SK USA Shirts

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 2013

359 NLRB No. 74 (N.L.R.B. 2013)

359 NLRB No. 74
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.
SK USA Shirts and Local 947, USWU, I.U.J.A.T. Case
22–CA–087198
March 8, 2013
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN PEARCE AND MEMBERS GRIFFIN
AND BLOCK
The Acting 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 Local 947, USWU, I.U.J.A.T.,
the Union, on August 14, and September 12, 2012, re-
spectively, the Acting General Counsel issued the com-
plaint on November 30, 2012, against SK USA Shirts,
the Respondent, alleging that it has violated Section
8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act. The Respondent failed to file
an answer.
On January 23, 2013, the Acting General Counsel filed
a Motion for Default Judgment with the Board. Thereaf-
ter, on January 24, 2013, the Board issued an order trans-
ferring the proceeding to the Board and a Notice to Show
Cause why the motion should not be granted. The Re-
spondent filed no response. The allegations in the mo-
tion 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 received by December 14,
2012, the Board may find, pursuant to a motion for de-
fault judgment, that the allegations in the complaint are
true. Further, the undisputed allegations in the Acting
General Counsel’s motion disclose that the Region, by
letter dated December 28, 2012, notified the Respondent
that unless an answer was received by January 4, 2013, a
motion for default judgment would be filed. Neverthe-
less, the Respondent failed to file an answer.
In the absence of good cause being shown for the fail-
ure to file an answer, we deem the allegations in the
complaint to be admitted as true, and we grant the Acting
General Counsel’s Motion for Default Judgment.
On the entire record, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. JURISDICTION
At all material times the Respondent has been a corpo-
ration with an office and place of business in Garfield,
New Jersey (the Respondent’s facility), and has been
engaged in the operation of a commercial laundry. Dur-
ing the 12-month period preceding the issuance of the
complaint, the Respondent, in conducting its business
operations described above, purchased and received at its
Garfield, New Jersey facility goods valued in excess of
$50,000 directly from points outside the State of New
Jersey.
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
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 production and maintenance employees employed
by the Employer at its Garfield, New Jersey facility,
except supervisors, guards and watchmen, as defined in
the National Labor Relations Act.
Since about 2005, and at all material times, the Re-
spondent has recognized the Union as the exclusive col-
lective-bargaining representative of the unit. This recog-
nition has been embodied in successive collective-
bargaining agreements, the most recent of which is effec-
tive from June 1, 2007, to May 31, 2013 (the agreement).
At all times since about 2005, based on Section 9(a) of
the Act, the Union has been the exclusive collective-
bargaining representative of the unit.
Since about February 14, 2012, the Respondent failed
to continue in effect all the terms and conditions of the
agreement by ceasing to remit dues payments to the Un-
ion.
The subject set forth above, relates to wages, hours,
and other terms and conditions of employment of the unit
and is a mandatory subject for the purpose of collective
bargaining.
The Respondent engaged in the conduct described
above without the Union’s consent.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
By the conduct described above, the Respondent has
been failing and refusing to bargain collectively with the
DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD2
exclusive collective-bargaining representative of its em-
ployees within the meaning of Section 8(d) of the Act, in
violation of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act, and has
thereby engaged in unfair labor practices affecting com-
merce within the meaning of 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) by failing to continue in effect all the terms and
conditions of employment of the unit as set forth in the
June 1, 2007, to May 31, 2013 agreement, by ceasing to
remit dues payments to the Union since February 14,
2012, we shall order the Respondent to remit such dues
to the Union, plus interest as prescribed in New Horizons
for the Retarded, 283 NLRB 1171 (1987), compounded
daily as prescribed in Kentucky River Medical Center,
356 NLRB No. 8 (2010).
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board orders that the
Respondent, SK USA Shirts, Garfield, New Jersey, its
officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall
1. Cease and desist from
(a) Failing and refusing to bargain collectively and in
good faith with Local 947, USWU, I.U.J.A.T. as the ex-
clusive collective-bargaining representative of the em-
ployees in the following appropriate unit by failing to
continue in effect all the terms and conditions of em-
ployment of the unit as set forth in the June 1, 2007, to
May 31, 2013 collective-bargaining agreement, by fail-
ing to remit dues payments to the Union since February
14, 2012. The unit is:
All production and maintenance employees employed
by the Employer at its Garfield, New Jersey facility,
except supervisors, guards and watchmen, as defined in
the National Labor Relations Act.
(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) Remit to the Union, as required by the 2007–2013
agreement, all dues that have not been remitted since
February 14, 2012, with interest, in the manner set forth
in the remedy section of this decision.
(b) 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 elec-
tronic copy of such records if stored in electronic form,
necessary to analyze the amount due under the terms of
this Order.
(c) Within 14 days after service by the Region, post at
its facility in Garfield, New Jersey, copies of the attached
notice marked “Appendix.”1 Copies of the notice, on
forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 22,
after being signed by the Respondent’s authorized repre-
sentative, shall be posted by the Respondent and main-
tained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places
including all places where notices to employees are cus-
tomarily posted. In addition to physical posting of paper
notices, notices shall be distributed electronically, such
as by email, posting on an intranet or an internet site,
and/or other electronic means, if the Respondent custom-
arily communicates with its employees by such means.
Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondent to
ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced or covered
by any other material. In the event that, during the pend-
ency of these proceedings, the Respondent has gone out
of business or closed the facility involved in these pro-
ceedings, the Respondent shall duplicate and mail, at its
own expense, a copy of the notice to all current employ-
ees and former employees employed by the Respondent
at any time since February 14, 2012.
(d) 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. March 8, 2013
______________________________________
Mark Gaston Pearce, Chairman
______________________________________
Richard F. Griffin, Jr., Member
______________________________________
Sharon Block, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

1 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 Na-
tional Labor Relations Board” shall read “Posted Pursuant to a Judg-
ment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the
National Labor Relations Board.”
SK USA SHIRTS 3
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
violated Federal labor law and has ordered us to post and
obey this notice.
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 Local 947, USWU, I.U.J.A.T. as
the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the
employees in the following unit by failing to continue in
effect all the terms and conditions of employment of the
unit as set forth in the June 1, 2007, to May 31, 2013
agreement, by ceasing to remit dues payments to the Un-
ion. The unit is:
All production and maintenance employees employed
by us at our Garfield, New Jersey facility, except su-
pervisors, guards and watchmen, as defined in the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner interfere
with, restrain, or coerce you in the exercise of the rights
listed above.
WE WILL remit to the Union dues that have not been
remitted since February 14, 2012, with interest.
SK USA SHIRTS