Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 3, 2017

10-CA-181740 (N.L.R.B. Apr. 3, 2017)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE
OPERATIONS, LLC
and Case 10-CA-181740
UNITED STEEL, PAPER AND FORESTRY,
RUBBER, MANUFACTURING, ENERGY,
ALLIED INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICE WORKERS
INTERNATIONAL, AFL-CIO, CLC AND ITS
LOCAL 1055L
DECISION AND ORDER
Statement of the Case
On November 30, 2016, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC (the
Respondent), United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied
Industrial and Service Workers International, AFL-CIO, CLC and its Local 1055L (the
Union), and the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board entered into a
Formal Settlement Stipulation, subject to the Board’s approval, providing for the entry of a
consent order by the Board and a consent judgment by any appropriate United States
Court of Appeals. The parties waived all further and other proceedings before the Board to
which they may be entitled under the National Labor Relations Act and the Board’s Rules
and Regulations, and the Respondent waived its right to contest the entry of a consent
judgment or to receive further notice of the application therefor.
The Formal Settlement Stipulation is approved and made a part of the record, and
the proceeding is transferred to and continued before the Board in Washington, D.C., for
the entry of a Decision and Order pursuant to the provisions of the Formal Settlement
Stipulation.
Based on the Formal Settlement Stipulation and the entire record, the Board makes
the following
Findings of Fact
1. The Respondent’s business
(a) The Respondent is a limited liability company with an office and place of
business in La Vergne, Tennessee, and is engaged in the manufacture of vehicle tires.
(b) In conducting its business operations described above, the Respondent
annually purchases and receives at its La Vergne, Tennessee facility goods valued in
excess of $50,000 directly from points outside the State of Tennessee.
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(c) At all material times, the Respondent has been an employer engaged in
commerce within the meaning of Section 2(2), (6), and (7) of the Act.
2. The labor organization involved
(a) At all material times, United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing,
Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International, AFL-CIO, CLC, has been a
labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
(b) At all material times, Local 1055L of United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International, AFL-CIO, CLC,
has been a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
3. The bargaining unit
(a) The following employees of the Respondent (the unit) constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of
the Act:
All production and maintenance employees classified as production operator, senior
production operator, production specialist, production leader and senior production
leader, including die shop, excluding office employees, personnel, clerical
employees, security inspectors, technical and professional employees, final
inspection classifiers, tire room instructors, set-up personnel, elevator attendants,
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(b) At all material times, the Respondent has recognized the Union as the exclusive
collective-bargaining representative of the unit. This recognition has been embodied in
successive collective-bargaining agreements, the most recent of which is effective from
August 12, 2013 through July 29, 2017.
(c) At all material times, based on Section 9(a) of the Act, the Union has been the
exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the unit.
ORDER
Based on the above findings of fact, the Formal Settlement Stipulation, and the
entire record, and pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the
National Labor Relations Board orders that:
The Respondent, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, La Vergne,
Tennessee, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Unilaterally turning on surveillance cameras without affording the Union notice
and an opportunity to bargain to agreement or a good-faith impasse.
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(b) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees
in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the
Act.
(a) Within 14 days of service by the Region, post at its La Vergne, Tennessee
facility copies of the Notice to Employees attached as Appendix 1.1 Copies of the notice,
on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 10, after being signed by the
Respondent’s authorized representative, shall be posted by the Respondent and
maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places, including all places where
notices to employees are customarily posted.
(b) In the event that, during the pendency of these proceedings, the Respondent
has gone out of business or closed its La Vergne, Tennessee facility, the Respondent shall
duplicate and mail, at its own expense, a copy of the notice to all current employees and
former employees employed by the Respondent at the closed facility at any time since
February 25, 2016.
(c) Within 14 days of the Board’s order, turn off the surveillance cameras that were
unilaterally turned on by the Employer on April 27, 2016.
(d) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file with the Regional Director for
Region 10 a sworn certification of a responsible official on a form provided by the Region
attesting to the steps the Respondent has taken to comply. The certification shall include
a copy of the documents signed by a responsible official attesting to the dates that the
notices were received at each facility, the dates that the notices were posted, where the
notices were posted, and a digital photograph of each posted notice with metadata
including date taken and GPS coordinates.
Dated, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2017
___________________________________
Philip A. Miscimarra, Acting Chairman
___________________________________
Mark Gaston Pearce, Member
___________________________________
Lauren McFerran, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

1 When 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.”
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APPENDIX 1
NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
PURSUANT TO A STIPULATION PROVIDING FOR A BOARD ORDER
AND A CONSENT JUDGMENT OF ANY APPROPRIATE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FEDERAL LAW GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO:
 Form, join, or assist a union;
 Choose representatives to bargain with us on your behalf;
 Act together with other employees for your benefit and protection;
 Choose not to engage in any of these protected activities.
United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and
Service Workers International, AFL-CIO, CLC and its Local 1055L is the employees’
representative in dealing with us regarding wages, hours, and other working conditions of
the employees in the following unit:
All production and maintenance employees classified as production operator, senior
production operator, production specialist, production leader and senior production
leader, including die shop, excluding office employees, personnel, clerical
employees, security inspectors, technical and professional employees, final
inspection classifiers, tire room instructors, set-up personnel, elevator attendants,
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
WE WILL NOT turn on surveillance cameras without affording the Union notice and an
opportunity to bargain to agreement or a good-faith impasse.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce you in the
exercise of the rights guaranteed you by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.
WE WILL turn off the surveillance cameras that were unilaterally turned on by the
Employer on April 27, 2016.
BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE OPERATIONS, LLC
The Board’s decision can be found at www.nlrb.gov/case/10-CA-181740 or by using the
QR code below. Alternatively, you can obtain a copy of the decision from the Executive
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1015 Half Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.
20570, or by calling (202) 273-1940.
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