N.L.R.B. v. Local No. 106, Glass Bottle Blowers Ass'n, AFL-CIO
| Decision Date | 22 July 1975 |
| Docket Number | R,AFL-CI,No. 74-1931,AFL-CIO,74-1931 |
| Citation | 520 F.2d 693 |
| Parties | 89 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3020, 10 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1426, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 10,316, 77 Lab.Cas. P 11,018 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. LOCAL NO. 106, GLASS BOTTLE BLOWERS ASSOCIATION,, and LOCAL NO. 245, Glass Bottle Blowers Association,, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Elliott Moore, Peter G. Nash, Deputy Associate Gen. Counsel, N.L.R.B., Robert A. Giannasi, Marion Griffin, Washington, D.C., Emil C. Farkas, Director, Region 9, N.L.R.B., Cincinnati, Ohio, for petitioner.
Howard S. Simonoff, Plone, Tomar, Parks & Seliger, Camden, N.J., for respondents.
Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and EDWARDS and ENGEL, Circuit Judges.
This case presents the question of whether a labor union with a bargaining relationship in a plant commits an unfair labor practice by maintaining two different locals segregated on the basis of sex and by segregated processing of grievances. The National Labor Relations Board, in a badly split decision, answered this question in the affirmative, and ordered the merger of the two segregated Local Unions. The decision of the Board is reported at 210 N.L.R.B. No. 131 (1974).
We enforce the order of the Board.
Locals 106 and 245 of the Glass blowers Association, AFL-CIO, (Locals or Local Unions) serve as joint bargaining representatives for the production and maintenance employees of Owens-Illinois, Inc., at its plant in Columbus, Ohio. In 1949 the parent International Union, the Glass Bottle Blowers Association, AFL-CIO (International Union), entered into a contract with Ownes-Illinois. From the outset of this contractual relationship there have been two separate locals which serve the agreement: Local 106, which confines its membership to men, and Local 245, which confines its membership to women. There are approximately 800 male employees and approximately 370 female employees.
In 1968 or early in 1969, the Company agreed with the two Locals and the International Union to merge the seniority list of its employees and to eliminate previous inequities as to job availability based on sex. Thereafter positions no longer were designated as men's or women's jobs and were to be open to bidding by all employees in the plant who were physically capable of performing the work, without regard to sex. However, the Local Unions continued to segregate their memberships and the processing of grievances by sex.
The constitution and by-laws of the International Union contain no provisions for discrimination on the basis of sex.
The collective bargaining agreement for 1971-74 was negotiated by a joint bargaining committee composed of representatives of both Locals and the International Union and was ratified at a joining membership meeting of the two Local Unions. The agreement, which contains a union security clause, makes no distinctions because of sex or local union membership, and specifically provides that, in the administration and application of the contract, there shall be no discrimination by the company or Union against an employee because of sex. The contract grievance and arbitration procedures are open equally to members of both Locals, and unit memberships of both sexes. however, in practice, women must have their grievances investigated and handled by Local 245 and men must have their grievances investigated and handled by Local 106. The disposition of a grievance affects both male and female employees, regardless of which Local Union processes it.
There are 186 job classifications in the unit, of which 65 are performed by both men and women and 121 are performed by only one sex. Between 40 and 50 percent of the total work force is employed in unit job classifications that are performed by both men and women. At the time of the hearing, the bargaining hourly rate in effect for jobs performed by both sexes ranged from a low of $3.190 to a high of $3.635. For jobs performed by one sex, the beginning hourly rate for the same period ranged from $3.190 to $4.445.
The Administrative Law Judge found, in effect, that the male and female employees received, equal, though separate, treatment and therefore there was no violation.
Rejecting the decision of the Administrative Law Judge the Board found that the Local Unions violated $8(b)(1)(A) of the Act by maintaining segregated memberships, by separately processing grievances of male and female unit members and by refusing to process grievances because of the sex and union membership of employees. 1 The Local Unions were ordered to cease and desist from the unfair labor practices found. The Board ordered the Local Unions to merge; to admit to membership and process the grievance of any unit employee, upon request, without regard to sex; and to post appropriate notices. The majority opinion of the Board expressed the following conclusions:
We cannot accept [The Administrative Law Judge's] reasoning. Separate but equal treatment on the basis of sex is as self-contradictory as separate but equal on the basis of race. 4
In both areas separation in and of itself connotes and creates inequalities. Not only can separating females from males solely because of sex generate a feeling of inferiority among the females as to their work status, since the policy of separation is usually interpreted as reflecting the inferiority of the females, but also it can, as set forth below, adversely affect the working conditions of both groups solely because of the difference in sex.
For example, since, as mentioned previously, a grievance affects both male and female employees regardless of which Local processes the grievance, the employees whose Local did not process a grievance merely because of the grievant's sex are nonetheless bound by the outcome of the other Local's processing of the grievance. These employees have therefore, solely because of sex, been denied a voice in the resolution of matters affecting their working conditions.
Indeed, Respondent's sexual discrimination serves no useful purpose. The collective-bargaining agreement applies equally to all employees and makes no distinctions based on sex or local memberships. All jobs are open to both sexes. There are, thus, no special circumstances to justify the separate processing of grievances or the maintenance of separate locals.
Accordingly, we find that Respondents by maintaining locals whose memberships are restricted by sex and by refusing to process grievances because of the sex of the employees and their nonmembership in each of Respondents, respectively, restrained and coerced employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights in violation of Section 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act. 5
We agree with the conclusion of the Board.
Undoubtedly questions of statutory interpretation, especially when arising in the first instance in judicial proceedings, are for the courts to...
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