Opinion ID: 496730
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Accretion versus a separate and appropriate unit.

Text: 25 Both the Steelworkers and Armco contend that the Board improperly determined that the coke plant employees constituted a separate and appropriate bargaining unit and that, therefore, the employees were properly represented by the Steelworkers. We disagree, and we hold that the Board's designation of the coke plant workers as an appropriate unit was correct. 26 To determine whether two groups of employees should be included in the same bargaining unit, the Board applies a community of interests test: the two groups must share a community of interests sufficient to justify their mutual inclusion in a single bargaining unit. Pacific Southwest Airlines v. NLRB, 587 F.2d 1032, 1038 (9th Cir.1978). This test consists of several factors: (1) similarity in skills, interests, duties, and working conditions; (2) functional integration of the plant, including interchange and contact among the employees; (3) the employer's organizational and supervisory structure; (4) the bargaining history; and, (5) the extent of union organization among the employees. NLRB v. American Seaway Foods, 702 F.2d 630, 633 (6th Cir.1983). Employee desires, an additional factor frequently included in other circuits, is not a relevant factor in this circuit. NLRB v. Pinkerton's, Inc., 428 F.2d 479, 484 (6th Cir.1970). 27 Because of its wide experience, the Board should be given some deference in its selection of an appropriate bargaining unit through the application of the community of interests test. South Prairie Construction Co. v. Local 627, Operating Engineers, 425 U.S. 800, 96 S.Ct. 1842, 48 L.Ed.2d 382 (1976). The Board's ultimate determination as to the appropriate unit must be upheld unless it is arbitrary, unreasonable, or an abuse of discretion. NLRB v. American Seaway Foods, Inc., 702 F.2d at 632. But we review the Board's factual conclusions regarding the individual factors with less deference. The National Labor Relations Act provides the standard of review of such factual determinations: 'The findings of the Board with respect to questions of fact if supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole shall be conclusive. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(a). 28 We believe the Board's finding that the coke workers constituted a separate, appropriate bargaining unit was not arbitrary, not unreasonable, and not an abuse of its discretion. Further, we believe that the Board's intermediate, factual conclusions, which form the basis for its ultimate determination, are supported by substantial evidence. 29 The administrative law judge's conclusion that the two employee groups had dissimilar skills, duties, and working conditions is clearly supported by substantial evidence. All parties have acknowledged that the coke workers possess different skills, and that they work in a more hazardous environment than most steelworkers. Moreover, though the coke workers are not necessarily more skilled or better trained, their training is significantly different. This discrepancy surely was one of the reasons Armco chose to hire the Allied employees rather than an entirely new work force. In addition, the carcinogenic conditions existing in the coke plant are a constant hazard to the coke workers, and, therefore, constitute a legitimate ground for separate bargaining. 30 Armco argues that the second factor, functional integration, was wrongly decided by the administrative law judge to militate against a finding of accretion. Armco emphasizes the continuous nature of the process for coke plant to finished product. We are not persuaded. 31 Formerly, the coke workers unit was an independent, separate plant with a long bargaining history and a long union relationship. This fact alone suggests the appropriateness of a separate bargaining unit. Bay Medical Center, Inc. v. NLRB, 588 F.2d 1174, 1177 (6th Cir.1978) (Courts have long recognized that the Board may take bargaining history into account when determining whether a proposed bargaining unit is appropriate.). No machinery has been transferred between the plants, and the coke plant continues to maintain its own telephone exchange, credit union, and time clock. Moreover, the coke workers continue to perform the same work, by the same methods, and using the same machinery as before Armco's purchase. Most employees also have the same supervisors. The only real change has been an increase in production, a change which does not alter the nature of the employing industry. 32 In addition, the lack of employee interchange between plants militates against a finding of functional integration. NLRB v. American Seaway Foods, Inc., 702 F.2d at 635. Out of a workforce of 2700 steelworkers, only 24 maintenance employees have any contact with the coke workers. Such a small, one-way exchange fails to undermine the appropriateness of the coke plant as a separate bargaining unit. See Victoria Station, Inc. v. NLRB, 586 F.2d 672, 675 (9th Cir.1978). Furthermore, the hazardous conditions in the coke plant substantially decrease the possibility that steel plant employees would seek to transfer to coke plant jobs. 33 This fundamental problem, a lack of employee interchange, is exacerbated by the fact that all of the coke workers have a seniority date of December 31, 1981. In relation to the majority of the steelworkers, the coke workers have no seniority. Therefore, it is unlikely that any of the coke workers will be able to transfer in the near future. Thus, Armco's claim that it has done the coke workers a great favor by giving them the possibility of transferring to a more desirable division is not borne out in reality. 34 The company also argues that the administrative law judge incorrectly assessed the two union's bargaining histories. Although both the steel and coke industries have a history of independent union organization, Armco emphasizes that, in the steel industry, there are no steel plants in which the coke plant workers are represented by a separate union. 35 This argument is unavailing. Armco has failed to cite any case in which a previously-independent coke plant has been acquired and the employees accreted to a pre-existing steelworkers bargaining unit. Furthermore, the case upon which it primarily relied, Granite City Steel Co., 137 N.L.R.B. 209 (1962), can be readily distinguished. First, Granite City involved only 16 original powerhouse employees in contrast to the 400 employees in this case. Second, the wind and steam produced by the powerhouse workers are not commodities, like coke, which can be purchased in the open market. Moreover, these elements, which are used to operate blast furnaces, are arguably more integral to the steelmaking process. Finally, the powerhouse employees in Granite City had previously belonged to a bargaining unit which represented all of the powerhouse employees of the Union Electric Company; they had no history as a separate bargaining unit. These factors made a single bargaining unit appropriate in Granite City. Here, however, including the coke workers and the steelworkers in the same bargaining unit would compromise the coke workers' section 7 rights to self organization ... [and] to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.... 29 U.S.C. Sec. 157. 36 Admittedly, the third factor, the employer's organizational structure, may militate in favor of accretion. We concede that Armco exhibited centralized hiring procedures, and it demonstrated that wages, hours, and terms of employment were generally uniform. 37 But such proof does not undermine the reasonableness of the Board's determinations. As of the date of the hearing, no new employees had been hired. More importantly, the uniformity in wages, hours, and terms of employment is the result of the disputed conduct: the application of the Steelworkers' contract to the coke plant employees. 38 In sum, we hold that the Board's finding that the coke workers constituted a separate and appropriate bargaining unit was not arbitrary, not unreasonable, and not an abuse of its discretion. Furthermore, we hold that the factual conclusions which formed the basis of this determination are supported by substantial evidence. Therefore, by treating the employees at the coke plant as an accretion to the steel plant unit, Armco and the Steelworkers violated the Act. 39 C. Requiring employees to execute Steelworkers dues checkoff and authorization cards as a condition of employment. 40 It is well settled that the dues checkoff provisions are intended to be an area of voluntary choice for the employee. NLRB v. Atlanta Printing Specialties, 523 F.2d 783, 787 (5th Cir.1975). Threats by either a union or an employer that employees will be discharged for failure to sign checkoff authorization cards violates the Act. Metal Workers' Alliance, Inc., 172 N.L.R.B. 815, 817 (1968). Thus, as long as the Board's factual finding that Armco and the Steelworkers compelled the coke plant employees to sign the cards as a condition of employment is supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole, we must affirm the Board's conclusion of violation. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(a). 41 The evidence demonstrates that the Board's finding is supported by the record as a whole and is entitled to affirmance. Three former Allied employees testified on the record that, during a January 1982 orientation session, they were told that they had to sign checkoff and authorization cards if they wanted to work at Armco. A fourth coke plant employee, recalled from layoff in March 1982, testified that a similar statement was made in an orientation session following his recall. He specifically testified that he signed the checkoff authorization only because he believed he had to do so to get a job. Armco manager J. Edward Maddox admitted that he had taken the position that coke plant employees had to sign the card to work for Armco. The administrative law judge expressly discredited Armco supervisor Herb Salyer's testimony that he had not made statements which employees specifically remembered him making. 42 We believe that this testimony constitutes substantial evidence to support the Board's finding that Armco and the Steelworkers compelled the employees to sign the union's dues checkoff and authorization cards as a condition of employment. Thus, we affirm the Board's finding that Armco violated sections 8(a)(1), (2) and (3) of the Act and that the Steelworkers violated sections 8(b)(2) and (b)(1)(A). D. Armco's failure to recognize the OCAW 43 As we have already stated, we believe the Board correctly concluded that Armco was a successor employer and that the coke plant remained an appropriate unit even after the Armco purchase. Under these circumstances, we have no difficulty in finding that Armco violated sections 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act by failing to recognize and bargain with the OCAW as the representative of the coke workers before making unilateral changes in their working conditions. 44 The facts fail to support Armco's contention that the OCAW waived its bargaining rights. In any case, such a waiver of a statutory right must be in clear and unmistakable language. Timken Roller Bearing Co. v. NLRB, 325 F.2d 746, 751 (6th Cir.1963). An unambiguous waiver was not evident in this case. 45 Therefore, as was the case in NLRB v. Burns Security Services, 406 U.S. 272, 279-80, 92 S.Ct. 1571, 1577-78, 32 L.Ed.2d 61 (1972), the bargaining unit remained unchanged, and Armco was not entitled to upset the union majority by recognizing another union. 46 We believe there was substantial evidence to support the Board's conclusion that Armco violated sections 8(a)(5) and (1).