Opinion ID: 321883
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: single employer issue

Text: 11 The Companies first challenge the Board's conclusion, contrary to that of the Administrative Law Judge, that Engraving and NPC were a single employer for collective bargaining purposes. A successful challenge would require us to deny enforcement of the Board's order, since if the Companies were separate employers, their employees violated section 8(b)(4) of the Act-- the members of the photoengravers' Union by inducing, and the NPC employees by participating in an unlawful secondary boycott. If the employees violated the Act, they cannot invoke its protection and are not entitled to reinstatement upon request. NLRB v. Marshall Car Wheel & Foundry Co., 218 F.2d 409 (5th Cir. 1955); National Packing Co. v. NLRB, 352 F.2d 482 (10th Cir. 1965), appeal after remand, 377 F.2d 800 (1967); NLRB v. Blades Manufacturing Corp., 344 F.2d 998 (8th Cir. 1965); United Furniture Workers v. NLRB, 118 U.S.App.D.C. 350, 336 F.2d 738, cert. denied, 379 U.S. 838, 85 S.Ct. 73, 13 L.Ed.2d 44 (1964); see Southern Steamship Co. v. NLRB, 316 U.S. 31, 62 S.Ct. 886, 86 L.Ed. 1246 (1942). On the other hand, if substantial evidence supports the Board's single employer finding, both groups of employees which engaged in the economic strike are entitled to reinstatement on request, subject to the rights of previously hired permanent replacements. 12 The central theme of the secondary boycott provisions of the National Labor Relations Act is protection of neutral employers from union pressures designed to involve them in labor disputes not their own. National Woodwork Manufacturers Ass'n v. NLRB, 386 U.S. 612, 625-626, 87 S.Ct. 1250, 18 L.Ed.2d 357 (1967); see NLRB v. Local 825, Operating Engineers, 400 U.S. 297, 91 S.Ct. 402, 27 L.Ed.2d 398 (1971). The Supreme Court has recognized the Board's use of four factors to determine if nominally separate business entities make up a single integrated enterprise and hence are not neutral in each other's labor disputes. 'The controlling criteria . . . are interrelation of operations, common management, centralized control of labor relations and common ownership.' Radio Technicians Local 1264 v. Broadcast Service of Mobile, Inc., 380 U.S. 255, 256, 85 S.Ct. 876, 877, 13 L.Ed.2d 789 (1965). Ultimately, however, the inquiry into neutrality involves a case by case consideration of the factual relationship between the secondary employer (here NPC) and the primary employer (here Engraving) against the legislative purpose to protect only employers 'wholly unconcerned' with the primary labor dispute. Vulcan Materials Co. v. United Steelworkers, 430 F.2d 446 (5th Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 963, 91 S.Ct. 974, 28 L.Ed.2d 247 (1971); NLRB v. Local 810, Steel Fabricators, 460 F.2d 1 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1041, 93 S.Ct. 527, 34 L.Ed.2d 491 (1972). 13 The record in this case adequately supports the Board's conclusion that the two companies were properly to be considered as a single enterprise for collective bargaining purposes. NPC is owned jointly by Times Publishing Co. (62 1/2%) and Journal Publishing Co. (37 1/2%), the two daily newspapers in Shreveport, Louisiana. The two papers also each own a one-third interest in Engraving, with the remaining interest held by an independent third party. The President of the Times, William H. Bronson, Sr., is both NPC's President and Engraving's Chairman of the Board. 14 Both Engraving and NPC conduct their operations in the basement of the building housing the editorial and other staffs of both newspapers. Engraving supplies virtually all of NPC's photoengraving needs, devoting 50 percent of its efforts to NPC work. Because of volume discounts, NPC work accounts for only 30 percent of Engraving's gross sales. A significant portion of Engraving's other revenue is derived from work done for firms advertising in the papers. For these clients, Engraving picks up copy at the advertiser's place of business, engraves the material on plates, and delivers the finished product directly to the NPC composition room. As a final indicator of the interrelated nature of the Companies' operations, we note the attendance of Charles Nicholson, Engraving's manager, at NPC's daily quality control meetings for department supervisors. 15 Although Nicholson had complete charge of Engraving's day-to-day operations after his appointment as manager by Bronson, Sr., NPC had a continuing involvement in Engraving's labor relations. Bronson Sr. told Nicholson not to negotiate labor contracts by himself and suggested he consult NPC's Director of Labor Relations, William H. Bronson, Jr., a person trained in labor relations. Bronson Jr. subsequently participated in Engraving's contract negotiations, including those leading to the dispute now before us. In addition, Douglas Attaway, Jr., a Journal vice-president who regularly sat in on NPC labor negotiations, joined Engraving's negotiating team after the photoengravers went on strike. 16 Although a case might be made to support the Administrative Law Judge's finding of the Companies' status as separate enterprises, it is apparent from the foregoing summary of the evidence that the Board's determination that NPC was not neutral and disinterested in Engraving's labor dispute is also tenable. In such a case, we must affirm the Board's determination. Under the substantial evidence test mandated by 29 U.S.C.A. 160(e), as a reviewing court, we may not 'displace the Board's choice between two fairly conflicting views, even though the court would justifiably have made a different choice had the matter been before it de novo,' even if the determination involves application of law to facts rather than pure factfinding. NLRB v. United Insurance Co., 390 U.S. 254, 260, 88 S.Ct. 988, 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1083 (1968); see Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 488, 71 S.Ct. 456, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1951). Accordingly, we uphold the Board's determination on the single employer issue. 17