Southern Paper Box Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 22, 1971

193 N.L.R.B. 881 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

SOUTHERN PAPER BOX CO.
Southern Paper Box Company and United Papermak-
ers and Paperworkers, AFL-CIO. Case
26-CA-4073.
October 22, 1971
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND KENNEDY
Upon a charge filed on July 26, 1971, by United
Papermakers and Paperworkers, AFL-CIO, herein
called the Union, and duly served on Southern Paper
Box Company, herein called the Respondent, the
Acting Geneial Counsel of the National Labor
Relations Board, by the Regional Director for Region
26, issued a complaint on August 3, 1971, against
Respondent, alleging that Respondent had engaged in
and was engaging in unfair labor practices affecting
commerce within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and
(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended. Copies of the charge,
complaint, and notice of hearing before a Trial
Examiner were duly served on the parties to this
proceeding.
With respect to the unfair labor practices, the
complaint alleges in substance that on or about May
20, 1971, following a Board election in Case
26-RC-3931 the Union was duly certified as the
exclusive collective-bargaining representative of Res-
pondent's employees in the unit found appropriate; I
and that, commencing on or about July 21, 1971, and
at all times thereafter, Respondent has refused, and
continues to date to refuse, to bargain collectively
with the Union as the exclusive bargaining represent-
ative, although the Union has requested and is
requesting it to do so. On August 12, 1971, Respon-
dent filed its answer to the complaint admitting in
part, and denying in part, the allegations in the
complaint.
On August 20, 1971, counsel for the Acting General
Counsel filed directly with the Board a Motion for
Summary Judgment. Subsequently, on August 25,
1971, the Board issued an order transferring the
proceeding to the Board and a Notice To Show Cause
why the Acting General Counsel's Motion for
Summary Judgment should not be granted. Respon-
dent thereafter filed a response, called Opposition to
Notice To Show Cause.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
i Official notice is taken of the record in the representation proceeding,
Case 26-RC-3931, as the term "record" is defined in Secs 102 68 and
102.69(f) of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended See
LTV Electrosystemr, Inc, 166 NLRB 938, enfd 388 F 2d 683 (CA 4,
881
powers in connection with this proceeding to a three-
member panel.
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the Board
makes the following:
Ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment
In its answer to the complaint and in its opposition
to the Motion for Summary Judgment, Respondent
contends that it is not obligated to bargain with the
Union because the certification issued to the Union in
Case 26-RC-3931 was invalid since the Board in that
case erroneously denied its Request for Review of the
Regional Director's Supplemental Decision and
Certification of Representative in which it requested
that the election be set aside on its objections or
alternatively that an evidentiary hearing on the issues
raised by its objections be directed. Upon our review
of the record in Case 26-RC-3931 we find no merit in
this contention.
In an election conducted pursuant to the Regional
Director's Decision and Direction of Election, 83
votes were cast for, and 72 against, the Union and 4
ballots were challenged. Respondent filed timely
objections to conduct affecting the results of the
election, alleging that the Union had made last minute
misrepresentations of wage rates and other benefits
secured by the Union at other companies in the area
and elsewhere, of the Union's strike benefits, of the
Union's ability to enforce retention and reinstatement
of employees, and of the Respondent's president's
misuse of company funds. The objections further
alleged that the Union coerced employees through
threats that their personal property would be dam-
aged, that they would be fired, and that they may not
be able to return to work after a strike or layoff if they
did not support the Union.
After an investigation, the Regional Director, on
May 20, 1971, issued a Supplemental Decision and
Certification of Representative in which he overruled
Respondent's objections in their entirety and certified
the Union as collective-bargaining representative in
the unit found appropriate for purposes of collective
bargaining. Thereafter, on June 11, 1971, Respondent
filed a Request for Review of the Supplemental
Decision and Certification of Representative, sup-
ported by a brief in which it raised the same assertions
and arguments that it now advances in this unfair
labor practice proceeding. By telegram dated July 13,
1971, the Board denied Respondent's request on the
ground that it raised no substantial issues warranting
review.
It is well settled that in the absence of newly
1968), Golden Age Beverage Co., 167 NLRB 151, Intertype Co v Penello,
269 F Supp 573 (D.C Va, 1967), Follett Corp, 164 NLRB 378, enfd. 397
F 2d 91 (C A 7, 1968), Sec. 9(d) of the NLRA.
193 NLRB No. 134
882 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
discovered or previously unavailable evidence or
special circumstances a respondent in a proceeding
alleging a violation of Section 8(a)(5) is not entitled to
relitigate issues which were or could have been
litigated in a prior representation proceeding.2
All issues raised by the Respondent in this proceed-
ing were or could have been litigated in the prior
representation proceeding, and the Respondent does
not offer to adduce at a hearing any newly discovered
or previously unavailable evidence, nor does it allege
that any special circumstances exist herein which
would require the Board to reexamine the decision
made in the representation proceeding. We therefore
find that the Respondent has not raised any issue
which is properly litigable in this unfair labor practice
proceeding. We shall, accordingly, grant the Motion
for Summary Judgment.
On the basis of the entire record, the Board makes
the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Respondent is a corporation doing business in the
State of Arkansas , with a plant and place of business
located at Little Rock , Arkansas , where it is engaged
in the manufacture of paper boxes . During the past 12
months, Respondent , in the course of its business
purchased materials valued in excess of $50,000
directly from outside the State of Arkansas and
during the same period, Respondent sold and shipped
materials valued in excess of $50,000 directly to points
outside the State of Arkansas.
We find , on the basis of the foregoing, that
Respondent is, and has been at all times material
herein , an employer 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 Papermakers and Paperworkers , AFL-CIO,
is a labor organization within the meaning of Section
2(5) of the Act.
III. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
A. The Representation Proceeding
1. The unit
The following employees of the Respondent consti-
tute a unit appropriate for collective-bargaining
purposes within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the
Act:
All production and maintenance employees,
including press room and lithographic employees,
and local and over the road truck drivers em-
ployed by the Respondent at its Little Rock,
Arkansas, plant, excluding all office clerical
employees, guards and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
2. The certification
On April 9, 1971, a majority of the employees of
Respondent in said unit, in a secret ballot election
conducted under the supervision of the Regional
Director for Region 26 designated the Union as their
representative for the purpose of collective bargaining
with the Respondent. The Union was certified as the
collective-bargaining representative of the employees
in said unit on May 20, 1971, and the Union continues
to be such exclusive representative within the mean-
ing of Section 9(a) of the Act.
B. The Request To Bargain and Respondent's
Refusal
Commencing on or about July 19, 1971, and at all
times thereafter, the Union has requested the Respon-
dent to bargain collectively with it as the exclusive
collective-bargaining representative of all the employ-
ees in the above-described unit. Commencing on or
about July 21, 1971, and continuing at all times
thereafter to date, the Respondent has refused, and
continues to refuse, to recognize and bargain with the
Union as the exclusive representative for collective
bargaining of all employees in said unit.
Accordingly, we find that the Respondent has, since
July 21, 1971, and at all times thereafter, refused to
bargain collectively with the Union as the exclusive
representative of the employees in the appropriate
unit, and that, by such refusal, Respondent has
engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the
Act.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR
PRACTICES UPON COMMERCE
The activities of Respondent set forth in section III,
above, occurring in connection with its operations
described in section I, above, have a close, intimate,
and substantial relationship to trade, traffic, and
commerce among the several States and tend to lead
to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
2 See Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co v N L R B, 313 US. 146, 162 (1941),
Rules and Regulations of the Board , Secs. 102 67(f) and 102 69(c)
SOUTHERN PAPER BOX CO. 883
V. THE REMEDY
Having found that Respondent has engaged in and
is engaging in unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act, we shall
order that it cease and desist therefrom, and, upon
request, bargain collectively with the Union as the
exclusive representative of all employees in the
appropriate unit, and, if an understanding is reached,
embody such understanding in a signed agreement.
In order to insure that the employees in the
appropriate unit will be accorded the services of their
selected bargaining agent for the period provided by
law, we shall construe the initial period of certification
as beginning on the date Respondent commences to
bargain in good faith with the Union as the recogniz-
ed bargaining representative in the appropriate unit.
See Mar-Jac Poultry Company, Inc., 136 NLRB 785;
Commerce Company d/b/a Lamar Hotel, 140 NLRB
226, 229, enfd. 328 F.2d 600 (C.A. 5), cert. denied 379
U.S. 817; Burnett Construction Company. 149 NLRB
1419, 1421, enfd. 350 F.2d 57 (C.A. 10).
The Board, upon the basis of the foregoing facts and
the entire record, makes the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Southern Paper Box Company is an employer
engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section
2(6) and (7) of the Act.
2. United Papermakers and Paperworkers,
AFL-CIO, is a labor organization within the meaning
of Section 2(5) of the Act.
3. All production and maintenance employees,
including press room and lithographic employees, and
local and over-the-road truck drivers employed by the
Respondent at its Little Rock, Arkansas, plant,
excluding all office clerical employees, guards and
supervisors as defined in the Act constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act.
4. Since April 9, 1971, the above-named labor
organization has been and now is the certified and
exclusive representative of all employees in the
aforesaid appropriate unit for the purpose of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(a) of
the Act.
5. By refusing on or about July 21, 1971, and at all
times thereafter, to bargain collectively with the
above-named labor organization as the exclusive
bargaining representative of all the employees of
Respondent in the appropriate unit, Respondent has
engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) of the Act.
6. By the aforesaid refusal to bargain , Respondent
has interfered with , restrained , and coerced, and is
interfering with , restraining , and coercing , employees
in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them in
Section 7 of the Act, and thereby has engaged in and
is engaging in unfair labor practices within the
meaning of Section 8 (a)(1) of the Act.
7. The aforesaid unfair labor practices are unfair
labor practices affecting commerce within the mean-
ing of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that Respondent,
Southern Paper Box Company, its officers, agents,
successors, and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Refusing to bargain collectively concerning rates
of pay, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions
of employment with United Papermakers and Paper-
workers, AFL-CIO, as the exclusive bargaining
representative of its employees in the following
appropriate unit:
All production and maintenance employees,
including press room and lithographic employees,
and local and over the road truck drivers em-
ployed by the Respondent at its Little Rock,
Arkansas, plant, excluding all office clerical
employees, guards and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
(b) In any like or related manner interfering with,
restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of
the rights guaranteed them in Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action which the
Board finds will effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Upon request, bargain with the above-named
labor organization as the exclusive representative of
all employees in the aforesaid appropriate unit with
respect to rates of pay, wages, hours, and other terms
and conditions of employment, and, if an understand-
ing is reached, embody such understanding in a
signed agreement.
(b) Post at its plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, copies
of the attached notice marked "Appendix." 3 Copies
of said notice, on forms provided by the Regional
Director for Region 26, after being duly signed by
Respondent's representative, shall be posted by
Respondent immediately upon receipt thereof, and be
maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in
conspicuous places, including all places where notices
to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable
3 In the event that the Board's 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 be changed to read
"Posted pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals
enforcing an Order of the National Labor Relations Board."
884 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
steps shall be taken by Respondent to insure that said
notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any
other material.
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 26, in
writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order,
what steps have been taken to comply herewith.
APPENDIX
NOTICE To EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain collectively
concerning rates of pay, wages, hours, and other
terms and conditions of employment with United
Papermakers and Paperworkers, AFL-CIO, as the
exclusive representative of the employees in the
bargaining unit described below.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner
interfere with, restrain, or coerce our employees in
the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by
Section 7 of the Act.
WE WILL, upon request, bargain with the above-
named Union, as the exclusive representative of all
employees in the bargaining unit described below,
with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours, and
other terms and conditions of employment, and, if
an understanding is reached, embody such under-
standing in a signed agreement. The bargaining
unit is:
All production and maintenance employ-
ees, including press room and lithographic
employees, and local and over the road truck
drivers employed by the Respondent at its
Little Rock, Arkansas, plant, excluding all
office clerical employees, guards and supervi-
sors as defined in the Act.
SOUTHERN PAPER Box
COMPANY
(Employer)
Dated By
(Representative ) (Title)
This is an official notice and must not be defaced by
anyone.
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive
days from the date of posting and must not be altered,
defaced, or covered by any other material.
Any questions concerning this notice or compliance
with its provisions may be directed to the Board's
Office, Clifford Davis Federal Building , Room 746,
167 North Main Street , Memphis, Tennessee 38103,
Telephone 901-534-3161.