Source: http://openjurist.org/587/f2d/1176
Timestamp: 2015-07-06 05:00:37
Document Index: 277358920

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 9']

587 F2d 1176 International Brotherhood of Teamsters Chauffeurs Warehousemen and Helpers of America Local No v. National Labor Relations Board | OpenJurist
587 F. 2d 1176 - International Brotherhood of Teamsters Chauffeurs Warehousemen and Helpers of America Local No v. National Labor Relations Board	Home587 f2d 1176 international brotherhood of teamsters chauffeurs warehousemen and helpers of america local no v. national labor relations board
587 F2d 1176 International Brotherhood of Teamsters Chauffeurs Warehousemen and Helpers of America Local No v. National Labor Relations Board 587 F.2d 1176
98 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3186, 190 U.S.App.D.C. 279,84 Lab.Cas. P 10,726
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS,WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL NO.310, Petitioner,v.NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent,United Steelworkers of America, Intervenor.
No. 76-2065.
Argued 19 Jan. 1978.Decided 1 Aug. 1978.
Benjamin W. Hilley, Great Falls, Mont., with whom Emilie Loring, Great Falls, Mont., was on the brief, for petitioner.
Charles P. Donnelly, Atty., N. L. R. B., of the bar of the Supreme Court of Texas, pro hac vice, by special leave of the Court with whom Leon S. Gottlieb, Beverly Hills, Cal., and Allen J. Kwawer, Encino, Cal., John S. Irving, Gen. Counsel, Carl L. Taylor, Associate Gen. Counsel, Elliott Moore, Deputy Associate Gen. Counsel, N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for respondent.
Opinion filed by ROBB, Circuit Judge, dissenting in part.
Teamsters Local 310 petitions for review of an order of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dismissing an unfair labor practice complaint. The complaint charged that three AFL-CIO unions, as members of a joint representative, breached their duty of fair representation to members of the Teamsters, in violation of § 8(b)(1)(A) of the Labor Act;1 and that those unions attempted to cause the employer to discipline or discharge members of the Teamsters, in violation of § 8(b)(1)(A) and (b)(2) of the Act.2 The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) upheld these charges, but was reversed by the Board.3 We believe that the Board's order is not supported by substantial evidence, and we accordingly remand for findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with the evidence in the record as a whole.
The facts, essentially undisputed, are elaborated in the decisions below and can be recapitulated briefly here. Since 1968 unions representing employees in the nonferrous mining industry have engaged in nationwide coordinated bargaining. This coordination is effected through a National Conference, a coalition of 26 unions which delegates to a Steering Committee the responsibility for setting minimum bargaining goals as guidelines for negotiations with industry employers. Before concluding a collective bargaining agreement, local negotiating committees must submit contract proposals to the Steering Committee for approval.
The employer in this case is Duval Corp., a copper company, which engages in collective bargaining on a single-employer basis. Negotiations on behalf of Duval's workers are conducted by a negotiating committee comprised of representatives from four unions: the Steelworkers, Laborers, Operating Engineers (collectively, the AFL-CIO unions), and the Teamsters. As is the pattern in the nonferrous mining industry, these four unions have been jointly certified as the exclusive bargaining agent at Duval's properties; the joint representatives thus function as "the union" in negotiating and signing collective-bargaining contracts. Dissension between the AFL-CIO unions and the Teamsters has existed for years and forms the backdrop of the negotiations at issue here. This dissension manifested itself in discourtesies at the bargaining table and violence in the field, in "raids" by one union on the membership lists of others, and in the filing of representation petitions designed to secure replacement of a given union by its rival.
In August 1974 Duval and the joint representatives commenced bargaining to replace the contract that was to expire 30 September 1974. In an apparent effort to insulate itself from the uncertainty attending the interunion rivalry, Duval at the outset informed all four unions of the company's understanding that negotiations would continue on a joint basis, and that "once the Spokesman for the Union(s) informs the Company that a new Collective Bargaining Agreement has been accepted . . . a new agreement exists."4 The ALJ found on undisputed testimony that Duval reiterated this position during the course of negotiations and that the unions agreed.5 The spokesman for the union negotiating committee was a member of the Steelworkers.
Joint negotiations continued amid increasing acrimony through 1 October; several issues were resolved, but Duval's wage offer still fell short of the Steering Committee's guideline. The negotiations recessed that evening so that the Teamsters' membership could vote on extending the old contract further; the Teamsters met separately, as they had done on previous occasions, in order to avoid a hostile confrontation and possible violence. At this meeting, the Teamsters voted 213-42 to reject additional contract extensions and to strike; they apprised the AFL-CIO unions of their vote and set up picket lines.
Later that evening negotiations resumed between Duval and representatives of the AFL-CIO unions, at which time the company raised its wage offer to meet the Steering Committee's guideline. The Teamsters' representatives did not attend this session; there was a dispute, unresolved by the ALJ, as to whether they were informed of it.
On the morning and evening of 2 October the AFL-CIO unions held membership ratification meetings to consider Duval's contract proposals. Members of the Teamsters and their representatives were refused admission to these meetings. Duval's latest concessions were conveyed to the AFL-CIO employees at the evening session, and they voted 474-110 to accept the contract. The spokesman for the negotiating committee called the Teamsters' representative, informing him that there was a contract and that the Teamsters' pickets were "illegal"; called the Steering Committee and received authorization to accept the contract, and notified the company that "they had a collective-bargaining agreement."6 The ALJ and the Board both found that, under the terms of the union-company understanding, a contract thereupon came into being.7
On 3 October the Teamsters' representatives and picket captains were told repeatedly by AFL-CIO and company officials that a contract was in effect and that the pickets were illegal. The Teamsters replied that they had not yet ratified the contract, that their ratification meeting could not be scheduled until that evening owing to the difficulty of reassembling workers dispersed by the strike, and that the pickets would not be removed until ratification had occurred. The Teamsters ratified the contract that evening and took down the picket lines.
On the afternoon of 3 October representatives of the company met with representatives of the AFL-CIO unions to negotiate a strike-settlement ("back-to-work") agreement. The Teamsters were not notified of this meeting,8 and no Teamsters attended it. The spokesman for the negotiating committee (who, as noted above, was a member of the Steelworkers) proposed,9 and the company accepted, a provision under which Duval agreed not to commence any legal action against the AFL-CIO unions, but reserved the right "to seek redress against any individual union" and "to discharge or discipline any employee" who continued to picket or to sanction a strike or picket against the company "after 9:30 p. m. on October 2, 1974," in violation of the new contract's no-strike clause.10
On 4 October 1974 Duval discharged two Teamsters employees and disciplined a third for picketing on 2 and 3 October in violation of the no-strike clause. These workers had been warned, directly or indirectly, that their picketing was illegal because the new contract was in effect. The ALJ found that the discharged employees had been aggressive in processing grievances, active in implementing the Teamsters' program of soliciting members from the ranks of the AFL-CIO unions, and vocal exponents of the Teamsters' demands in collective-bargaining negotiations.11 The ALJ also found considerable evidence of employer hostility to these workers.12 Efforts to reinstate the workers failed, and the Teamsters filed charges with the Board.
B. Course of the Litigation
The ALJ found that the AFL-CIO unions had breached their duty of fair representation to the Teamsters, in violation of § 8(b)(1)(A), by accepting the collective-bargaining contract before the Teamsters had had an opportunity to ratify it. The ALJ found that these unions had likewise breached their duty of fair representation to the Teamsters, in violation of § 8(b)(1)(A), and had attempted to cause the employer to discharge or discipline Teamsters employees, in violation of § 8(b)(2), by negotiating a strike-settlement agreement which made Teamsters liable to discharge for picketing at a time when they could not be expected to know that a contract containing a no-strike clause had been concluded. The ALJ recommended that the AFL-CIO unions be ordered to cease and desist from unfair labor practices, and, finding that their breach of duty had directly contributed to the disciplined workers' loss of employment, recommended that they be ordered to make those workers whole for any loss of pay they had suffered. The Board, reversing the ALJ, drew different inferences from the facts, found no violations of the Act, and dismissed the complaint.
We review the Board's order to determine whether its findings are " supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole."13 The findings and decision of the Administrative Law Judge form an important part of the "record" on which this judgment of substantiality is to be based.14 Under the statute, of course, the ultimate factfinder is the Board, and courts appropriately defer to "the presumptively broader gauge and experience of (its) members."15 But while the Board is free to draw different inferences from the facts found by the ALJ, its inferences "should also rest upon some findings;" the Board must not "merely (state) that it disagrees,"16 but must "set forth the basis of (its) disagreement with the ALJ so that we may determine whether the Board's finding is supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole."17
The principles of labor law that frame our decision are well established, and the parties do not disagree as to them. A union has the duty, derived from its status as certified exclusive bargaining agent under § 9(a),18 to represent all employees in the unit