Litton Industries

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 19, 1971

189 N.L.R.B. 124 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Automated Business Systems (Division of Litton
Industries) and Leroy C. Rackham and Ogden
Printing Pressmen and Assistants Union , No. 307,
Subordinate to the International Printing Pressmen
and Assistants Union of North America.' Case
27-RD-229
March 19, 1971
DECISION ON REVIEW AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
BY MEMBERS FANNING, BROWN, AND JENKINS
On June 22, 1970, the Regional Director for Region
27 issued a Decision and Order in the above-entitled
proceeding in which he dismissed the Petitioner's
petition for a decertification election in a unit of the
Employer's pressroom and art department employees
on the ground that a contract bar exists. The
Employer thereafter filed a timely Request for Review
of the Regional Director's Decision on the ground
that substantial issues are raised as to his findings (1)
that a contract bar exists and (2) that Local 307 is not
defunct.
On September 2, 1970, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board by telegraphic Order granted the Petition-
er's Request for Review. The Employer filed a brief
on review.
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 entire record with
respect to the issues under review, including the
Employer's brief on review, and makes the following
findings:
The Employer takes the position that there is no
contract bar because the contract between it and
Local 307 was canceled by mutual assent of the
parties and that the petition should have been
dismissed solely on the ground that Local 307 is
defunct.
i Referred to herein as Local 307
2 This contract refers to Local 307 as "subordinate to the International
Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America " Article 1,
section 2, B, states "This agreement can be modified or amended during
its term only be written mutual agreement between Ogden Printing
Pressmen and Assistants ' Local Union No 307 and the Employer" Article
II provides that the contract shall be effective until midnight July 31, 1971,
"and shall continue in effect from year to year thereafter until either party
shall notify the other in writing of desire to terminate or modify "
3 In his letter of September 11, 1969, the International 's president,
Anthony J DeAndrade, expressed surprise at a new provision in the
contract which gave "management the right to unilaterally change the 37-
1/2-hour workweek to a 40-hour workweek and the right to change the
overtime provision so that daily overtime would not commence after 7-1/2
hours but after 8 hours " and urged Local 307 to renegotiate this
particular clause In a later letter DeAndrade explained that he could not
take action which might be considered to be approval and endorsement by
The Employer began operations at its Ogden, Utah,
plant about 1954 and since that time has voluntarily
recognized Local 307 as the representative of employ-
ees in its pressroom and art department. In 1969, after
timely notification, the Employer met with Local 307
representatives to negotiate a new contract, and on
June 18, 1969, the Employer and Local 307 signed a
memorandum of agreement stipulating that the
existing contract would remain in full force and effect
until midnight July 31, 1971, with specified modifica-
tions to be effective on August 31, 1969. Thereafter,
on July 15, 1969, representatives of the Employer and
Local 307 signed a formal contract based upon the
memorandum of agreement.2
On August 11, 1969, Local 307 forwarded four fully
signed copies of the new contract to its parent,
International Printing Pressmen and Assistants Un-
ion of North America, herein called the International.
After an exchange of letters, occasioned by the
International's objections to certain provisions of the
contract,3 the International agreed to underwrite the
contract and on November 10, 1969, mailed to Local
307 three copies of the contract with DeAndrade's
signature of approval. Apparently the Employer did
not recieve one of these copies of the contract and was
never notified that the International had underwritten
the contract.
Early in 1970, as a result of dissatisfaction with
some of the International's policies, Local 307
members employed by the Employer agreed at a
regular monthly meeting on February 12, 1970,4 to
vote on the question of withdrawing from Local 307 at
the next monthly meeting . At the regular meeting on
March 12 the unit members , all of whom were present,
voted unanimously to withdraw from Local 307,5 and,
during the next few days all unit members revoked
their checkoff authorizations.
At a special meeting on March 26, and on the
following day, unit members signed two documents: 6
one, addressed to Local 307, canceling their
membership,? and the other, addressed to the Em-
ployer, requesting cancellation of the contract.8 On or
about March 27 the cancellation request was submit-
the International as such action may prove detrimental to the
International 's members at the Athens, Ohio, Litton plant
4 Present at the meeting were 16-18 members , virtually all the
employees in the unit Although Local 307 has three members who are not
employed by the Employer, it does not appear that they are represented by
Local 307 for collective -bargaining purposes
5 Two of the three members of Local 307 not employed by the
Employer arrived late at the meeting and were advised of the withdrawal
vote
6 Among the signatories were the Local 307 officers , President Marvin
D Saunders and Secretary-Treasurer Rackham , and two other bargaining
committee members One employee , Marilyn Towers, was absent from the
meeting but signed the documents on March 27, 1970
r The document stated
We the undersigned wish to cancel our membership in Printing
Pressmen's Local 307 Ogden, Utah effective March 26, 1970
6 The document stated
189 NLRB No. 32
AUTOMATED BUSINESS SYSTEMS
ted to Robert Panaro, the Employer's vice president
for industrial relations. Panaro accepted the request,
agreed to terminate the contract, and signed the
request on behalf of the Employer.
On or about April 14, 1970, Rackham and Saunders
resigned from their positions as officers of Local 307
and Jack Shipley and Dave Sickler, who retained their
membership in Local 307, assumed the offices of
secretary-treasurer and president, respectively. Rack-
ham turned over all Local 307 records and a pro rata
part of the Local 307 funds to Shipley. Sickler, the
new president, testified that he intends to continue to
service the 1969 contract between Local 307 and the
Employer.
Upon the foregoing, especially the fact that the
officers and bargaining committee members who
signed the contract with the Employer also, together
with the other employees in the unit, executed the
cancellation agreement with the Employer, we find,
contrary to the Regional Director, that no contract
bar exists to the instant decertification petition.
Moreover, as it is clear that Local 307 continues to
exist under new leadership and claims to represent the
employees involved, we find that it is not defunct.
Therefore, as the Petitioner alleges that Local 307 is
no longer the representative of the employees in the
established unit, we find that a question exists
concerning the representation of employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
We the undersigned request cancellation of contract between
Automated Business Systems and Printing Pressmens Union Local 307
Ogden, Utah effective March 27, 1970
9 In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to
be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all
parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their
addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior
Underwear Inc, 156 NLRB 1236, NG.R B v. Wyman-Gordon Co, 394 U S
759 Accordingly, it is hereby directed that an election eligibility list,
125
Accordingly, we shall direct an election among the
following employees whom we find constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All pressmen, senior and junior assistants, helpers,
production assistants and apprentices in all steps
of apprenticeship in the pressroom and art
department at the Employer's Ogden, Utah, plant,
excluding office clerical employees, employees
represented by Bookbinders Local 77, Ogden,
Utah, janitors, professional employers, guards and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Direction of Election9 omitted from publication.]
MEMBER BROWN, dissenting:
As in Automated Business Systems (Division of Litton
Industries), 10 I disagree with my colleagues. I would
find the Union herein to be defunct for the reasons
that all unit members voted to resign from the Union
and signed a document to that effect; the Union's
officers resigned and withdrew from the Union; the
members voted to distribute the union funds among
the membership (the three remaining nonunit mem-
bers receiving a pro rata share); and there have been
no union meetings and no business transacted by the
Union since the unit members and officers withdrew
and transferred the books to nonunit members.
Under these circumstances, I would find the Union to
be defunct and would therefore dismiss the petition in
this case.
containing the names and addresses of all the eligibile voters, must be filed
by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 27 within 7 days of
the date of this Decision on Review and Direction of Election. The
Regional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election.
No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional
Director except in extraordinary circumstances Failure to comply with this
requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper
objections are filed
10 Case 27-RD-233, 189 NLRB No. I.