102.72 of the Board' s Rules and Regulations , the Regional
Director investigated the charges and, after consolidating the cases
for purposes of hearing, provided for a hearing upon due notice to all
parties. A hearing was held before George L. Weasler, hearing of-
ficer, on August 14, 15, 18, and 19, 1952. All parties appeared at the
hearing and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses , and to adduce evidence bearing on the
issues.:,
1 Asoclacion de Choferes y Empleados de Camiones de Caguas , affiliated with Asociacion
de Choferes de Puerto Rico, Inc., the certified representative of the employees of Vega
Otero, was mailed a copy of the notice of hearing but did not enter an appearance or
intervene.
101 NLRB No. 29.
78 . DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The rulings of the hearing officer made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded
an opportunity to file briefs with the Board but none was filed.
Upon the entire record in the cases the Board 2 makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The businesses of the Employers
(a) Central Roig Refining Company, The.
Central Roig Refining Company, Inc., is a Puerto Rico corporation
completely owned by the partners of Antonio Roig Sucesores, which
manufactures refined sugar at Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. The partner-
ship also manufactures raw sugar at Central El Ejemplo, Humacao,
Puerto Rico. During the 12-month period preceding the hearing Roig-
shipped outside of Puerto Rico approximately 38,000,000 pounds of re-
fined sugar and approximately 32,500,000 pounds of raw sugar valued
in excess of $1,750,000.
The parties stipulated, and we find, that both the partnership and
Central Roig Refinery, Inc., are engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
(b) Vega Otero
Vega Otero, d/b/a Compania Transporte Francisco Vega Otero,
is engaged in a trucking business in San Juan, Caguas, and Humacao,
Puerto Rico. The greater portion of the Company's income is de-
rived from hauling sugar under contract for the Eastern Sugar Asso-
ciates and Antonio Roig Sucesores. During the 12-month period pre-
ceding the hearing this Company transported sugar valued in excess
of $5,000,000 for the two companies to the piers at San Juan for ship-
ment outside Puerto Rico.
The parties stipulated, and we find, that Vega Otero is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the Act.
(c) Puerto Rico Steamship Association
The Association is a membership association of companies engaged
in the various ports of the Island of Puerto Rico in the loading and
unloading of vessels, receipt and delivery of cargo and related opera-
tions, and the transportation of such cargo between ports in Puerto
Rico and ports of the United States and foreign countries. The total
' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel
[ Members Houston, Murdock , and Styles].
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN ' S ASSOCIATION 79
value of such cargo transported from Puerto Rico to the United States
and foreign countries during the 12-month period preceding the hear-
ing was $337,000,000. During the same period the value of cargo
transported from the United States and foreign countries to Puerto
Rico was in excess of $200,000,000. Included among the Association's
members are the Bull Insular Lines, Inc., and the Lykes Lines Agency,
Inc.
We find that the Association is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
2. The dispute
(a) The facts
Vega Otero, who has a collective bargaining agreement with the
Asociacion de Choferes y Empleados de Camiones de Caguas , certi-
fied as bargaining representative for his employees on April 17, 1952,
hauls both raw and refined sugar to the piers at San Juan. At Cen-
tral El Ejemplo, following a practice of many years, the raw sugar
is placed aboard Vega Otero's trucks by the employees of Central El
Ejemplo and then is stacked in the truck by the employees of the
trucker. The unloading and stacking of the raw sugar at the piers at
San Juan are done by stevedoring employees of the steamship com-
panies or companies affiliated with them.
A different procedure, however, and one which has been the practice
at least for approximately 16 years, is followed for loading and
unloading refried sugar from Roig Refinery. The loading of refined
sugar on Vega Otero's trucks at the refinery and the unloading and
stacking of this sugar on the piers are done by the trucker's own
employees and not by the stevedore employees of the steamship
companies. It is this work-the unloading and stacking of ruined
sugar at the piers at San Juan-which is in dispute.
On May 6,1952, while employees of Vega Otero were unloading and
stacking Roig's refined sugar at pier #9 of the Bull Insular Lines,
an ILA picket line was established. The employees of Vega Otero
stopped work and gathered outside the pier. When an official of the
Bull Lines spoke to the president of ILA Local 1740, he was told that
the ILA stevedores thought that the unloading and stacking of refined
sugar should be done by them. The picket line, however, was removed
at the instructions of E. G. Moreno, president of ILA, who stated that
the matter had been postponed for 15 days. On the same day Moreno
told another official of the Bull Lines that the picket line was set up
because the ILA stevedores wanted the unloading of the refined sugar
at the piers to be done by the dock workers and not by the employees
of the trucking company.
80 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
On June 1 or June 2, 1952, the employees of Vega Otero began to
unload refined sugar from the Roig refinery at the Bull Line's pier
#1 in San Juan. Stella Royo, the official of Vega Otero who testified,
left the pier after the work began. When he returned, he found his
men outside the pier. They told him that the ILA men had chased
them off the pier. At that time Stella Royo talked with three officials
of the ILA-Ortiz, Gordils, and Caban. They told him "you are not
supposed to unload refined sugar, because that belongs to us." Stella
Royo then sought and received police protection. When the police
asked Gordils if the men were on strike, Gordils said that they were
not on strike but, "we don't want these people that come from the
island to unload this refined sugar here." While this conversation
was taking place, the ILA pickets appeared in front of the pier. The
pickets' placards bore the following statements in Spanish : "All the
work in the waterfront is under the jurisdiction of the ILA. The
stacking of sugar is part of our contract on the piers. We demand that
it be fulfilled"; "The work on the piers is for the workers on the piers.
We do not permit that imported workers who get lower salaries than
ours," [sic] and "The sugar stevedores demand that our contract be
fulfilled; to stack on the piers is the jurisdiction of the pier workers."
Despite the police protection, Vega Otero's workers refused to cross
the picket line, and the men who were loading raw sugar on the steam-
ship Glencoe of the Bull Lines also stopped work. Later that day the
refined sugar was hauled back to the refinery, and from that date
until after the issuance of a restraining order by the Federal district
court, on July 2, 1952, Vega Otero made no further effort to unload
sugar at the San Juan piers.
During this period Vega Otero was having much the same diffi-
culty with his deliveries of Roig's refined sugar to the Lykes Agency.
On May 7, 1952, the assistant manager of Lykes Lines was informed
by Ortiz of the ILA that if he received any more refined sugar from
Roig, the ILA would set up a picket line at the piers. The next morn-
ing, May 8, there was a picket line in front of the Lykes Lines piers
#12 and #13 which the checkers, represented by ILA Local 1674,
and other employees of the Lykes Lines would not cross. When
Otero's trucks brought refined sugar from Roig's refinery to pier
#13, they found this picket line there. After some conversation
between representatives of Lykes Lines and Vega Otero and an offi-
cial of ILA, the picket line was removed; but after about one-half
hour the pickets reappeared in front of the pier, and Caban, Oritz,
and Gordils of the ILA arrived. These three ILA officials and the
representative of Vega Otero then conferred with Moreno who agreed
to permit Vega Otero to finish unloading the trucks upon which work
had been started. Vega Otero's employees, however, despite the
INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION 81
pickets, finished unloading the entire shipment. On May 10, 1952,
ILA stevedores at pier # 13 refused to load Roig's refined sugar aboard
the S. S. Jean Lykes, and this vessel left without its complete cargo a
(b) Contentions of the parties
The Employers-the charging parties-assert that by the above
conduct the Respondents violated Section 8 (b) (4) (D) of the
amended Act.
The Respondents, represented by counsel, participated in the hear-
ing and cross-examined witnesses. They, however, presented no wit-
nesses and made no clear statement of position on the merits of this
proceeding. Neither the Respondents nor the charging parties argued
in summation at the hearing or filed briefs with the Board.
(c) Applicability of the statute
The charges, which were duly investigated by the Regional Director,
allege a violation of Section 8 (b) (4) (D) of the amended Act, and
the Regional Director was satisfied that upon the basis of such in-
vestigation, a violation of that section has been committed. As stated,
the Respondents presented no testimony, and the facts upon which
we base our findings are uncontroverted on the record.
On the record before us, we find that there is reasonable cause to
believe that the Respondents engaged in activities proscribed by
Section 8 (b) (4) (D) of the Act, with the object of forcing or
requiring Vega Otero to assign the work of unloading and stacking
refined sugar on the piers at San Juan to members of their organiza-
tion rather than to Vega Otero's own employees who are members of
another labor organization. We therefore find that the dispute in
question is properly before us for determination in a proceeding
under Section 10 (k).
(d) The merits of the dispute
The record shows that the Respondents have no rights under any
contract with Vega Otero upon which to predicate a lawful claim to
the work in dispute. Nor is Vega Otero failing to conform to any
order or certification of the Board determining the bargaining repre-
sentative for the employees performing the work in dispute. To the
contrary, Vega Otero has recognized, bargained with, and executed a
contract with the certified representative of his employees. Neither
is there any question that Vega Otero has assigned the work to his
own employees.
3 The record indicates that there were other instances of refusals by the stevedores
to load sugar aboard vessels during July. As the record before us, however , does not
clearly prove that the Respondents instigated or were responsible for these incidents, we
have not considered them in our determination of this dispute.
82 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
These facts are determinative of the present dispute. The Board
has held that Sections 8 (b) (4) (D) and 10 (k) "do not deprive an
employer of the right to assign work to his own employees, nor were
they intended to interfere with an employer's freedom to hire, subject
only to the requirement against discrimination as contained in Sec-
tion 8 (a) (3)." 4 Consequently, in determining this dispute, it is
sufficient on the facts before us that Vega Otero assigned the work to
its own employees and that the Respondents engaged in proscribed
activities to force or require Vega Otero to assign this work to their
own members.
Accordingly, we find that the Respondents are not lawfully entitled
to force or require Vega Otero to assign the work of unloading from
its trucks and stacking refined sugar on the piers at San Juan, Puerto
Rico, to their members rather than to employees of Vega Otero.'
Determination of Dispute
On the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and the entire record
in this case, the Board makes the following determination of the
dispute, pursuant to Section 10 (k) of the amended Act:
1. International Longshoremen's Association, District Council of
Ports of Puerto Rico, AFL, its president E. G. Moreno, and its Locals
1740 and 1674 are not, and have not been lawfully entitled to force or
require Francisco Vega Otero, d/b/a Compania de Transporte Fran-
cisco Vega Otero to assign the work of unloading and stacking refined
sugar on the piers at San Juan, Puerto Rico, to members of their
organizations rather than to employees of Vega Otero.
2. Within ten (10) days from the date of this Decision and Deter-
mination of Dispute, each of the Respondents shall notify the Re-
gional Director for the Twenty-fourth Region, in writing, as to what
steps the Respondents have taken to comply with the terms of this
Decision and Determination of Dispute.
4 United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America , et al. (Stroh Brewers/
Company ), 88 NLRB 844 ; Juneau Spruce Corporation , 82, NLRB 650.
5 Direct Transit Lines, 92 NLRB 1715.
JOHN IRVING STORES OF CHICAGO, INC., THE NATIONALLY FAMOUS MARY
JANE SHOE STORES OF ILLINOIS, INC., and CHICAGO JOINT BOARD,
RETAIL, WHOLESALE & DEPARTMENT STORE UNION, C. I. 0., PETI-
TIONER . Case No.13-RC-?664. October 23,195!
Decision and Order
On May 13, 1952, pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon
consent election, an election by secret ballot was conducted under the
101 NLRB No. 21.