International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 4, 1980

248 N.L.R.B. 143 (N.L.R.B. 1980)

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HEAT & FROST INSULATORS 143
International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators
& Asbestos Workers, Local No. 80, AFL-CIO
and West Virginia Master Insulators Associ-
ation. Case 9-CB-3942
March 4, 1980
DECISION AND ORDER
CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS JENKINS
AND PENELLO
Upon charges duly filed, the General Counsel of
the National Labor Relations Board, by the Re-
gional Director for Region 9, issued a complaint
and notice of hearing, dated January 30, 1979,
against International Association of Heat & Frost
Insulators & Asbestos Workers, Local No. 80,
AFL-CIO, hereinafter referred to as Respondent.
The complaint alleges that Respondent has en-
gaged in certain unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8(b)(3) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended. Copies of the charge
and complaint and notice of hearing were duly
served on the parties. Respondent filed an answer
to the complaint, denying commission of any unfair
labor practice.
On or about July 23, 1979, the parties entered
into a stipulation of facts and jointly petitioned the
Board to transfer this proceeding directly to itself
for findings of facts, conclusions of law, and an
order. The parties stipulated that they waived a
hearing before an administrative law judge and the
rulings upon motions by an administrative law
judge and exceptions thereto, and that no oral testi-
mony was necessary or desired by any of the par-
ties. The parties also agreed that the charge, com-
plaint and notice of hearing, Respondent's answer
to the complaint, and the stipulation and motion
constitute the entire record in this case.
On October 17, 1979, the Board issued its order
approving the stipulation and transferring the pro-
ceeding to the Board. Thereafter, the General
Counsel and the Charging Party, West Virginia
Master Insulators Association, filed briefs in sup-
port of their position.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the stipulation, the
briefs, and the entire record in this proceeding, and
hereby makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
West Virginia Master Insulators Association,
hereinafter referred to as the Association, is an un-
248 NLRB No. 22
incorporated multiemployer group with offices in
Charleston, West Virginia. The Association is com-
posed of various employers engaged in the installa-
tion of insulation material in the States of West
Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, and exists and func-
tions for the purpose, among others, of represent-
ing its employer-members in collective bargaining
with Respondent. The parties stipulated, and we
find, that the Association is now, and at all times
material herein has been, an employer engaged in
commerce and in operations affecting commerce
within the meaning of Section 2(2), (6), and (7) of
the Act.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The parties stipulated, and we find, that the Re-
spondent, International Association of Heat &
Frost Insulators & Asbestos Workers, Local No.
80, AFL-CIO, is, and at all times material herein
has been, a labor organization within the meaning
of Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE
A. Facts
On or about June 1, 1977, Respondent entered
into a collective-bargaining agreement with the As-
sociation, effective from June 1, 1977, until May
31, 1980, which provides at article 17, inter alia,
that:
1. The Union shall be the sole and exclusive
sources [sic] of referrals of applicants for em-
ployment.
2. The Employers shall have the right to
reject any applicant referred for employment.
If the Employers refuse any applicant there-
after, such Employers shall retain one (1) copy
and forward to the Business Agent two (2)
copies of rejection form indicating thereon the
reason for nonhire.
3. Upon request the Union shall notify the
Employers of the names of the employees
available for work in the highest group for
which they qualify.
4. The Union shall select and refer appli-
cants for employment without discrimination
against such applicants by reason of member-
ship or non-membership in the Union and such
selection and referral shall not be affected in
any way by rules, regulations, by-laws, consti-
tutional provisions or any other aspect or obli-
gation of Union membership policies or re-
quirements. All such selection and referral
shall be in accordance with the following pro-
cedure:
144 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
5. The Union shall maintain a register of ap-
plicants for employment established on the
basis of the groups listed below. Each appli-
cant for employment shall be registered in the
highest priority group for which he qualifies.
On or about March 9, 1978, the Association, by
letter, requested Respondent to furnish the Associ-
ation with the following information: "A list of all
employees [Respondent] has currently placed on
jobs or are on Respondent's] out-of-work list with
the designation after each name as to the four
groups to which they are assigned." On or about
April 25, 1978, Respondent, by letter, refused to
furnish the requested information and has contin-
ued to refuse to do so to date.
B. Contentions of the Parties
The General Counsel contends that information
relating to a union's referral system, including
those persons who have utilized such a system, is
presumptively relevant and must be disclosed by
the union upon the demand of the employer. As
the information requested here relates to Respon-
dent's referral system, the General Counsel further
contends that Respondent's failure to disclose the
information constitutes a refusal to bargain under
Section 8(b)(3) of the Act.
The Association contends that the Union must
supply all requested information which is relevant
and that the information here requested is relevant
and necessary in order to enable the Association to
verify Respondent's compliance with the contract'
and to formulate proposals for future contract ne-
gotiations.2 Consequently, the Association con-
tends that Respondent's refusal to provide the in-
formation is a violation of Section 8(b)(3) of the
Act.
Respondent apparently 3 contends that the re-
quested information is not relevant to any proper
use by the Association, that it is under no duty to
disclose nonrelevant information, and that, in the
absence of a duty, its refusal is not violative of Sec-
tion 8(b)(3) of the Act.
C. Discussion
Respondent is under an obligation to provide the
Association with requested information which is
relevant and necessary to the collective-bargaining
process. 4 The sole issue, therefore, is whether the
I The Association asserts that it has received "numerous complaints
from applicants who were trying to be referred" or who had been re-
ferred by Respondent.
2 Negotiations are scheduled to commence in May 1980.
s Respondent did not file a brief with the Board.
E.g., Local 13, Detroit A'wspaper Printing and Graphic Communica-
lions Union International Printing and Graphic Communications Union,
requested information is relevant and necessary to
the collective-bargaining process.
In Oakland Press, supra at 996, the Board found
that a union's refusal to provide information quite
similar to that requested here constituted a viola-
tion of Section 8(b)(3). In so finding, the Board
held that "[the] information on referrals is analo-
gous to information furnished by employers to
unions as to employee job classifications and wage
rates" and that such information is "clearly rel-
evant and necessary" for Oakland "to evaluate the
present referral practices under the existing contract,
to test the validity of its [contract] proposals, and
to formulate future contract proposals on referrals."
(Emphasis supplied.)
A factor distinguishing Oakland Press from the
present case is that there the parties were engaged
in contract negotiations while here they are not;
however, in the circumstances of this case, we do
not find this distinction determinative. 5 As the Su-
preme Court observed in Conley v. Gibson,6
"[C]ollective bargaining is a continuing pro-
cess. . . . it involves day-to-day adjustments in the
contract and other working rules, resolution of
new problems not covered by existing agreements,
and the protection of employee rights already se-
cured by contract."
As indicated above, the sole issue herein is the
relevance of the requested information to the bar-
gaining process. 7
In the present case, the Association argues that
the requested information is relevant for many rea-
sons; however, it is sufficient to say that the infor-
mation regarding referrals is relevant to the day-to-
day administration of the contract 8 as well as to
enable the Association to prepare for future con-
tract negotiations. 9 Accordingly, on the basis of
our holding in Oakland Press, we conclude that by
refusing to disclose, upon request, information
which is presumptively relevant to the collective-
bargaining process, Respondent refused to bargain
in good faith in violation of Section 8(b)(3) of the
Act.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR
PRACTICE UPON COMMERCE
The refusal of Respondent set forth in section
III, above, occurring in connection with its rela-
AFL-CIO (The Oakland Press Co.), 233 NLRB 994 (1977), enfd. 598 F.2d
267 (D.C. Cir. 1979).
See, eg., J. Case Company v. XNL.R.B., 253 F.2d 149 (7th Cir.
1958).
6 355 U.S. 41, 46 (1957)
See, generally, N.L.R.B. v. Acme Industrial Co., 385 U.S. 432 (1967).
8 Much of the requested information is required to be disclosed by the
express language of art. 17, par. 3 of the collective-bargaining contract
now in force.
g See J. I. Case Co., supra at 155.
---
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HEAT & FROST INSULATORS 145
tionship with the Association, has a close, intimate,
and subtantial relationship to trade, traffic, and
commerce among the several States and tends to
lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing
commerce and the free flow of commerce.
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact,
conclusions, and the entire record, we make the
following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Respondent is a labor organization within the
meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
2. The Association is an employer engaged in
commerce within the meaning of Section 2(2), (6),
and (7) of the Act.
3. The following employees of the employer-
members of the Association constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All mechanics, apprentices and all referral
people when they are engaged in the prepara-
tion, fabrication, alteration, application, erec-
tion, assembling, molding, spraying, pouring,
mixing, hanging, adjusting, repairing, disman-
tling, reconditioning, maintenance, finishing
and/or weather-proofing of cold or hot ther-
mal insulation, including all labor connected
with the handling and distribution of thermal
insulating materials on job premises.
4. At all times material to this proceeding, Re-
spondent was, and continues to be, the exclusive
representative of the employees in the appropriate
unit for the purpose of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9(a) of the Act.
5. Respondent has violated Section 8(b)(3) of the
Act by failing and refusing to supply, pursuant to
the Association's request, information relevant and
necessary to the collective-bargaining process.
6. The aforesaid unfair labor practices affect
commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and
(7) of the Act.
THE REMEDY
It having been found that Respondent has violat-
ed the Act by failing and refusing to supply the
Association with certain information, we will order
that Respondent cease and desist therefrom and
supply the Association with the information re-
quested in its letter of March 9, 1978.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Re-
lations Board hereby orders that the Respondent,
International Association of Heat & Frost Insula-
tors & Asbestos Workers, Local No. 80, AFL-
CIO, its officers, agents, and representatives, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively with West
Virginia Master Insulators Association by refusing
to furnish the Association with information rel-
evant and necessary to the collective-bargaining
process.
(b) Engaging in any like or related conduct in
derogation of its statutory duty to bargain.
2. Take the following affirmative action which is
necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Supply the Association with the following in-
formation requested in its letter of March 9, 1978:
A list of all employees Respondent has cur-
rently placed on jobs or are on Respondent's
out-of-work list with the designation after each
name as to which of the four groups they are
assigned.
(b) Post at Respondent's business office and
meeting places copies of the attached notice
marked "Appendix." 10 Copies of said notice, on
forms provided by the Regional Director for
Region 9, after being duly signed by Respondent's
authorized representative, shall be posted by it im-
mediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained
by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in con-
spicuous places, including all places where notices
to members are customarily posted. Reasonable
steps shall be taken by Respondent to insure that
said notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by
any other material.
(c) Forward to the above-named Charging Party
for posting at its employer-members' premises, the
Charging Party willing, copies of such notices duly
signed by Respondent's representative.
(d) Notify the Regional Director for Region 9, in
writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order,
what steps the Respondent has taken to comply
herewith.
'O 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 Pursu.
ant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an
Order of the National Labor Relations Board"
APPENDIX
NOTICE To EMPLOYEES AND MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain collectively
with West Virginia Master Insulators Associ-
146 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ation by refusing to supply information rel-
evant and necessary to the bargaining process.
WE WILL NOT engage in any like or related
conduct in derogation of our statutory duty to
bargain.
WE WILL furnish West Virginia Master In-
sulators Association with the following infor-
mation:
A list of all employees we have currently
placed on jobs or are on our out-of-work list
with the designation after each name as to
which of the four groups they are assigned.
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
HEAT & FROST INSULATORS & ASBES-
TOS WORKERS, LOCAL NO. 80, AFL-
CIO