Opinion ID: 320302
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Charges Against H.A.M.L.

Text: 15 H.A.M.L. began operations in 1968, and until November 1971, its employees were not represented by a union. On November 1, H.A.M.L. employee Langdon contacted the Teamsters' representative McDermott to discuss organizing H.A.M.L. employees. On the evening of November 2, H.A.M.L. employees Coudray, Rayhon and Langdon met with McDermott and Rava, obtained Teamsters' authorization cards from McDermott, and began soliciting signatures the following morning, November 3. 16 Suburban's former dispatcher, Harold Bien, testified that at 7:30 a.m. on November 3, H.A.M.L.'s manager, Patrick Kilcoyne, called on the telephone and told him that the Teamsters were organizing H.A.M.L.'s employees. Bien then told Zechman, who was present with Bien during the telephone conversation, what Kilcoyne had said, and Zechman allegedly replied, 'We'll have to go down there and organize them.' Zechman then dictated UTU authorization cards and proceeded to Suburban's office, where he duplicated them on Suburban office equipment. Shortly thereafter, he recruited H.A.M.L. employees Lobmayer, Alexander and Thomas to assist in the UTU campaign and began soliciting signatures in H.A.M.L.'s garage. 17 Bien also testified that at about 11:30 that morning, he called Jack Flanagan, H.A.M.L.'s dispatcher, to request that drivers be made available for the New York City runs. According to Bien, Flanagan replied: 'I am going to have to cut you a couple short. We are down here getting people signing cards.' Furthermore, H.A.M.L. employee Schorr testified that when he returned to the H.A.M.L. garage following his afternoon run, Flanagan asked him to see someone in the drivers' room, and that when he went there, Lobmayer solicited his signature for a UTU authorization card. 18 Later that afternoon, Lobmayer and the other UTU organizers determined they had a majority of employees signed up for UTU, having 40 signed authorization cards out of approximately 50 to 55 employees. They then notified Zechman, who in turn called H.A.M.L. vice president Kuchin and requested recognition for UTU. At about 6 p.m., Kuchin called Kilcoyne and told him to be available. At about 7:30 p.m., Kuchin called the home of Suburban's manager, Kohn, where a party was in progress, and told Kilcoyne to come to Suburban's offices. Kilcoyne and his wife, who were among the guests, left the party with Kohn and went to Suburban's offices. Awaiting them there were Zechman, Kuchin and H.A.M.L. president Jacobs, as well as the newly appointed UTU bargaining committee of Alexander, Bascocky, Lobmayer, and Fayda. Before their arrival, Kuchin had checked the UTU authorization cards and had identified 35 of the signatures. Having determined that UTU represented a majority of the employees, Kuchin extended recognition to it. 19 At the beginning of the meeting, Zechman stated that 'it was important to get the contract signed, negotiated and signed so we could get it in before the Teamsters, certainly.' Thereafter, using the October 14 Suburban-UTU contract as a model or guide, the parties negotiated between 8:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. As each portion of the contract was agreed upon, Mrs. Kilcoyne typed that part. Finally, at the conclusion of the session, the contract was signed by the H.A.M.L. officers and then was taken to a motel where UTU vice-president Moore was staying. After a brief discussion, Moore executed the contract for UTU. At work later that morning, Bien asked Kilcoyne how everything had gone in regard to the contract and Kilcoyne replied, 'All signed, sealed and delivered.' 20 On the basis of the foregoing facts, the Board concluded that H.A.M.L. violated 8(a)(1), (2), and (3) of the Act by unlawfully assisting UTU in organizing its employees and then executing and maintaining a contract with UTU containing a union security provision. Although we accept, as supported by the evidence, the Board's decision to credit the testimony of Bien where contradicted by that of Zechman and Flanagan, 8 and its finding that Flanagan is a supervisor, 9 we agree with H.A.M.L.'s contention that the facts found by the Board fail to establish that H.A.M.L. gave unlawful support or assistance to the UTU organizing drive. 21 We are mindful that 'where, as here, we are in agreement that substantial evidence supports the Board's findings, our scope of review is limited to determining whether the Board's factual inferences are so irrational they cannot stand, and whether, if they stand, they justify the Board's order.' Department Store Food Corp. of Pennsylvania v. NLRB, 415 F.2d 74, 77 (3d Cir. 1969). Nevertheless, this contention merits close examination because the Board conceded that 'the evidence of direct assistance in obtaining signatures on the mimeographed UTU 'authorizations' is not particularly strong,' and therefore could conclude only that H.A.M.L. 'gave at least tacit approval to and benevolent observation of, the UTU organizers at HAML's garage'. The law is clear, however, that cooperation between an employer and a union does not violate but rather accords with the policy of the Act. An unfair labor practice occurs only when the employer's acts of assistance for a union interfere with the right of the employees fairly to choose their representative. And as one court has observed, 'the line between 'close cooperation' and 'interference with the freedom of choice of the employees' is a delicate one and often difficult to maintain, particularly where rival unions are involved.' NLRB v. Hunter Outdoor Products, Inc., 440 F.2d 876, 880 (1st Cir. 1971). 22 In its decision, the Board placed heavy emphasis on the haste with which H.A.M.L. recognized UTU as the representative of its employees and concluded a contract with it. In light of H.A.M.L.'s knowledge of the Teamsters' drive, 10 the Board adopted the opinion and, therefore, the reasoning of the Administrative Law Judge that such haste constituted an attempt by H.A.M.L. to favor UTU, and there is language in that opinion suggesting that this fact alone established an unlawful interference with the right of the employees to choose their own representative. 11 We do not believe that by itself it is an unfair labor practice for an employer to grant quick recognition to a union and to negotiate a hasty contract where that union represents an uncoerced majority of the employees, 12 even if the employer is motivated by the desire to freeze out a rival union. The issue before us is not the employer's state of mind but the effect of its actions on the rights of the employees. Cf. International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union v. NLRB, 366 U.S. 731, 81 S.Ct. 1603, 6 L.Ed.2d 762 (1961). 13 'So long as the acts of cooperation do not interfere with the freedom of choice of the employees, there is no violation of the Act.' NLRB v. Keller Ladders Southern, Inc., 405 F.2d 663, 667 (5th Cir. 1968). Where a union has achieved the support of a majority of the employees without coercion or unlawful assistance on the part of the employer, its recognition by the employer and the negotiation and execution of a collective bargaining agreement are precisely the sort of cooperation that it is the policy of the Act to foster. 14 Although we reject the Board's suggestion that H.A.M.L.'s haste in recognizing UTU and negotiating a contract with it, without more, would violate the Act, the Board could reasonably infer from such haste that H.A.M.L. preferred to have its employees represented by UTU rather than the Teamsters, and could properly evaluate the other actions of the employer in the light of that preference in determining whether unlawful assistance had been given to the preferred union. See NLRB v. Keller Ladders Southern, Inc., supra at 667. 23 Turning to the remaining evidence, we note that all but one of the actions attributed to H.A.M.L. provide only weak support for the Board's finding of unlawful assistance. Kilcoyne's telephone call to Bien on the morning of November 3 indicates that H.A.M.L. had knowledge of the Teamsters' organizing campaign, but can hardly be interpreted as an attempt to encourage a counterdrive by UTU, especially since Zechman's learning of what was said appears to have been fortuitous. Of greater weight is the fact that Zechman duplicated the UTU authorization cards at Suburban's office and on Suburban's equipment; however, the inference that the management of Suburban 'permitted' Zechman to do this is weakened by the absence of any evidence that it ever knew what Zechman was doing. Similarly, Flanagan's telling Schorr that someone in the drivers' room wanted to speak to him suggests a possibility of cooperation with the UTU drive, since that was where the UTU organizers were soliciting signatures. However, that fact can hardly support the Board's conclusion that '(w)hen the drivers came in to the HAML facility, they were directed by chief dispatcher Flanagan to the UTU representatives . . ..' Schorr seems to have been the only employee to testify that he was 'directed' to the drivers' room, and even if it can be reasonably inferred that Flanagan knew who wanted to see Schorr and for what purpose, there is no evidence that Flanagan's actions had any coercive effect. 15 24 We are left, then, with Flanagan's statement to Bien on the morning of November 3: 'I am going to have to cut you a couple short. We are down here getting people signing cards.' By itself that statement does not establish a violation of the Act, since the record demonstrates that the Teamsters was also soliciting signatures that day and thus any decision to curtail dispatching drivers would have benefited both unions. Moreover, even viewing Flanagan's statement together with the weaker evidence of assistance discussed above and in light of H.A.M.L.'s preference for UTU, as shown by the haste with which the company recognized and negotiated with that union, we do not believe that this evidence establishes such direct support and assistance to UTU as to interfere with the employees' freedom of choice. Thus, we conclude that H.A.M.L. did not violate 8(a)(1), (2), and (3) of the Act in according recognition to UTU and in concluding a contract with it that contained a union security provision. 25 The Board also found that H.A.M.L. committed an independent violation of 8(a) (1) of the Act by requesting an employee to engage in surveillance of the union activities of other employees, and we hold that this finding is supported by substantial evidence on the record. H.A.M.L. employee Coudray testified that during the afternoon of November 5, Flanagan asked him to spy at a Teamsters' meeting that night. Coudray went to the meeting and reported back to Flanagan the following morning, and was allegedly told to call Kilcoyne and tell him what had occurred. Kilcoyne testified that Coudray did in fact call him and tell him about the meeting, although he replied to Coudray that the information was unsolicited, that he really was not interested, and that he had given instructions to Flanagan not to get involved with the union business but to stay out of it and just do his own job. 26 It is well established that surveillance of the type described by Coudray is conduct prohibited by 8(a)(1) of the Act. See NLRB v. Historic Smithville Inn, 414 F.2d 1358, 1359-1360 (3d Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 908, 90 S.Ct. 904, 25 L.Ed.2d 88 (1970); NLRB v. Fishman & Sons, 278 F.2d 792, 796 (3d Cir. 1960). However, H.A.M.L. argues that the Board erred in crediting Coudray's testimony. After a careful review of the record, including the Administrative Law Judge's discussion of this point, 16 and in view of our extremely limited role in reviewing the credibility of Board witnesses, NLRB v. Local 420, Plumbers, supra at 328, we find this argument to be without merit. 27 H.A.M.L. also contends that the finding by the Board that Flanagan is a supervisor is not supported by the evidence and that his actions were, therefore, not attributable to H.A.M.L. We disagree. Although there is some evidence suggesting employee status, 17 it does not compel such a finding for the record also indicates that Flanagan is salaried, is the sole dispatcher for H.A.M.L.'s 55 drivers, has authority to assign overtime and determine whether to send drivers to Suburban from H.A.M.L. when requested by Suburban's dispatchers or officials, is the person whom employees call when they are unable to work, occasionally adjusts minor grievances, and performs some of Manager Kilcoyne's functions when the latter is absent. 28 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for enforcement will be granted as to that part of the Board's order concerning H.A.M.L.'s violation of 8(a) (1) of the Act for having requested an employee to engage in surveillance of the union activities of other employees. As to all other matters, the petition for enforcement will be denied and the petition for review granted. The case will be remanded to the Board for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.