Carpenters Local No. 235

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 4, 1969

174 N.L.R.B. 996 (N.L.R.B. 1969)

996 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Carpenters Local No. 23S , United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America , AFL-CIO
( Howard C. Edmiston ) and Howard C. Edmiston.
Case 21-CC-1083
March 4, 1969
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
Respondent induced and encouraged employees of
secondary employers to cease work for an object of
forcing their employers to cease doing business for the
United States Air Force at March Air Force Base in
order to force or require the Air Force to cease doing
business with Howard C Edmiston, a general contractor,
thereby engaging in a violation of Section 8(b)(4)(i) and
(ii)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act, herein called
the Act.
The General Counsel and Respondent have filed briefs
herein and they have been carefully considered. Upon the
entire record and my observation of the witnesses, I
hereby make the following.
On December 9, 1968, Trial Examiner James R.
Webster issued his Decision in the above proceeding,
finding that the Respondent had engaged in and was
engaging in certain unfair labor practices and
recommending that it cease and desist therefrom
and take certain affirmative action, as set forth in
the attached Trial Examiner's Decision. Thereafter,
the Respondent filed exceptions to the Trial
Examiner's Decision and a brief in support thereof
and the General Counsel filed an answering brief.
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
The Board has considered the Trial Examiner's
Decision, exceptions, brief and answering brief, and
the entire record in this case, and hereby adopts the
findings,' conclusions, and recommendations of the
Trial Examiner.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act , as amended , the National Labor
Relations Board adopts as its Order the
Recommended Order of the Trial Examiner, and
hereby orders that the Respondent , Carpenters
Local Union No. 235, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America , AFL-CIO, its
officers, agents, and representatives , shall take the
action set forth in the Trial Examiner's
Recommended Order.
TRIAL EXAMINER'S DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
JAMES R. WEBSTER, Trial Examiner This case with all
parties represented was heard in Riverside, California, on
October 10, 1968, on complaint of the General Counsel
and answer of Carpenters Local No. 235, United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
AFL-CIO, herein called Respondent The complaint was
issued on September 20, 1968, on charges filed July 29
and August 23, 1968 The complaint alleges that
It is clear that the Trial Examiner inadvertently stated that the Union
representatives, Holt and Hanson, had located Holmes, who was the
employer, at the Iobsite, when he meant employee Bailey We hereby
correct the inadvertence
FINDINGS OF FACT
i. THE BUSINESSES OF THE EMPLOYERS
March Air Force Base is a facility of the United States
Air Force located in Riverside County, California, and is
a part of the national defense establishment
Richard Holmes is an individual engaged in business as
a general contractor in the building and construction
industry in the Riverside, California, area At all times
material herein Holmes has been engaged in the
construction of bachelor officers' quarters at March Air
Force Base pursuant to a contract with the United States
Corps of Engineers for a sum in excess of $617,000
Howard C Edmiston is an individual engaged in
business as a general contractor in the building and
construction industry in Fontana, California, and since
July 1968, he has been engaged in the alteration and
repair of the officers' open mess at March Air Force Base
pursuant to a contract with the United States Air Force
of a value in excess of $106,000 During the past year,
both Holmes and Edmiston have used in their
construction work supplies and materials which were
manufactured and shipped from points outside the State
of California to local distributors of a value in excess of
$4,000 and $11,000, respectively.
I find that the activities of Edmiston and Holmes on
the March Air Force Base have a substantial impact on
national defense and that they are employers engaged in
commerce and in an industry affecting commerce within
the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) and Section 8(b)(4) of
the Act
IL THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Carpenters Local No 235, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO,
Respondent herein, and Building and Construction Trades
Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties,
AFL-CIO, herein called Council, are labor organizations
within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act
111. THE ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE
A. Preliminary Statement and Issues
Since July 15, 1968, and at all times material herein,
the Building and Construction Trades Council of San
Bernardino and Riverside Counties , AFL-CIO, has had a
labor dispute with Edmiston , and commencing on or
about July 19, 1968, and at all times material herein, said
Council has picketed the entrances to March Air Force
Base in furtherance of its dispute with Edmiston . There is
no contention that the picketing was other than primary
174 NLRB No. 149
CARPENTERS LOCAL NO. 235 997
The principal issue herein is whether Respondent
through its business agents induced and encouraged
employees of General Contractor Holmes to cease work
at the March Air Force Base Holmes and Respondent
are parties to a collective-bargaining agreement
the United States Air Force to cease doing business with
Edmiston I Having found that Respondent has "induced
and encouraged" an employee for an illegal objective, it is
immaterial to determine whether or not the conduct was
effective '
B Statement of Facts
At about 3 p.m on July 24, 1968, George Holt and
Dale Hanson, business representatives for Respondent,
came to Holmes' jobsite at the officers' quarters on
March Air Force Base to check on two employees who
had been reported to be working without clearance While
there a representative of a painters union informed them
that Bill Bailey, a member of Respondent and an
employee of Holmes, was working on the jobsite that day.
They then located Holmes and Holt stated, " Ht, Bill I
didn't expect to see you here. Did you know there was a
picket line here9" Bailey replied, "Well, there was
yesterday, but when I came through this morning, there
wasn't one " They told him that it had been there all day
Bailey asked them if they were picketing his employer,
and they replied that they were not supposed to talk about
it Bailey then stated that he was all finished then,
anyway Holt and Hanson left and Bailey picked up his
tools and did no further work on the project that day.
Holt testified that when there is a picket line, all
business agents and union members are concerned about
it, and that it is a matter of honor with union members to
honor picket lines of other unions . On the day involved,
July 24, both Holt and Hanson had participated in the
picketing at the Base
Respondent did not take any disciplinary action against
Bill Bailey for the fact that he was working on the project
on July 24 at a time when there was picketing
C Conclusions
Did Respondent by the conduct and remarks of Holt
and Hanson "induce and encourage " Bailey to cease
work , as those terms are used in Section 8(b)(4) of the
Act?
Board decisions have held that where a union
representative , in answer to an inquiry on the matter,
informs an employee that a picket line exists, he has
engaged in no unfair labor practice by such statement,
and, further , if queried as to what the employee should
do, he answers that he cannot advise him on this subject,
no unfair labor practice has occurred' The union
representative is under no affirmative duty to direct the
employee to work To read into these remarks a
communication to an employee that he cease work would
be unduly introspective and would not be warranted by
the nature of the remarks or the circumstances under
which they were made
On the other hand , however, where a union
representative seeks out an employee and calls his
attention to the existence of a picket line, it is clear that
his intent thereby is to have the employee cease work In
the instant case that is what occurred I find that
Respondent by the actions and remarks of Holt and
Hanson in seeking out Bailey and calling his attention to
the picket line induced and encouraged him to cease work
for Holmes for the object ' of stopping this construction
work at the Air Base and for the further object of causing
'Glenn Cartage Co, 146 NLRB 1319. Utah Sand & Gravel Products
Corp, 148 NLRB 118
iV THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
UPON COMMERCE
Those activities of Respondent, set forth in section III,
found to constitute unfair labor practices, occurring in
connection with the businesses of the employers as set
forth in section I, 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 of commerce
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and
upon the entire record in this case, I make the following
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1 General Contractors Richard Holmes and Howard
C Edmiston are employers engaged in commerce and in
an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of
Section 2(6) and (7) and Section 8(b)(4) of the Act
2. Carpenters Local No. 235, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, and
Building and Construction Trades Council of San
Bernardino and Riverside Counties, AFL-CIO, are labor
organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the
Act
3 By inducing and encouraging an employee of
Richard Holmes to engage in a strike or a refusal to
perform any services for an object of forcing or requiring
his employer to cease doing business with the United
States Corps of Engineers or the United States Air Force
and for an object of forcing or requiring the United States
Air Force to cease doing business with Howard C.
Edmiston, Respondent has engaged in an unfair labor
practice in violation of Section 8(b)(4)(i) and (u)(B) of the
Act.
4 The aforesaid unfair labor practice is an unfair labor
practice affecting commerce within the meaning of Section
2(6) and (7) of the Act.
THE REMEDY
Having found that Respondent has engaged in an unfair
labor practice violative of Section 8(b)(4)(i) and (ii)(B) of
the Act, I shall recommend that it cease and desist
therefrom and that it take certain affirmative action
designed to effectuate the policies of the Act
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Carpenters Local No 235, United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America , AFL-CIO, its
officers, agents, and representatives, shall
l Cease and desist from inducing and encouraging any
employees of Richard Holmes, or any other employer or
person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting
commerce , to engage in a strike or a re fusal in the course
of his employment to use, manufacture , process,
transport, or otherwise handle or work on any goods,
articles, materials , or commodities or to perform any
'/ C Minium , 159 NLRB 550, 560
'Carolina Lumber Co. 130 NLRB 1438
998 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
services where an object thereof is to force or require said
employer to cease doing business with the United States
Corps of Engineers or United States Air Force, or where
an object thereof is to force or require the United States
Air Force to cease doing business with Howard C
Edmiston.
2 Take the following affirmative action designed to
effectuate the policies of the Act
(a) Post in conspicuous places at its business office and
meeting hall, including all places where notices to its
members are customarily posted, copies of the attached
notice marked "Appendix "4 Copies of said notice, to be
furnished by the Regional Director for Region 21, shall,
after being duly signed by an authorized representative of
Respondent, be posted by it immediately upon receipt
thereof, and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive days.
Reasonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to insure
that such notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by
any other material
(b) Deliver or mail signed copies of said notice to the
Regional Director for Region 21, for posting by Richard
Holmes, if he is willing, at all locations where notices to
his employees are customarily posted
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 21, in
writing, within 20 days from the receipt by Respondent of
a copy of this Decision, what steps it has taken to comply
herewith '
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS
Pursuant to the Recommended Order of a Trial
Examiner of the National Labor Relations Board and in
order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, we hereby notify you that
WE WILL NOT induce or encourage employees of
Richard Holmes, or any other employer engaged in
commerce or in an industry affecting commerce, to
engage in a strike or a refusal in the course of his
employment to use, manufacture, process, transport, or
otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles,
materials, or commodities or to perform any services
where an object thereof is to force or require Richard
Holmes to cease doing business with the United States
Corps of Engineers or the United States Air Force, or
where an object thereof is to force or require the
United States Air Force to cease doing business with
Howard C Edmiston
CARPENTERS LOCAL No.
235, UNITED
BROTHERHOOD OF
CARPENTERS AND
JOINERS OF AMERICA,
AFL-CIO
(Labor Organization)
In the event that this Recommended Order is adopted by the Board, the
words "a Decision and Order" shall be substituted for the words "the
Recommended Order of a Trial Examiner" in the notice In the further
event that the Board ' s Order is enforced by a decree of a United States
Court of Appeals, the words "a Decree of the United States Court of
Appeals, Enforcing an Order" shall be substituted for the words "a
Decision and Order "
'in the event that this Recommended Order is adopted by the Board,
this provision shall be modified to read "Notify the Regional Director for
Region 21, in writing, within 10 days from the date of this Order, what
steps it has taken to comply herewith "
Dated By
(Representative) (Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days
from the date of posting and must not be altered, defaced,
or covered by any other material
If members have any question concerning this notice or
compliance with its provisions, they may communicate
directly with the Board's Regional Office, Eastern
Columbia Building, 849 South Broadway, Los Angeles,
California 90014, Telephone 688-5229