326 N.L.R.B. 136 (N.L.R.B. 1998)

River Parish Maintenance, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsSep 30, 1998

326 N.L.R.B. 136 (N.L.R.B. 1998)

326 NLRB No. 136 1 NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Board 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. River Parish Maintenance, Inc. and Laborers' Inter- national Union of North America, Construction and General Laborers Local Union No. 1177, AFL-CIO. Case 15–CA–14893 September 30, 1998 DECISION AND ORDER BY MEMBERS FOX, LIEBMAN, AND HURTGEN Pursuant to a charge filed on June 23, 1998, the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint and notice of hearing on July 2, 1998, alleging that the Respondent has violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act by refusing the Union's request to bargain following the Union's cer- tification in Case 15–RC–8062. (Official notice is taken of the “record” in the representation proceeding as de- fined in the Board's Rules and Regulations, Secs. 102.68 and 102.69(g); Frontier Hotel, 265 NLRB 343 (1982).) The Respondent filed an answer admitting in part and denying in part the allegations in the complaint. On August 31, 1998, the Acting General Counsel filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum in Support. On September 3, 1998, the Board issued an order transferring the proceeding to the Board and a No- tice to Show Cause why the motion should not be granted. The Respondent filed a response. The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. Ruling on Motion for Summary Judgment In its answer the Respondent admits its refusal to bar- gain but attacks the validity of the certification on the basis of its objections to conduct alleged to have affected the results of the election and the Board's disposition of certain challenged ballots in the representation proceed- ing. All representation issues raised by the Respondent were or could have been litigated in the prior representa- tion proceeding. The Respondent does not offer to ad- duce at a hearing any newly discovered and previously unavailable evidence, nor does it allege any special cir- cumstances that would require the Board to reexamine the decision made in the representation proceeding. We therefore find that the Respondent has not raised any representation issue that is properly litigable in this un- fair labor practice proceeding. See Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. NLRB, 313 U.S. 146, 162 (1941). Accord- ingly, we grant the Motion for Summary Judgment. On the entire record, the Board makes the following FINDINGS OF FACT I. JURISDICTION At all material times, the Respondent, a Louisiana cor- poration, with its principal office and place of business in Hahnville, Louisiana, and with a jobsite at the Riverbend Nuclear Station in St. Francisville, Louisiana (the River- bend jobsite), is engaged in the business of providing maintenance services to customers located within the State of Louisiana. During the 12-month period ending June 30, 1998, the Respondent, in conducting its business operations de- scribed above, performed services at its Riverbend job- site valued in excess of $50,000 for Entergy, Inc., an enterprise within the State of Louisiana which is 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 Union is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. II. ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES A. The Certification Following the election held July 24, 1997,1 the Union was certified on June 12, 1998, as the exclusive collec- tive-bargaining representative of the employees in the following appropriate unit: All inside and outside janitorial employees, housekeep- ers, painters, tool room employees, utility workers, la- bel shop employees, and radiation protection employ- ees employed by the Employer at the Riverbend Nu- clear Station in St. Francisville, Louisiana; excluding all office clerical employees, guards, professional em- ployees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. The Union continues to be the exclusive representative under Section 9(a) of the Act. B. Refusal to Bargain About June 16, 1998, the Union, by letter, requested that the Respondent bargain, and, since about June 22, 1998, the Respondent has failed and refused. We find that this failure and refusal constitutes an unlawful re- fusal to bargain in violation of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act. CONCLUSION OF LAW By failing and refusing on and after June 22, 1998, to bargain with the Union as the exclusive collective- bargaining representative of employees in the appropriate unit, the Respondent has engaged in unfair labor prac- tices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 1 The complaint inadvertently lists the date as July 14, 1997. DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD2 REMEDY Having found that the Respondent has violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act, we shall order it to cease and desist, to bargain on request with the Union, and, if an understanding is reached, to embody the understanding in a signed agreement. To ensure that the employees are accorded the services of their selected bargaining agent for the period provided by the law, we shall construe the initial period of the cer- tification as beginning the date the Respondent begins to bargain in good faith with the Union. Mar-Jac Poultry Co., 136 NLRB 785 (1962); Lamar Hotel, 140 NLRB 226, 229 (1962), enfd. 328 F.2d 600 (5th Cir. 1964), cert. denied 379 U.S. 817 (1964); Burnett Construction Co., 149 NLRB 1419, 1421 (1964), enfd. 350 F.2d 57 (10th Cir. 1965). ORDER The National Labor Relations Board orders that the Respondent, River Parish Maintenance, Inc., St. Francis- ville, Louisiana, its officers, agents, successors, and as- signs, shall 1. Cease and desist from (a) Refusing to bargain with Laborers' International Union of North America, Construction and General La- borers Local Union No. 1177, AFL–CIO as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in the bar- gaining unit. (b) 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) On request, bargain with the Union as the exclu- sive representative of the employees in the following appropriate unit on terms and conditions of employment and, if an understanding is reached, embody the under- standing in a signed agreement: All inside and outside janitorial employees, housekeep- ers, painters, tool room employees, utility workers, la- bel shop employees, and radiation protection employ- ees employed by the Employer at the Riverbend Nu- clear Station in St. Francisville, Louisiana; excluding all office clerical employees, guards, professional em- ployees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) Within 14 days after service by the Region, post at its facility in St. Francisville, Louisiana, copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix.”2 Copies of the no- 2 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 National Labor Relations Board” shall read “Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National Labor Relations Board.” tice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Re- gion 15, after being signed by the Respondent's author- ized representative, shall be posted by the Respondent and maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondent to ensure that the notices are not al- tered, defaced, or covered by any other material. In the event that, during the pendency of these proceedings, the Respondent has gone out of business or closed the facili- ties involved in these proceedings, the Respondent shall duplicate and mail, at its own expense, a copy of the no- tice to all current employees and former employees em- ployed by the Respondent at any time since June 22, 1998. (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. Dated, Washington, D.C. September 30, 1998 Sarah M. Fox, Member Wilma B. Liebman, Member Peter J. Hurtgen, Member (SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 the National Labor Relations Act and has ordered us to post and abide by this notice. WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain with Laborers' Interna- tional Union of North America, Construction and Gen- eral Laborers Local Union No. 1177, AFL–CIO as the exclusive representative of the employees in the bar- gaining unit. 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 , on request, bargain with the Union and put in writing and sign any agreement reached on terms and conditions of employment for our employees in the bar- gaining unit: RIVER PARISH MAINTENANCE, INC. 3 All inside and outside janitorial employees, housekeep- ers, painters, tool room employees, utility workers, la- bel shop employees, and radiation protection employ- ees employed by us at our Riverbend Nuclear Station in St. Francisville, Louisiana; excluding all office cleri- cal employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act. RIVER PARISH MAINTENANCE, INC.