Court Opinion

ID: 9466868
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:31:18.348969+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:01.461918
License: Public Domain

VAN GRAAFEILAND, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part, dissenting in part:
Before the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act, when “supervisors” were sometimes treated as “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act,1 supervisory employees in Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation mines were organized by the United Mine Workers. Thereafter, the number of discipline slips issued by the supervisors decreased by two-thirds, and the accident rate doubled.2 This was a graphic illustration of the unwisdom of allowing managerial personnel to become subservient to a labor organization whose members they were supposed to supervise.3
Believing that employers should be entitled to the undivided loyalty of managerial personnel, Congress amended sections 2(3) and 2(11) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. § 152(3) and (11) so as to exclude supervisors from the statutory definition of employee.4 So that nonmanagerial employees would continue to enjoy the benefits of the Act, Congress took care to distinguish between employees vested with true management prerogatives such as the right to hire, fire, and discipline, or effectively recommend that those actions take place, and employees with only minor supervisory authority, such as straw bosses and set-up men.5 A supervisor under the revised statute is a person whose natural alignment is with management.6 He is a “representative of management”,7 a “part of management”,8 a person vested with “genuine management prerogatives”.9 He is generally a foreman or person of higher rank 10 who possesses “real power” to act in the interest of his employer.11
*405Although on occasion the borderline between supervisory and non-supervisory status may become somewhat indistinct,12 one would expect this shadowy area to be relatively small and not to encompass the hundreds of cases that have plagued the Board and the courts since the 1947 statutory amendment. This expectation will never be realized, however, until the Board becomes consistent in its application of the standards' of supervisory status contained in section 2(11). One need only contrast the Board’s decisions in cases where the acts of an employee may be attributed to management as an unfair labor practice with its decisions in cases where the employee’s activities may subject the employee himself to management sanctions to realize that consistency of application does not typify the Board’s record to date. When the Board’s decisions in bargaining unit cases are thrown into the hopper, inconsistency becomes even more apparent.
So that this opinion will not be unduly prolonged, many of the cases in which judicial review was sought have been listed in an appendix. A comparison of the decisions in the three areas covered will demonstrate the dissimilarities in the Board’s approach and the manner in which the Board shifts emphasis among the indicia of supervisory status depending, to some extent at least, upon the purpose for which its appraisal is being made. This result-oriented method of fact-finding should come to an end.
The Board is obligated to administer the Labor Management Relations Act fairly and rationally and to act as an impartial and neutral referee, guarding the right of both employer and employee.13 It should not act arbitrarily, nor “treat similar situations in dissimilar ways.”14 After thirty-three years of Board review, the time has come for sufficient certainty to be brought into the interpretation of sections 2(3) and 2(11) so that those for whom these sections have meaning need no longer act at their peril.
Because the Board’s decision in the instant case is clearly inconsistent with its holdings in a number of prior cases,15 and because I find no substantial evidence in the record as a whole establishing that the lead persons were part of management with real power to act in the interest of their employer,16 I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which holds to the contrary.
I concur in that portion of the majority opinion which upholds the Board’s finding relative to the threatened withholding of wage increases and the improperly motivated discharge of workers under the ten percent absenteeism rule. I find absolutely no basis, however, for the Board’s mandatory order that respondent Porta Systems must rescind its ten percent absenteeism discharge rule and may no longer enforce it. If any wrong resulted from the original enactment of the rule, it will be corrected by the rehiring order. After such correction, the continued existence and enforcement of the rule is a simple management *406decision with which the Board should have no concern.17
APPENDIX
ATTRIBUTED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE CASES
NLRB v. Monroe Tube Co., 545 F.2d 1320 (2d Cir. 1976); NLRB v. Broyhill Co., 514 F.2d 655 (8th Cir. 1975); NLRB v. Sayers Printing Co., 453 F.2d 810 (8th Cir. 1971); NLRB v. Brown Specialty Co., 436 F.2d 372 (7th Cir. 1971); NLRB v. Gerbes Supermarkets, Inc., 436 F.2d 19 (8th Cir. 1971); International Union of Elec. Workers v. NLRB, 426 F.2d 1243 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 950, 91 S.Ct. 239, 27 L.Ed.2d 256 (1970); Amalgamated Clothing Workers v. NLRB, 420 F.2d 1296 (D.C.Cir.1969); NLRB v. Henry Colder Co., 416 F.2d 750 (7th Cir. 1969); Benson Veneer Co. v. NLRB, 398 F.2d 998 (4th Cir. 1968); NLRB v. Big Ben Department Stores, Inc., 396 F.2d 78 (2d Cir. 1968); NLRB v. Roselon Southern, Inc., 382 F.2d 245 (6th Cir. 1967); Betts Baking Co. v. NLRB, 380 F.2d 199 (10th Cir. 1967); NLRB v. Kolpin Bros. Co., 379 F.2d 488 (7th Cir. 1967); Filler Products, Inc. v. NLRB, 376 F.2d 369 (4th Cir. 1967); NLRB v. Gary Aircraft Corp., 368 F.2d 223 (5th Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 387 U.S. 918, 87 S.Ct. 2032, 18 L.Ed.2d 971 (1967); NLRB v. Rish Equipment Co., 359 F.2d 391 (4th Cir. 1966); NLRB v. J. W. Mays, Inc., 356 F.2d 693 (2d Cir. 1966); Jas. H. Mathews & Co. v. NLRB, 354 F.2d 432 (8th Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 1002, 86 S.Ct. 1924, 16 L.Ed.2d 1015 (1966); NLRB v. Bama Co., 353 F.2d 320 (5th Cir. 1965); NLRB v. Elliott-Williams Co., 345 F.2d 460 (7th Cir. 1965); NLRB v. Schill Steel Products, Inc., 340 F.2d 568 (5th Cir. 1965); NLRB v. Houston Chronicle Publishing Co., 300 F.2d 273 (5th Cir. 1962); NLRB v. Mt. Clemens Metal Products Co., 287 F.2d 790 (6th Cir. 1961); Poultry Enterprises, Inc. v. NLRB, 216 F.2d 798 (5th Cir. 1954); NLRB v. Valentine Sugars, Inc., 211 F.2d 317 (5th Cir. 1954); NLRB v. Syracuse Stamping Co., 208 F.2d 77 (2d Cir. 1953); NLRB v. Chautauqua Hardware Corp., 192 F.2d 492 (2d Cir. 1951).
EMPLOYEE SANCTION CASES
NLRB v. Harmon Industries, Inc., 565 F.2d 1047 (8th Cir. 1977); Laborers & Hodcarriers Local No. 341 v. NLRB, 564 F.2d 834 (9th Cir. 1977); Kaiser Engineers v. NLRB, 538 F.2d 1379 (9th Cir. 1976); Rose Porta-Plant, Inc. v. NLRB, 404 F.2d 1180 (5th Cir. 1968); NLRB v. Security Guard Service, Inc., 384 F.2d 143 (5th Cir. 1967); NLRB v. Big Three Welding Equipment Co., 359 F.2d 77 (5th Cir. 1966); NLRB v. Charley Toppino & Sons, Inc., 332 F.2d 85 (5th Cir. 1964); NLRB v. Grigg’s Equipment, Inc., 307 F.2d 275 (5th Cir. 1962); Northern Virginia Steel Corp. v. NLRB, 300 F.2d 168 (4th Cir. 1962); International Union of United Brewery Workers v. NLRB, 298 F.2d 297 (D.C.Cir. 1961), cert. denied, 369 U.S. 843, 82 S.Ct. 875, 7 L.Ed.2d 847 (1962); NLRB v. Southern Airways Co., 290 F.2d 519 (5th Cir. 1961); NLRB v. Fullerton Publishing Co., 283 F.2d 545 (9th Cir. 1960); NLRB v. Cousins Associates, Inc., 283 F.2d 242 (2d Cir. 1960); NLRB v. Southern Bleachery & Print Works, Inc., 257 F.2d 235 (4th Cir. 1958), cert. denied, 359 U.S. 911, 79 S.Ct. 588, 3 L.Ed.2d 575 (1959); NLRB v. Osbrink, 218 F.2d 341 (9th Cir. 1954), cert. denied, 349 U.S. 928, 75 S.Ct. 770, 99 L.Ed. 1259 (1955); NLRB v. Beaver Metal Creamery, Inc., 215 F.2d 247 (3d Cir. 1954); Precision Fabricators, Inc. v. NLRB, 204 F.2d 567 (2d Cir. 1953); NLRB v. Whitin Machine Works, 204 F.2d 883 (1st Cir. 1953); Red Star Express Lines v. NLRB, 196 F.2d 78 (2d Cir. 1952); West Texas Utilities Co. v. NLRB, 195 F.2d 519 (5th Cir. 1952).
BARGAINING UNIT CASES
Exxon Pipeline Co. v. NLRB, 596 F.2d 704 (5th Cir. 1979); NLRB v. Detroit Edison Co., 537 F.2d 239 (6th Cir. 1976); Global Marine Dev. of Cal., Inc. v. NLRB, 528 F.2d 92 (9th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 821, 97 S.Ct. 70, 50 L.Ed.2d 83 (1976); NLRB v. Dunkirk Motor Inn, Inc., 524 F.2d 663 (2d Cir. 1975); GAF Corp. v. NLRB, 524 F.2d
*407APPENDIX — Continued
492 (5th Cir. 1975); NLRB v. Metropolitan Petroleum Co., 506 F.2d 616 (1st Cir. 1974); NLRB v. Doctors’ Hospital of Modesto, Inc., 489 F.2d 772 (9th Cir. 1973); NLRB v. Gray Line Tours, Inc., 461 F.2d 763 (9th Cir. 1972); NLRB v. Sayers Printing Co., 453 F.2d 810 (8th Cir. 1971); Arizona Public Service Co. v. NLRB, 453 F.2d 228 (9th Cir. 1971); Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union v. NLRB, 445 F.2d 237 (D.C.Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1039, 92 S.Ct. 713, 30 L.Ed.2d 730 (1972); NLRB v. Magnesium Casting Co., 427 F.2d 114 (1st Cir. 1970), aff’d, 401 U.S. 137, 91 S.Ct. 599, 27 L.Ed.2d 735 (1971); Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. NLRB, 424 F.2d 1151 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 831, 91 S.Ct. 63, 27 L.Ed.2d 62 (1970); Food Store Employees Local 347 v. NLRB, 422 F.2d 685 (D.C.Cir. 1969); Illinois State Journal-Register, Inc. v. NLRB, 412 F.2d 37 (7th Cir. 1969); Pacific Intermountain Express Co. v. NLRB, 412 F.2d 1 (10th Cir. 1969); NLRB v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 405 F.2d 1169 (2d Cir. 1968); NLRB v. American Oil Co., 387 F.2d 786 (7th Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 391 U.S. 906, 88 S.Ct. 1656, 20 L.Ed.2d 420 (1968); Warner Co. v. NLRB, 365 F.2d 435 (3d Cir. 1966); Powers Regulator Co. v. NLRB, 355 F.2d 506 (7th Cir. 1966); International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union v. NLRB, 339 F.2d 116 (2d Cir. 1964); West Penn Power Co. v. NLRB, 337 F.2d 993 (3d Cir. 1964); Eastern Greyhound Lines v. NLRB, 337 F.2d 84 (6th Cir. 1964); NLRB v. Florida Agricultural Supply Co., 328 F.2d 989 (5th Cir. 1964); Keener Rubber, Inc. v. NLRB, 326 F.2d 968 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 377 U.S. 934, 84 S.Ct. 1337, 12 L.Ed.2d 297 (1964); NLRB v. Greenfield Components Corp., 317 F.2d 85 (1st Cir. 1963); NLRB v. Swift & Co., 240 F.2d 65 (9th Cir. 1957); NLRB v. Esquire, Inc., 222 F.2d 253 (7th Cir. 1955); NLRB v. Stewart, 207 F.2d 8 (5th Cir. 1953); NLRB v. North Carolina Granite Corp., 201 F.2d 469 (4th Cir. 1953); NLRB v. Quincy Steel Casting Co., 200 F.2d 293 (1st Cir. 1952); Ohio Power Co. v. NLRB, 176 F.2d 385 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 338 U.S. 899, 70 S.Ct. 249, 94 L.Ed. 553 (1949).

. See Packard Motor Car Co. v. NLRB, 330 U.S. 485, 67 S.Ct. 789, 91 L.Ed. 1040 (1947).

. L. A. Young Spring & Wire Corp. v. NLRB, 163 F.2d 905, 906 n.2 (D.C.Cir.1947) (quoting S.Rep. No. 105 S. 1126, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. (1947)), cert. denied, 333 U.S. 837, 68 S.Ct. 607, 92 L.Ed. 1121 (1948).

. Id.

. See International Ladies' Garment Workers Union v. NLRB, 339 F.2d 116, 122 (2d Cir. 1964); Laborers & Hodcarriers Local No. 341 v. NLRB, 564 F.2d 834, 837 (9th Cir. 1977).

. NLRB v. Security Guard Service, Inc., 384 F.2d 143, 147-48 (5th Cir. 1967).

. Id. at 150.

. NLRB v. North Carolina Granite Corp., 201 F.2d 469, 470 (4th Cir. 1953).

. Laborers and Hodcarriers Local No. 341 v. NLRB, supra, 564 F.2d at 838.

. International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union v. NLRB, supra, 339 F.2d at 121 (quoting S.Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. 4 (1947)).

. NLRB v. Southern Airways Co., 290 F.2d 519, 523 (5th Cir. 1961).

. Amalgamated Clothing Workers v. NLRB, 420 F.2d 1296, 1300 (D.C.Cir.1969).

. See Local No. 207 v. Perko, 373 U.S. 701, 706, 83 S.Ct. 1429, 1431-32, 10 L.Ed.2d 646 (1963).

. Burinskas v. NLRB, 357 F.2d 822, 827 (D.C. Cir. 1966); Florida Steel Corp. v. NLRB, 587 F.2d 735, 753 (5th Cir. 1979); Leonard v. NLRB, 205 F.2d 355, 357 (9th Cir. 1953).

. Burinskas v. NLRB, supra, 357 F.2d at 827; see Local 777, Democratic Union Organizing Comm. v. NLRB, 603 F.2d 862, 871-72 (D.C. Cir. 1978); Jones v. Califano, 576 F.2d 12, 20 (2d Cir. 1978).

. See, e. g., NLRB v. Harmon Industries, Inc., 565 F.2d 1047 (8th Cir. 1977); Laborers & Hodcarriers Local No. 341 v. NLRB, supra, 564 F.2d 834; NLRB v. Magnesium Casting Co., 427 F.2d 114, 116-118 (1st Cir. 1970), affd, 401 U.S. 137, 91 S.Ct. 599, 27 L.Ed.2d 735 (1971); NLRB v. American Oil Co., 387 F.2d 786 (7th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 391 U.S. 906, 88 S.Ct. 1656, 20 L.Ed.2d 420; NLRB v. Security Guard Service, Inc., supra, 384 F.2d 143; International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union v. NLRB, supra, 339 F.2d at 121-33.

. NLRB v. Monroe Tube Co., 545 F.2d 1320, 1324-25 (2d Cir. 1976).

. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. NLRB, 592 F.2d 595, 603 (1st Cir. 1979); Waterbury Community Antenna, Inc. v. NLRB, 587 F.2d 90, 96 (2d Cir. 1978).