Opinion ID: 173013
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Unfair Labor Practice Dispute

Text: Having determined that the NLRB has the authority to act with only two members under the present circumstances, we now turn to the merits of the unfair labor practice dispute. The Employer makes and distributes bakery products under several brand names including Dolly Madison, Hostess, and Wonder Bread. Historically, the Employer distributed its Dolly Madison products separately from its Hostess and Wonder Bread products. This meant that some sales representatives exclusively sold and delivered Dolly Madison products while other sales representatives sold and delivered only Hostess and Wonder Bread products. This bifurcated distribution system also produced bifurcated union representation, with the Union representing both the Dolly Madison sales representatives and the Hostess/Wonder Bread representatives in separate bargaining units under separate collective bargaining agreements. In late 2005, the Employer consolidated its distribution systems so that all of its sales representatives would sell and deliver products under all of its brand names. Pursuant to this consolidation plan, the Employer and the Union agreed that the separate bargaining units would also be consolidated so that the Union could represent all the Employer's sales representatives as one unit under one agreement. The Employer and the Union further agreed that: (1) the Hostess/Wonder Bread contract would govern the future relationship between the Union and the Employer; (2) the Dolly Madison contract would be allowed to expire; (3) all employees covered by the Dolly Madison contract would be dovetailed according to unit seniority with the employees covered by the Hostess/Wonder Bread contract; and (4) the Employer would eliminate one of its delivery routes in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Mr. Rammage had been a Dolly Madison sales representative in Ponca City for fifteen years prior to the Employer's consolidation of its distribution operations. He had never been represented by the Union, however, and he was not included in either the Dolly Madison or Hostess/Wonder Bread bargaining units. When the Employer informed the Union of Mr. Rammage's employment and that he was not associated with either bargaining unit, both the Employer and the Union agreed that he should become part of the consolidated unit under the Hostess/Wonder Bread agreement. Apparently, however, they disagreed about Mr. Rammage's seniority. Mr. Rammage had worked for the Employer longer than any other sales representative in Ponca City, and the Employer considered him to be its best Ponca City employee. Therefore, the Employer sought to dovetail Mr. Rammage in the consolidated unit according to his years of employment rather than his years of participation in the Union. The Union countered that it would breach its duty of fair representation to the employees who were already in one of its two separate bargaining units if it agreed to give Mr. Rammage the seniority the Employer sought for him. Accordingly, the Union insisted that Mr. Rammage be endtailed at the bottom of the consolidated bargaining unit's seniority roster. Ultimately, the Employer acquiesced to the Union's position and endtailed Mr. Rammage. Because Mr. Rammage's endtailing made him the Employer's least senior employee for route bidding purposes, when the Employer eliminated one of its Ponca City routes some time after its negotiations with the Union, the sales representative who had worked that route was given the option to bump Mr. Rammage, or in other words, take over his route. When that sales representative exercised his option, Mr. Rammage's superior, Rodney Roberts, informed him that he would lose his regular route. In a letter requested by Mr. Rammage, Mr. Roberts attributed Mr. Rammage's demotion to a Union/Employer agreement to use Union Seniority for Route Bidding. Mr. Roberts also stated orally that Mr. Rammage had been demoted because he was not in the union. Ultimately, the Employer offered Mr. Rammage a position in its Bartlesville, Oklahoma terminal. Additionally, one of Mr. Rammage's superiors, Kirk Summers, repeatedly warned him that he would have to join the union. Mr. Summers also stated that Mr. Rammage was transferred because he was not in the union. Mr. Rammage eventually accepted the Bartlesville position which requires him to make a daily commute of more than seventy miles in each direction.
We apply a deferential standard of review to NLRB orders. NLRB v. Velocity Exp., Inc., 434 F.3d 1198, 1201 (10th Cir.2006). Under this standard, we will enforce NLRB orders if the agency's legal conclusions are reasonable and its factual findings are supported by substantial evidence in the administrative record. Id. The NLRA generally recognizes an employee's right to freely participate or not participate in union or labor organization activities. 29 U.S.C. § 157. To provide meaningful protection of this right, the NLRA prohibits unions from caus[ing] or attempt[ing] to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in regard to any term of employment in a way that would encourage or discourage union membership or participation. Id. § 158(b)(2). Indeed, the Supreme Court has determined that [t]he policy of the [NLRA] is to insulate employees' jobs from their organizational rights so that employees may freely exercise their right to join unions, be good, bad, or indifferent members, or abstain from joining any union without imperiling their livelihood. Radio Officers' Union v. NLRB, 347 U.S. 17, 40, 74 S.Ct. 323, 98 L.Ed. 455 (1954). Moreover, a loss of seniority requested by a union and enforced by an employer may constitute discrimination to encourage union membership. NLRB v. Am. Can Co., 658 F.2d 746, 754 (10th Cir.1981). In this case, the NLRB concluded that in the context of a unit merger, a union and an employer are not lawfully permitted to dovetail the seniority of represented employees while endtailing previously unrepresented employees. This conclusion reflects a reasonable application of the NLRA and the legal principles articulated above. Indeed, the Union's insistence on Mr. Rammage's endtailing coupled with the Employer's acquiescence and its statements that Mr. Rammage was demoted because he was not in the Union reasonably suggest that the Union caused the Employer to discriminate against Mr. Rammage in a way that encourages Union participation. Furthermore, the NLRB reasonably rejected the Union's defense that it was bound by its duty of fair representation to insist on Mr. Rammage's endtailing. As the NLRB pointed out, the Union clearly eschewed any duty to the Hostess/Wonder Bread unit when it agreed to dovetail the seniority of the Dolly Madison employees. Indeed, the integrity of the Hostess/Wonder Bread unit's seniority roster was no less compromised by dovetailing only the Dolly Madison employees than it would have been if Mr. Rammage were also dovetailed. In fact, in relation to the Hostess/Wonder Bread employees, the only discernable difference between the dovetailed Dolly Madison employees and the endtailed Mr. Rammage was that Mr. Rammage had not previously been represented by the Union. Accordingly, we find that the NLRB reasonably concluded that the Union's insistence on Mr. Rammage's endtailing and loss of seniority for route bidding purposes caused the Employer to discriminate against Mr. Rammage in a way that encouraged his union participation in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(2).