Germantown Electric

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 30, 2004

342 N.L.R.B. 66 (N.L.R.B. 2004)

342 NLRB No. 66
Germantown Electric, Inc. and International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No.
34, AFL–CIO. Case 33–CA–14500
July 30, 2004
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN BATTISTA AND MEMBERS LIEBMAN AND
WALSH
The General Counsel seeks a default judgment in this
case on the ground that the Respondent has failed to file
an answer to the complaint. Upon a charge filed by the
Union on January 13, 2004, the General Counsel issued
the complaint on March 30, 2004, against Germantown
Electric, Inc., the Respondent, alleging that it has vio-
lated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act. The Respondent
failed to file an answer.
On May 3, 2004, the General Counsel filed a Motion
for Default Judgment with the Board. On May 10, 2004,
the Board issued an order transferring the proceeding to
the Board and a Notice to Show Cause why the motion
should not be granted. The Respondent filed no re-
sponse. The allegations in the motion are therefore un-
disputed.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
Ruling on Motion for Default Judgment
Section 102.20 of the Board’s Rules and Regulations
provides that the allegations in the complaint shall be
deemed admitted if an answer is not filed within 14 days
from service of the complaint, unless good cause is
shown. In addition, the complaint affirmatively stated
that unless an answer was filed by April 13, 2004, all the
allegations in the complaint would be considered admit-
ted. Further, the undisputed allegations in the General
Counsel’s motion disclose that the Region, by letter
dated April 14, 2004, notified the Respondent that unless
an answer was received by April 21, 2004, a motion for
default judgment would be filed.
In the absence of good cause being shown for the fail-
ure to file a timely answer, we grant the General Coun-
sel’s motion for default judgment.
On the entire record, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. JURISDICTION
At all material times, the Respondent, a corporation,
with an office and place of business in East Peoria, Illi-
nois, has been engaged in the business of electrical con-
struction work for both residential and commercial cus-
tomers.
During the 12 months prior to September 1, 2003, the
Respondent, in conducting its business operations de-
scribed above, derived gross revenues in excess of
$500,000 and purchased and received and caused to be
transferred and delivered to its various projects at points
within the State of Illinois supplies and materials valued
in excess of $2800, which were transported to said pro-
jects and locations directly from points outside the State
of Illinois. We find that the Respondent is an employer
engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section
2(2), (6), and (7) of the Act and that the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 34,
AFL–CIO, is a labor organization within the meaning of
Section 2(5) of the Act.
II. ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
At all material times, Dennis Miller held the position
of the Respondent’s president and has been a supervisor
of the Respondent within the meaning of Section 2(11)
of the Act and an agent of the Respondent within the
meaning of Section 2(13) of the Act.
The following employees of the Respondent constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:

All employees performing work covered by the collec-
tive bargaining agreement by and between the Central
Illinois (Peoria) Chapter, National Electrical Contrac-
tors Association (NECA), and the Union, captioned
and herein referred to as the Inside Construction
Agreement and effective by its terms from August 8,
2003 through February 28, 2006; but excluding all of-
fice clerical employees, guards, professional employees
and supervisors as defined in the Act.

About January 3, 1997, the Respondent, an employer
engaged in the building and construction industry,
granted recognition to the Union as the exclusive collec-
tive-bargaining representative of the unit by entering into
a collective-bargaining agreement with the Union, spe-
cifically, by signing a letter of assent to be bound by the
terms of successive collective-bargaining agreements
between the Central Illinois (Peoria) Chapter, NECA and
the Union, the most recent of which is the Inside Con-
struction Agreement referred to above, without regard to
whether the majority status of the Union had ever been
established under the provisions of Section 9 of the Act.
Since about January 3, 1997, pursuant to the agree-
ment described above, the Union has been recognized as
the limited exclusive collective-bargaining representative
of the unit by the Respondent without regard to whether
the majority status of the Union had ever been estab-
DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 2
lished under the provisions of Section 9 of the Act.1
Such recognition has been embodied in successive col-
lective-bargaining agreements, the most recent of which
is effective for the period August 8, 2003 through Febru-
ary 28, 2006.
At all times material herein, the Union has requested
the Respondent to honor the terms of the existing Inside
Construction Agreement to which the Respondent is
bound and bargain in good faith with it as the limited
exclusive representative of the unit.
About December 3, 2003, the Union, by letter, re-
quested the Respondent to furnish the Union with infor-
mation regarding the relationship of the Respondent and
East Peoria Electric, Inc., including: the name and ad-
dress of each officer and each director of each company,
and their family relationship to each other, if any; the
name and address of each supervisory employee em-
ployed by each company, including the dates of em-
ployment with each company; a list of property, equip-
ment, tools, supplies, materials or other items used in the
electrical contracting or service business which was
transferred from Germantown Electric to East Peoria
Electric, the amount of consideration received for each
item, the date of its transfer, and the date of filing of any
security interest in the transferred property; the name,
location, and owner for any work commenced by or un-
der contract to Germantown Electric which was per-
formed by East Peoria Electric, or for which East Peoria
Electric assumed responsibility for completion or per-
formance; the name and address of each accountant,
bookkeeper, lawyer, law firm, insurance agent, insurance
company, bonding company or bonding agent who has
performed services for each company within the last 2
years; the name, address and job description of each per-
son who has been employed by each company at any
time during the period from January 1, 2002, to the pre-
sent; a description of the nature and type of work en-
gaged in by each company including its intended cus-
tomers; a list of customers for whom East Peoria Electric
has performed work since its inception and for whom
Germantown Electric also performed work at any time; a
list of all persons, firms, or corporations to whom East
Peoria Electric has bid for work since its inception who
were also persons, firms or corporations for whom Ger-
mantown Electric also bid work at any time during its

1 The complaint alleges that the Respondent is a construction indus-
try employer and that it granted recognition to the Union without regard
to whether the Union had established majority status. Accordingly, we
find that the relationship was entered into pursuant to Sec. 8(f) and that
the Union is therefore the limited 9(a) representative of the unit em-
ployees for the period covered by the contract. See, e.g., A.S.B. Clo-
ture, Ltd., 313 NLRB 1012 (1994).
existence; the names of each person who is obligated or
liable for any debt of Germantown Electric or East Peoria
Electric; the address, location and owner of each job on
which both Germantown Electric and East Peoria Elec-
tric performed work; the address or location from which
each company performed any of its work, including of-
fices, storage yards, other storage facilities, and equip-
ment yards; a list of any municipality in which German-
town Electric or East Peoria Electric is or has been regis-
tered as an electrical contractor; a list of each job per-
formed by East Peoria Electric since its inception which
has required it to be a licensed electrical contractor, in-
cluding the name and address of the license holder used
by East Peoria Electric to comply with the licensing re-
quirement for each job.
The information requested by the Union is necessary
for, and relevant to, the Union’s performance of its func-
tion as the limited exclusive collective-bargaining repre-
sentative of the unit for purposes of administering the
8(f) agreement to which the Respondent is bound.
Since about December 3, 2003, the Respondent has
failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the Union
as the limited exclusive collective-bargaining representa-
tive of its employees in the unit by failing and refusing to
furnish the Union the requested information.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
By the acts and conduct described above, the Respon-
dent has failed and refused to bargain collectively and in
good faith with the limited exclusive bargaining repre-
sentative of its employees and has thereby engaged in,
and is engaging in, unfair labor practices affecting com-
merce within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
REMEDY
Having found that the Respondent has engaged in cer-
tain unfair labor practices, we shall order it to cease and
desist and to take certain affirmative action designed to
effectuate the policies of the Act. Specifically, having
found that the Respondent has failed and refused to fur-
nish the Union information that is relevant and necessary
to its role as the limited exclusive bargaining representa-
tive of the unit employees, we shall order the Respondent
to furnish the Union with the information it requested on
December 3, 2003.2

2 The General Counsel’s Motion requests that the notice be mailed to
all employees of the Respondent who were employed as of September
1, 2003. However, the General Counsel did not indicate why this spe-
cial mailing remedy is necessary. Therefore, we shall order the stan-
dard notice posting remedy.
GERMANTOWN ELECTRIC, INC. 3
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board orders that the
Respondent, Germantown Electric, Inc., East Peoria,
Illinois, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Failing and refusing to furnish International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 34, AFL-
CIO, with information necessary for and relevant to the
performance of its duties as the limited exclusive collec-
tive-bargaining representative of the employees in the
following appropriate unit:

All employees performing work covered by the collec-
tive bargaining agreement by and between the Central
Illinois (Peoria) Chapter, National Electrical Contrac-
tors Association (NECA), and the Union, captioned
and herein referred to as the Inside Construction
Agreement and effective by its terms from August 8,
2003 through February 28, 2006; but excluding all of-
fice clerical employees, guards, professional employees
and supervisors as defined in the Act.

(a) In any like or related manner interfering with, re-
straining, 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) Furnish the Union with the information it requested
by letter dated December 3, 2003.
(b) Within 14 days after service by the Region, post at
its facility in East Peoria, Illinois, copies of the attached
notice marked “Appendix.”3 Copies of the notice, on
forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 33,
after being signed by the Respondent’s authorized repre-
sentative, shall be posted by the Respondent and main-
tained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places
including all places where notices to employees are cus-
tomarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the
Respondent to ensure that the notices are not altered,
defaced or covered by any other material. In the event
that, during the pendency of these proceedings, the Re-
spondent has gone out of business or closed the facility
involved in these proceedings, the Respondent shall du-
plicate and mail, at its own expense, a copy of the notice
to all current employees and former employees employed
by the Respondent at any time since December 3, 2003.

3 If 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 Na-
tional Labor Relations Board” shall read “Posted Pursuant to a Judg-
ment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the
National Labor Relations Board.”
(c) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file
with the Regional Director a sworn certification of a re-
sponsible official on a form provided by the Region at-
testing to the steps that the Respondent has taken to
comply.
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES
Posted by Order of the
National Labor Relations Board
An Agency of the United States Government

The National Labor Relations Board has found that we vio-
lated Federal labor law and has ordered us to post and obey
this notice.
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 bene-
fit and protection
Choose not to engage in any of these protected
activities.

WE WILL NOT fail and refuse to furnish International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 34,
AFL–CIO, with information necessary for and relevant
to the performance of its duties as the limited exclusive
collective-bargaining representative of the employees in
the following appropriate unit:

All employees performing work covered by the collec-
tive bargaining agreement by and between the Central
Illinois (Peoria) Chapter, National Electrical Contrac-
tors Association (NECA), and the Union, captioned
and herein referred to as the Inside Construction
Agreement and effective by its terms from August 8,
2003 through February 28, 2006; but excluding all of-
fice clerical employees, guards, professional employees
and supervisors as defined in the Act.

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 Act.
WE WILL furnish the Union with the information it re-
quested by letter dated December 3, 2003.
GERMANTOWN ELECTRIC, INC.

342 NLRB No. 66