Pioneer Construction Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 24, 1967

164 N.L.R.B. 966 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

966 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Pioneer Construction Company and United
Construction Workers Local No. 10,
Christian Labor Association . Cases 7-CA-
5627(1) and 7-CA-5627(2).
May 24, 1967
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon charges duly filed by the United
Construction Workers Local No. 10, Christian Labor
Association, herein called the Union, or the
Charging Party, the General Counsel of the National
Labor Relations Board, by the Regional Director for
Region 7, issued a complaint dated September 28,
1966, against Pioneer Construction Company, herein
called the Respondent, alleging that the Respondent
had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor
practices 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 a Trial Examiner were duly served
upon the Respondent.
The complaint alleged in substance that the
Respondent had violated the Act in that it had
unlawfully refused to bargain with the Union after it
was certified as the collective-bargaining
representative of the Respondent's employees.
On November 14, 1966, all parties to this
proceeding entered into a stipulation by which they
waived a hearing before a Trial Examiner and the
issuance by him of a Trial Examiner's Decision and
Recommended Order and agreed to submit the case
to the Board for findings of fact, conclusions of law,
and an order, based upon a record consisting of
paragraphs 1 through 16 of the complaint and
subparagraphs 1(A) and (B) of Respondent's answer.
In addition, the parties agreed that the following
documentary evidence be included in the record as
Joint Exhibits (a) through (f): (a) the charge in Case
7-CA-5107; (b) the Settlement Agreement and
Notice to All Employees in Case 7-CA-5107; (c) the
petitions in Cases 7-RC-6760 and 7-RC-7094; (d)
the Decision and Direction of Elections in Cases
7-RC-6760 and 7094; (e) the Certifications in Cases
7-RC-6760 and 7094; (f) an unexecuted copy of the
contract referred to in subparagraph 10(c) of the
complaint.
On November 15, 1966, the Board approved the
stipulation and ordered the proceeding transferred
to the Board. Thereafter, the Respondent and the
General Counsel filed briefs.
Upon the basis of the stipulation, the briefs, and
the entire record in this case, the Board makes the
following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
The Respondent, a Michigan corporation,
maintains its principal office and place of business
at 550 Kirkland, S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan,
where it is engaged as a general contractor in the
construction of commercial and industrial buildings
in the Western Michigan area. During the year
ending December 31, 1965, Respondent, in the
course and conduct of its business operation,
purchased and caused to be transported and
delivered to its construction sites in Western
Michigan construction materials and other goods
and materials valued in excess of $70,000, of which
goods and materials valued in excess of $50,000 were
transported and delivered to it directly from points
located outside the State of Michigan. We find that
the Respondent is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act and that it
will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction herein.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Construction Workers Local No. 10,
Christian Labor Association, is a labor organization
as defined in Section 2(5) of the Act.
III. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
In their stipulation, the parties agreed to the
following facts: (1) that on or about February 26,
1965, Respondent recognized the Charging Party as
the collective-bargaining representative for all its
construction employees and executed a collective-
bargaining contract with the Charging Party which
expired on April 30, 1965; (2) that on March 12, 1965,
an unfair labor practice charge was filed by the
Carpenters Union' in Case 7-CA-5107, alleging,
inter alia, that Respondent, by recognizing the
Charging Party and contracting with it, had given
unlawful assistance to the Charging Party in
violation of Section 8(a)(1) and (2) of the Act; (3) that
in May 1965, Respondent joined a multi-
construction-employer group which negotiates with
the Charging Party for the group's nonsupervisory
construction employees, and executed the
multiemployer group contract that had been recently
negotiated with the Charging Party; (4) that this
contract was made retroactive to May 1, 1965, was
for a 2-year period, and had a terminal date of
April 30, 1967; (5) that on June 24, 1965, the parties
in Case 7-CA-5107 were notified that a complaint
' Carpenters Local No 335, United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America , AFL-CIO
164 NLRB No. 103
PIONEER CONSTR. CO. 967
would issue alleging a violation of Section 8(a)(1) and
(2), absent a settlement ; (6) that on or about July 23,
1965, Respondent and the Charging Party with the
approval of the Regional Director executed an
informal settlement agreement in adjustment of the
8(a)(1) and (2) allegations in Case 7-CA-5107,
providing, inter alia , that Respondent would not give
effect to the February 26, 1965, contract with the
Charging Party, or any renewal thereof unless and
until the said Union shall have been certified by the
Board as the representative of its employees ; (7) that
on November 1, 1965, the Charging Party filed a
petition in Case 7-RC-7094 f or a unit' of all
construction employees , which was consolidated
with Case 7-RC-6760 previously filed by the
Carpenters Union for a unit of carpenters ; (8) that
following elections which were won by the Charging
Party, the Regional Director , on April 12 and June 2,
1966 , certified the Charging Party as the exclusive
collective - bargaining representative of the
employees in the units found appropriate; and
(9) that since on or about July 9, 1966, and
continuing to date, Respondent has refused to
bargain collectively on the terms of a new collective-
bargaining contract , asserting that its contract of
May 1965 is still in force and effect in view of the
Charging Party's certification.
The May 1965 collective-bargaining contract,
which Respondent contends was revitalized by the
subsequent certifications of the Charging Party,
expired on April 30, 1967. Any order which the
Board might now issue would necessarily require
Respondent to bargain with the Charging Party for a
future contract. The same obligation exists by virtue
of the existing certifications. In these
circumstances, we find that effectuation of the
policies of the Act does not require us to decide the
technical legal question posed by this case.
Accordingly, we shall dismiss the complaint.
However, this action is without prejudice to the
Charging Party's right to proceed with negotiations
for a new collective-bargaining contract to succeed
the one which expired on April 30,1967.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the complaint
herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed in its entirety.