LS2000 Integrated Outsourcing Solutions

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 28, 2006

346 N.L.R.B. 106 (N.L.R.B. 2006)

346 NLRB No. 106
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
bound volumes of NLRB decisions. Readers are requested to notify the Ex-
ecutive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C.
20570, of any typographical or other formal errors so that corrections can
be included in the bound volumes.
Labor Source 2000 d/b/a LS2000 Integrated Out-
sourcing Solutions and International Union,
United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America (UAW), AFL–
CIO. Case 7–CA–48935
April 28, 2006
DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS SCHAUMBER, KIRSANOW, 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 and an
amended charge filed by the Union on September 19 and
October 3, 2005, respectively, the Acting General Coun-
sel issued the complaint on November 21, 2005, against
Labor Source 2000 d/b/a LS2000 Integrated Outsourcing
Solutions, the Respondent, alleging that it has violated
Section 8(a)(1) and (5) of the Act. The Respondent
failed to file an answer.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
On December 21, 2005, the Acting General Counsel
filed a Motion for Default Judgment with the Board. On
December 23, 2005, the Board issued an order transfer-
ring the proceeding to the Board and a Notice to Show
Cause why the motion should not be granted. The Re-
spondent did not file a response. The allegations in the
motion are therefore undisputed.
Ruling on Motion for Default Judgment
Section 102.20 of the Board’s Rules and Regulations
provides that the allegations in a 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 December 5, 2005, all
the allegations in the complaint would be considered
true. Further, the undisputed allegations in the Acting
General Counsel’s motion disclose that the Region, by
letter dated December 6, 2005, advised the Respondent
that unless an answer was received by December 13,
2005, 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 Motion for De-
fault Judgment.
On the entire record, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. JURISDICTION
At all material times, the Respondent, a corporation
with its principal office and place of business in South-
field, Michigan, has been engaged in the production of
automobile instrument panels at a facility located at 4521
Mt. Hope Road, Lansing, Michigan, also known as the
Lansing Cockpit Plant, the only facility involved herein.
During the 12-month period ending April 30, 2005, a
representative period, the Respondent, in conducting its
operations described above, provided services valued in
excess of $50,000 to Delphi Corporation, an enterprise
directly engaged in interstate commerce.
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 Union, United
Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement
Workers of America (UAW), AFL–CIO (the Union), and
Local 724, International Union, United Automobile,
Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America (UAW), AFL–CIO (Local 724), are labor or-
ganizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the
Act.
II. ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
At all material times, the following individuals held
the positions set forth opposite their names and have
been supervisors of the Respondent within the meaning
of Section 2(11) of the Act and agents of the Respondent
within the meaning of Section 2(13) of the Act:
Sherry Sharpley President
Robert Sharpley Vice President
Jocelyn Kooylers Human Resource Manager
John D. Myers Senior Operations Manager
The following employees of the Respondent (the unit),
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the
Act:
All full-time production employees employed at 4521
Mt. Hope Road, Lansing, Michigan; but excluding all
maintenance, office and clerical employees, managers,
guards, temporary employees, contract employees, pro-
fessional employees and supervisors as defined in the
Act.
Since December 5, 2002, and at all material times, the
Union has been the exclusive collective-bargaining rep-
resentative of the unit and has been so recognized by the
Respondent. This recognition has been embodied in a
collective-bargaining agreement which was effective by
DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD2
its terms from December 5, 2002, to and including June
5, 2005.
At all times since December 5, 2002, based on Section
9(a) of the Act, the Union has been the exclusive collec-
tive-bargaining representative of the unit.
Since December 5, 2002, the Union has assigned its
representative responsibilities with respect to the unit to
Local 724.
About March 1, 2005, the Respondent failed to con-
tinue in effect the health, dental, and vision benefits set
forth in the agreement described above, while continuing
to deduct premiums for those benefits from unit employ-
ees’ paychecks.
The agreement described above has a grievance proce-
dure, which includes an arbitration provision.
Since about May 10, 2005, the Respondent has failed
and refused to arbitrate grievances regarding holiday pay,
vacation pay, and tuition reimbursement that were filed
and scheduled for arbitration prior to the expiration of
the agreement described above.
The subjects described above relate to wages, hours,
and other terms and conditions of employment of the unit
and are mandatory subjects for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
The Respondent engaged in the conduct described
above without the Union’s or Local 724’s consent, in
violation of Section 8(d) of the Act.
About May 3, 2005, the Union requested, in writing, to
bargain regarding the effects of the closing of the Lans-
ing Cockpit Plant.
Since about May 9, 2005, the Respondent, through its
agents Jocelyn Kooylers and Robert Sharpley, has failed
and refused to meet and bargain with the Union regard-
ing the effects of the closing of the Lansing Cockpit
Plant.
The subject described above relates to wages, hours,
and other terms and conditions of employment of the unit
and is a mandatory subject for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
By the conduct described above, the Respondent has
failed and refused to bargain collectively and in good
faith with the exclusive collective-bargaining representa-
tive of its employees, and has thereby engaged in unfair
labor practices affecting commerce 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 violated Section 8(a)(5)
and (1) of the Act by failing to continue in effect the
health, vision, and dental benefits of the collective-
bargaining agreement, while continuing to deduct premi-
ums from unit employees’ paychecks, we shall order the
Respondent to restore those benefits, and to make all
required benefit fund payments or contributions, if any,
that have not been made since about March 1, 2005, in-
cluding any additional amounts applicable to such pay-
ments or contributions as set forth in Merryweather Op-
tical Co., 240 NLRB 1213, 1216 (1979).1 We shall also
order the Respondent to reimburse unit employees for
any expenses ensuing from the Respondent’s failure to
continue the benefits, as set forth in Kraft Plumbing &
Heating, 252 NLRB 891 fn. 2 (1980), enfd. 661 F.2d 940
(9th Cir. 1981), such amounts to be computed in the
manner set forth in Ogle Protection Service, 183 NLRB
682 (1970), enfd. 444 F.2d 502 (6th Cir. 1971), with in-
terest as prescribed in New Horizons for the Retarded,
283 NLRB 1173 (1987).
In addition, having found that the Respondent has
unlawfully failed and refused to comply with the contrac-
tual grievance-arbitration procedure by failing to arbi-
trate grievances regarding holiday pay, vacation pay, and
tuition reimbursement that were filed and scheduled for
arbitration prior to the June 5, 2005 expiration of the
collective-bargaining agreement with the Union, we shall
order the Respondent to participate in the arbitration of
those grievances.
Further, having found that the Respondent unlawfully
failed and refused to bargain with the Union concerning
the effects on the unit employees of the closing of the
Lansing Cockpit Plant, we shall order the Respondent to
bargain with the Union or its designated servicing agent,
on request, about the effects of the closing. Because of
the Respondent’s unlawful conduct, however, the unit
employees have been denied an opportunity to bargain
through their collective-bargaining representative.
Meaningful bargaining cannot be assured until some
measure of economic strength is restored to the Union.
A bargaining order alone, therefore, cannot serve as an
adequate remedy for the unfair labor practices commit-
ted.
Accordingly, we deem it necessary, in order to ensure
that meaningful bargaining occurs and to effectuate the

1 To the extent that an employee has made personal contributions to
a benefit or other fund that have been accepted by the fund in lieu of
the Respondent’s delinquent contributions during the period of the
delinquency, the Respondent will reimburse the employee, but the
amount of such reimbursement will constitute a setoff to the amount
that the Respondent otherwise owes the fund.
LS2000 INTEGRATED OUTSOURCING SOLUTIONS 3
policies of the Act, to accompany our bargaining order
with a limited backpay requirement designed to make
whole the unit employees for losses suffered as a result
of the violations and to recreate in some practicable
manner a situation in which the parties’ bargaining posi-
tions are not entirely devoid of economic consequences
for the Respondent. We shall do so by ordering the Re-
spondent to pay backpay to the unit employees in a man-
ner similar to that required in Transmarine Navigation
Corp., 170 NLRB 389 (1968), as clarified by Melody
Toyota, 325 NLRB 846 (1998).2
Thus, the Respondent shall pay the unit employees
backpay at the rate of their normal wages when last in the
Respondent’s employ from 5 days after the date of this
Decision and Order until occurrence of the earliest of the
following conditions: (1) the date the Respondent bar-
gains to agreement with the Union on those subjects per-
taining to the effects on the unit employees of the closing
of the Lansing Cockpit Plant; (2) a bona fide impasse in
bargaining; (3) the Union’s failure to request bargaining
within 5 business days after receipt of this Decision and
Order, or to commence negotiations within 5 business
days after receipt of the Respondent’s notice of its desire
to bargain with the Union; or (4) the Union’s subsequent
failure to bargain in good faith.
In no event shall the sum paid to these employees ex-
ceed the amount they would have earned as wages from
the date on which the Respondent ceased doing business
at the facility to the time they secured equivalent em-
ployment elsewhere, or the date on which the Respon-
dent shall have offered to bargain in good faith, which-
ever occurs sooner. However, in no event shall this sum
be less than the employees would have earned for a 2-
week period at the rate of their normal wages when last
in the Respondent’s employ. Backpay shall be based on
earnings that the unit employees would normally have
received during the applicable period, less any net in-
terim earnings, and shall be computed in accordance with
F. W. Woolworth Co., 90 NLRB 289 (1950), with inter-
est as prescribed in New Horizons for the Retarded, su-
pra.
In view of the fact that the Lansing Cockpit Plant is
apparently closed, we shall order the Respondent to mail
a copy of the attached notice to the Union and to the last
known addresses of all unit employees employed by the

2 See also Live Oak Skilled Care & Manor, 300 NLRB 1040 (1990).
The complaint and motion do not specify the actual impact on the unit
employees, if any, of the closing of the Lansing Cockpit Plant. There-
fore, we shall permit the Respondent to contest the appropriateness of a
Transmarine backpay remedy at the compliance stage. See, e.g., Buf-
falo Weaving & Belting, 340 NLRB 684, 685 fn. 3 (2003).
Respondent at any time since March 1, 2005, in order to
inform them of the outcome of this proceeding.
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board orders that the
Respondent, Labor Source 2000 d/b/a LS2000 Integrated
Outsourcing Solutions, Southfield, Michigan, its officers,
agents, successors, and assigns, shall
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Failing and refusing to bargain collectively and in
good faith with the International Union, United Automo-
bile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America (UAW), AFL–CIO, as the exclusive collective-
bargaining representative of the employees in the follow-
ing appropriate unit by failing to continue in effect the
health, vision, and dental benefits of the December 5,
2002–June 5, 2005 collective-bargaining agreement. The
unit is:
All full-time production employees employed at 4521
Mt. Hope Road, Lansing, Michigan; but excluding all
maintenance, office and clerical employees, managers,
guards, temporary employees, contract employees, pro-
fessional employees and supervisors as defined in the
Act.
(b) Failing to continue in effect all the terms and con-
ditions of the December 5, 2002–June 5, 2005 collective-
bargaining agreement by failing and refusing to arbitrate
grievances that were filed and scheduled for arbitration
prior to the expiration of the agreement.
(c) Failing and refusing to bargain collectively and in
good faith with the Union concerning the effects on the
unit employees of the closing of the Lansing Cockpit
Plant.
(d) 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) Restore the unit employees’ health, vision, and
dental benefits, make all required benefit fund payments
or contributions, if any, that have not been made, and
reimburse unit employees for any loss of benefits or ex-
penses ensuing from its unlawful failure to continue the
benefits since March 1, 2005, with interest, as set forth in
the remedy section of this decision.
(b) Participate in the arbitration of grievances that
were filed and scheduled for arbitration prior to the expi-
ration of the December 5, 2002–June 5, 2005 collective-
bargaining agreement.
(c) On request, bargain with the Union or its desig-
nated servicing agent concerning the effects on the unit
employees of the closing of the Lansing Cockpit Plant,
DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD4
and reduce to writing and sign any agreement reached as
a result of such bargaining.
(d) Pay the unit employees their normal wages for the
period set forth in the remedy section of this decision.
(e) Preserve and, within 14 days of a request, or such
additional time as the Regional Director may allow for
good cause shown, provide at a reasonable place desig-
nated by the Board or its agents, all payroll records, so-
cial security payment records, timecards, personnel re-
cords and reports, and all other records, including an
electronic copy of such records if stored in electronic
form, necessary to analyze the amount of backpay due
under the terms of this Order.
(f) Within 14 days after service by the Region, dupli-
cate and mail, at its own expense, and after being signed
by the Respondent’s authorized representative, signed
and dated copies of the attached notice marked “Appen-
dix”3 to the Union and to all unit employees employed at
the Lansing Cockpit Plant on or after March 1, 2005.
(g) 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.
Dated, Washington, D.C. April 28, 2006
______________________________________
Peter C. Schaumber, Member
______________________________________
Peter N. Kirsanow, Member
______________________________________
Dennis P. Walsh, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES
MAILED 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 mail and obey
this notice.

3 If this Order is enforced by a judgment of a United States court of
appeals, the words in the notice reading “Mailed by Order of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board” shall read “Mailed Pursuant to a Judg-
ment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the
National Labor Relations Board.”
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 bargain collectively and
in good faith with the International Union, United Auto-
mobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers
of America (UAW), AFL–CIO, as the exclusive collec-
tive-bargaining representative of our employees in the
following appropriate unit by failing to continue in effect
the health, vision, and dental benefits of the December 5,
2002–June 5, 2005 collective-bargaining agreement. The
unit is:
All full-time production employees employed at 4521
Mt. Hope Road, Lansing, Michigan; but excluding all
maintenance, office and clerical employees, managers,
guards, temporary employees, contract employees, pro-
fessional employees and supervisors as defined in the
Act.
WE WILL NOT fail to continue in effect all the terms and
conditions of the December 5, 2002–June 5, 2005 collec-
tive-bargaining agreement by failing and refusing to arbi-
trate grievances that were filed and scheduled for arbitra-
tion prior to the expiration of the agreement.
WE WILL NOT fail and refuse to bargain collectively and
in good faith with the Union or its designated servicing
agent concerning the effects on the unit employees of the
closing of the Lansing Cockpit Plant.
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 restore the unit employees’ health, vision, and
dental benefits, make all required benefit fund payments
or contributions, if any, that have not been made, and
reimburse unit employees for any loss of benefits or ex-
penses ensuing from our unlawful failure to continue the
benefits since March 1, 2005, with interest.
WE WILL participate in the arbitration of grievances
that were filed and scheduled for arbitration prior to the
expiration of the December 5, 2002–June 5, 2005 collec-
tive-bargaining agreement.
WE WILL, on request, bargain with the Union or its des-
ignated servicing agent concerning the effects on the unit
employees of the closing of the Lansing Cockpit Plant,
and reduce to writing and sign any agreement reached as
a result of such bargaining.
LS2000 INTEGRATED OUTSOURCING SOLUTIONS 5
WE WILL pay to unit employees limited backpay in
connection with our failure to bargain over the effects on
unit employees of the closing of the Lansing Cockpit
Plant, as required by the Decision and Order of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board.
LABOR SOURCE 2000 D/B/A LS2000
INTEGRATED OUTSOURCING SOLUTIONS