Source: http://openjurist.org/613/f2d/746/national-labor-relations-board-v-metro-truck-body-inc
Timestamp: 2017-07-23 23:20:45
Document Index: 111697465

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 151', '§ 160', '§ 10', '§ 160', '§ 159', '§ 159', '§ 9']

613 F2d 746 National Labor Relations Board v. Metro-Truck Body Inc | OpenJurist
613 F. 2d 746 - National Labor Relations Board v. Metro-Truck Body Inc HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 613 F.2d.
613 F2d 746 National Labor Relations Board v. Metro-Truck Body Inc 613 F.2d 746
104 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2498, 87 Lab.Cas. P 11,744
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner,v.METRO-TRUCK BODY, INC., Respondent.
No. 77-3172.
Dec. 28, 1979.Rehearing Denied Feb. 25, 1980.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found Metro Truck Body, Inc. (Metro) guilty of violating section 8(a)(1) and (5) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 151 Et seq., and now seeks to enforce, pursuant to section 10(e) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 160(e), the cease and desist order it issued against Metro on June 14, 1977. In response, Metro contends that the election and subsequent certification of the Automobile Employees, Laundry Drivers & Helpers Local 88, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America (Union) is not supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole, that the NLRB erred in ordering the election when the Union had not adequately shown that a "substantial number of employees" favored Union representation, and that the NLRB's denial of an election objection hearing violated Metro's right to due process of law. We reject Metro's contentions and enforce the order.
In March of 1975, the Union filed a representation petition with the NLRB. The representation hearing was delayed until July 1976 pending resolution of certain unfair labor practice charges filed by the Union. The Regional Director of the NLRB ordered the election to be held September 1, 1976, and on that date 22 ballots were cast, 13 in favor of and 9 in opposition to the Union. One week later Metro filed the objections to the election. In response, the Regional Director conducted an administrative investigation which resulted in rejection of the objections and certification of the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of Metro's employees. Beginning in October 1976, the Union requested Metro to recognize and bargain with it and Metro has continually refused. The NLRB issued a charge in February 1977 alleging violations of section 8(a)(1) and (5) of the NLRA. The company's response admitted its refusal to bargain but claimed, as an affirmative defense, that the certification of the Union was invalid. On June 14, 1977, the NLRB, without hearing, granted a motion for summary judgment against Metro and has now applied to this court for enforcement of the consequent order.
"It is well established that 'Congress has entrusted the (NLRB) with a wide discretion in conducting and supervising elections.' " NLRB v. Sauk Valley Mfg. Co., 486 F.2d 1127, 1130 (9th Cir. 1973) (quoting NLRB v. W. S. Hatch Co., 474 F.2d 558, 561 (9th Cir. 1973)); E. g., NLRB v. A. J. Tower Co., 329 U.S. 324, 330, 67 S.Ct. 324, 91 L.Ed. 322 (1946). Therefore, our review of NLRB supervision of election proceedings and accompanying orders is limited. NLRB v. Tri-City Linen Supply, 579 F.2d 51, 55 (9th Cir. 1978); Coronet-Western v. NLRB, 518 F.2d 31, 32 (9th Cir. 1975) (per curiam); NLRB v. Sauk Valley Mfg. Co., supra, 486 F.2d at 1130. " 'If the findings of the (NLRB) are supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, they are conclusive; and so long as the (NLRB) did not misapply the law, the order is to be affirmed.' " NLRB v. Pacific Int'l Rice Mills, Inc., 594 F.2d 1323, 1325 (9th Cir. 1979) (quoting NLRB v. Heath Tec. Division/San Francisco, 566 F.2d 1367, 1369 (9th Cir.), Cert. denied, 439 U.S. 832, 99 S.Ct. 110, 58 L.Ed.2d 127 (1978)); NLRA § 10(e), 29 U.S.C. § 160(e).
Section 9(c)(1)(A) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 159(c)(1)(A), states that the NLRB shall investigate a petition and may order an election, "(w)henever a petition shall have been filed . . . alleging that a Substantial number of employees (i) wish to be represented for collective bargaining" by the union. (Emphasis added.) As a rule of thumb, the NLRB normally investigates only those petitions which indicate that the union is supported by at least 30 percent of a company's employees. In this case, the initial petition revealed authorization card support in excess of that requirement. However, because eight of the employees who signed authorization cards were subsequently discharged by Metro as illegal aliens in the United States, Metro claims that the Union did not have the requisite 30 percent support among employees at the time of the NLRB representation investigation. Thus, according to Metro, the NLRB lacked jurisdiction to investigate the petition and order an election.
We disagree. The section 9(c)(1)(A) substantial interest requirement is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to NLRB action as Metro contends. Rather, it is an "administrative expedient() only, adopted to enable the (NLRB) to determine for itself whether or not further proceedings are warranted, and to avoid needless dissipation of the Government's time, effort and funds" through investigation of frivolous petitions. In re O. P. Jennings & Co., 68 N.L.R.B. 516, 517-18 (1946), Quoted in NLRB v. J. I. Case Co., 201 F.2d 597, 599 n. 3 (9th Cir. 1953). Were the NLRB unable to require a substantial interest on the part of the target company's employees before commencing an investigation, it would be forced to investigate every representation petition filed by a union, regardless of the actual chances of that petition's success. To avoid such waste, Congress created the substantial interest requirement, thereby preserving the NLRB policy of investigating only those petitions that the NLRB determined to be of substance.1
When this screening purpose of the section 9(c)(1)(A) substantial interest requirement is understood, it logically follows that there is no purpose in permitting the parties to litigate the adequacy of a union showing of substantial interest. That requirement exists simply to aid the NLRB in focusing only upon meaningful representation petitions. If the ensuing investigation reveals a "reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation affecting commerce exists," the NLRB is required to hold a hearing in which, "(i)f the (NLRB) finds . . . (that) a question of representation exists, it shall direct an election by secret ballot and shall certify the results thereof." 29 U.S.C. § 159(c)(1). The question of union support is conclusively decided by the representation hearing and the actual secret ballot election. There is no need to litigate its existence at the initial petition stage.2 Those circuits which have considered this issue agree. E. g., Intertype Co. v. NLRB, 401 F.2d 41, 43 (4th Cir. 1968), Cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1049, 89 S.Ct. 686, 21 L.Ed.2d 691 (1969); NLRB v. Louisville Chair Co., 385 F.2d 922, 926-27 (6th Cir. 1967), Cert. denied, 390 U.S. 1013, 88 S.Ct. 1264, 20 L.Ed.2d 163 (1968); NLRB v. National Truck Rental Co., 99 U.S.App.D.C. 259, 261-62, 239 F.2d 422, 424-25 (D.C. Cir. 1956), Cert. denied, 352 U.S. 1016, 77 S.Ct. 561, 1 L.Ed.2d 547(1957); Kearney & Trecker Corp. v. NLRB, 209 F.2d 782, 787-88 (7th Cir. 1953); NLRB v. White Constr. & Engineering Co., 204 F.2d 950, 953 (5th Cir. 1953). See also Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 138 N.L.R.B. 453 (1962).
Natter Manufacturing Corp. v. NLRB, 580 F.2d 948, 951 (9th Cir. 1978), Cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1128, 99 S.Ct. 1045, 59 L.Ed.2d 89 (1979), Quoting NLRB v. L. D. McFarland Co., 572 F.2d 256, 261 (9th Cir.), Cert. denied, 439 U.S. 911, 99 S.Ct. 280, 58 L.Ed.2d 257 (1978) (citations omitted).
National Labor Relations Act, Pub.L.No. 74-198, § 9(c), 49 Stat. 449 (1935).
In the years following enactment of this language, however, the NLRB adopted a policy of investigating only those representation petitions that were supported by a showing of substantial interest among employees of the target company. NLRB v. J. I. Case Co., 201 F.2d 597, 598 (9th Cir. 1953). When the current section 9(c)(1)(A) language was adopted, requiring allegations that "a substantial number of employees . . . wish to be represented" by the union, Congress made it clear that it did not intend to affect those NLRB "rules of decisions with respect to dismissal of petitions by reason of inadequate showing of representation . . . ." S.Rep.No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. 25 (1947), Reprinted in I NLRB, Legislative History of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, at 431 (1948).