E.T. & T. Leasing, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 21, 1974

211 N.L.R.B. 804 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

804 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Eagle Truck and Trailer Rental Division of E.T. & T.
Leasing, Inc. and Teamsters Local Union No. 676.
Case 4-CA-6637
June 21, 1974
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND JENKINS
Upon a charge and amended charge filed on
November 12, 1973, and January 21, 1974, respec-
tively, by Teamsters Local Union No. 676, herein
called the Union, and duly served on Eagle Truck
and Trailer Rental Division of E.T. & T. Leasing,
Inc., herein called the Respondent, the General
Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, by
the Regional Director for Region 4, issued a
complaint on January 24, 1974, against Respondent,
alleging that Respondent had engaged in, and was
engaging in, unfair labor practices affecting com-
merce within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1)
of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended.
Copies of the charge, complaint, and notice of
hearing before an Administrative Law Judge were
duly served on the parties to this proceeding.
With respect to the unfair labor practices the
complaint alleges, in substance, that since on or
about October 20, 1973, Respondent shut down its
Collingswood, New Jersey, terminal and has since
refused to bargain with the Union about the effects
of the shutdown on Respondent's employees in
violation of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act.
Respondent failed to file an answer to the complaint.
On March 4, 1974, counsel for the General Counsel
filed directly with the Board a Motion for Summary
Judgment based on Respondent's failure to file a
timely answer as required by the Board's Rules and
Regulations. Subsequently, on March 12, 1974, the
Board issued an order transferring the proceeding to
the Board and a Notice To Show Cause why the
General Counsel's Motion for Summary Judgment
should not be granted. Respondent did not file a
response to the Notice To Show Cause.
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 proceeding, the
Board makes the following:
Ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment
Section 102.20 of the Board's Rules and Regula-
tions, Series 8 , as amended, provides as follows:
The respondent shall, within 10 days from the
211 NLRB No. 104
service of the complaint, file an answer thereto.
The respondent shall specifically admit, deny, or
explain each of the facts alleged in the complaint,
unless the respondent is without knowledge, in
which case the respondent shall so state, such
statement operating as a denial. All allegations in
the complaint, if no answer is filed, or any
allegation in the complaint not specifically denied
or explained in an answer filed, unless the
respondent shall state in the answer that he is
without knowledge, shall be deemed to be
admitted to be true and shall be so found by the
Board, unless good cause to the contrary is
shown.
The complaint and notice of hearing served on the
Respondent specifically stated that unless an answer
to the complaint was filed within 10 days from the
service thereof "all of the allegations of the com-
plaint shall be deemed to be admitted to be true and
shall be so found by the Board." Further, according
to the Motion for Summary Judgment, after the time
for filing an answer had expired, counsel for the
General Counsel on several occasions subsequent to
February 6, 1974, and between February I 1 and 25,
1974, informed Respondent by telephone that an
answer to the complaint was required and that a
motion for summary judgment could be filed. To
date Respondent has given no reasons for its failure
to do so. Since Respondent has not filed an answer
within 10 days from the service of the complaint, or
at any other time, and since no good cause for such
failure has been shown, in accordance with the rule
set forth above, the averments of the complaint
herein are deemed to be admitted to be true. We
shall, accordingly, grant the Motion for Summary
Judgment.
On the basis of the entire record the Board makes
the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Respondent, a Maryland corporation, has its
principal office in Baltimore, Maryland, where it is
engaged in leasing and maintaining trucks at various
terminals including one at Collingswood, New
Jersey, the only terminal involved in this proceeding.
During the past year Respondent derived income in
excess of $50,000 directly from outside the State of
Maryland.
We find, on the basis of the foregoing, that
Respondent is, and has been at all times material
herein, an employer engaged in commerce within the
meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, and that
EAGLE TRUCK AND TRAILER RENTAL
it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction herein.
11. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Teamsters Local Union No. 676 is a labor
organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of
the Act.
III. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
The 8(a)(5) Violation
The following employees of the Respondent
constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of
the Act:
All employees classified as body mechanics,
mechanics, and miscellaneous at Respondent's
Collingswood, New Jersey, terminal, excluding
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Since January 1, 1972, Respondent and the Union
have been parties to a collective-bargaining agree-
ment pursuant to which Respondent recognized the
Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining repre-
sentative for purposes of negotiating rates of pay,
wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment for Respondent's employees in the unit
herein found to be appropriate. The agreement is
effective to January 1, 1975. On or about October 20,
1973, Respondent shut down and vacated its Coll-
ingswood, New Jersey, terminal. Since on or about
October 20, 1973, Respondent has refused to bargain
with the Union about the effects of the shutdown on
its employees. We, accordingly, find that the Respon-
dent, by the conduct described above, has, since on
or about October 20, 1973, refused to bargain with
the Union as the exclusive representative of its
employees in the appropriate unit and that by such
conduct, Respondent has engaged in unfair labor
practices within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and
(1) of the Act.
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 its
operations described in section I, above, have a close,
intimate, and substantial relationship 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 com-
merce.
V. THE REMEDY
805
Having found that Respondent has engaged in,
and is engaging in, unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act, we
shall order it to cease and desist from refusing to
bargain with the Union over the effects of the
shutdown of its Collingswood, New Jersey, terminal
upon Respondent's employees in the unit found
above to be appropriate, and, if an understanding is
reached, to embody such understanding in a signed
agreement.
The Board, upon the basis of the foregoing facts
and the entire record herein, makes the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Eagle Truck and Trailer Rental Division of E.
T. & T. Leasing, Inc., is an employer engaged in
commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7)
of the Act.
2. Teamsters Local Union No. 676 is a labor
organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of
the Act.
3. All employees classified as body mechanics,
mechanics, and miscellaneous at Respondent's Coll-
ingswood, New Jersey, terminal , excluding guards
and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining under Section 9(b) of the Act.
4. By refusing on or about October 20, 1973, and
at all times thereafter, to bargain collectively in good
faith with the Union over the effect on its employees
of the closing of its Collingswood, New Jersey,
terminal, Respondent has engaged in unfair labor
practices within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) of the
Act.
5. By the actions described in the preceding
paragraph, Respondent interfered with, restrained,
and coerced, and is interfering with, restraining, and
coercing employees in the exercise of rights guaran-
teed to them in Section 7 of the Act, and thereby has
engaged in, and is engaging in, unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the
Act.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the Respondent,
Eagle Truck and Trailer Rental Division of E. T. &
T. Leasing, Inc., its officers, agents, successors, and
assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively with Teamsters
Local Union No. 676 over the effects of the
806 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shutdown of its Collingswood, New Jersey, terminal
with respect to employees in the following appropri-
ate unit:
All employees classified as body mechanics,
mechanics, and miscellaneous at Respondent's
Collingswood, New Jersey, terminal, excluding
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(b) In any other manner interfering with, restrain-
ing, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights
guaranteed them in Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action which
the Board finds will effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Upon request, bargain with the labor organiza-
tion named above as the exclusive representative of
all employees in the aforesaid appropriate unit over
the effects of the shutdown of its Collingswood, New
Jersey, terminal and, if an understanding is reached,
embody such understanding in a signed agreement.
(b) Mail copies of the attached notice marked
"Appendix,"' on forms provided by the Regional
Director for Region 4, after being duly signed by the
Respondent's representative, to the last known
address of the employees involved and to the Union.
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 4, in
writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order,
what steps the Respondent has taken to comply
herewith.
I 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 "
APPENDIX
NOTICE To EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain collectively
concerning the effects of the shutdown of the
Collingswood, New Jersey, terminal with Team-
sters Local Union No. 676 as the exclusive
representative of the employees in the bargaining
unit described below.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner
interfere with, restrain, or coerce our employees
in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by
Section 7 of the Act.
WE WILL, upon request, bargain with the
above-named Union, as the exclusive representa-
tive of all employees in the bargaining unit
described below, with respect to the effects of the
shutdown and, if an understanding is reached,
embody such understanding in a signed agree-
ment. The bargaining unit is:
All employees classified as body mechanics,
mechanics, and miscellaneous at the Coll-
ingswood, New Jersey, terminal, excluding
guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
EAGLE TRUCK AND
TRAILER RENTAL
DIVISION OF E.T. & T.
LEASING, INC.
(Employer)
Dated By
(Representative ) (Title)
This is an official notice and must not be defaced
by anyone.
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive
days from the date of posting and must not be
altered, defaced, or covere.i by any other material.
Any questions concerning this notice or compli-
ance with its provisions may be directed to the
Board's Office, William J. Green, Jr., Federal
Building, 600 Arch Street, Suite 4400, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19106, Telephone 215-597-7601.