Universal Sec. Instruments, Inc. v. N.L.R.B.
| Decision Date | 12 May 1981 |
| Docket Number | I,AFL-CI,No. 80-1494,80-1494 |
| Citation | 649 F.2d 247 |
| Parties | 107 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2518, 91 Lab.Cas. P 12,753 UNIVERSAL SECURITY INSTRUMENTS, INC., Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent, and Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America,ntervenor. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Warren M. Davison, Baltimore, Md. (Earle K. Shawe, Leslie R. Stellman, Stephen D. Shawe, Shawe & Rosenthal, Baltimore, Md., on brief), for petitioner.
Susan L. Williams, N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C. (William A. Lubbers, Gen. Counsel, John E. Higgins, Jr., Deputy Gen. Counsel, Robert E. Allen, Acting Associate Gen. Counsel, Elliott Moore, Deputy Associate Gen. Counsel, William R. Stewart, Deputy Asst. Gen. Counsel, Washington, D. C., on brief), for respondent.
Michael Brodie, Philadelphia, Pa. (Freedman & Lorry, Philadelphia, Pa., on brief), for intervenor.
Before HAYNSWORTH, Chief Judge, BUTZNER, Circuit Judge, and WILLIAMS, District Judge. *
Universal Security Instruments, Inc. has petitioned this court to review a finding by the National Labor Relations Board of several violations of § 8(a) (5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. The Board, through its General Counsel, has cross-petitioned for enforcement of its order and the union has intervened on behalf of the Board.
The facts of this case were laid out in the Decision and Order of the Board and in the Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) decision. See 250 NLRB No. 92 (1980). While we feel no need to repeat all that is printed there, we must, however, explain the factual setting of this case in some detail.
Universal was founded in 1969 and initially manufactured electromechanical sirens and other security equipment. After several years of working in small facilities, the company leased a plant in Baltimore, Maryland on Potee Street in 1971. In 1973, the Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America, AFL-CIO (the union), gained representation rights through a National Labor Relations Board conducted election. The union was to represent the production and maintenance workers at the Potee Street plant.
In August of that year the union and the company signed a three-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement, among other things, contained a clause which recited that it was to cover all production and maintenance workers "at (Universal's) Baltimore, Maryland facility, at 2829 Potee Street " The agreement also contained what was labelled a "Management Rights" clause which said that the union "recognizes that the Company shall have the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the management and operation of its business, and the right to relocate its plant or any portion thereof." The collective bargaining agreement extended to August 1, 1979, and this agreement was in effect at all times material to this case.
At about the same time that the company and the union were negotiating and signing the original collective bargaining agreement covering the Potee Street plant, the company entered the electronics field by making electronic smoke detectors and sirens. This was an expanding market, and because of this expansion, Universal leased a warehouse on Hollins Ferry Road in order to step up the production of smoke detectors and other electronic equipment. Hollins Ferry Road, which began production in 1975, was about 2.7 miles away from the Potee Street facility.
Universal originally staffed the Hollins Ferry Road plant with employees from Potee Street, who would punch in at Potee Street and be driven to Hollins Ferry Road. Eventually Universal hired employees directly for assignment to Hollins Ferry Road. The company voluntarily applied the union dues check-off provision of the existing collective bargaining agreement to the Hollins Ferry Road employees. In May of 1976 Universal formally recognized the union as the collective bargaining representative of the workers at Hollins Ferry Road without requiring proof that the union represented a majority of the workers at that plant.
The company's markets continued to expand and by the spring and summer of 1977, 300 employees were working at the Hollins Ferry Road facility. However, all parties to this action agree, and both the ALJ and Board found, that the conditions at the Hollins Ferry Road plant were poor and both workers and management were dissatisfied with the facilities. 1 Because of these poor conditions, the company began to look for a new, better plant.
After considering several locations, Universal settled on a plant location at Owings Mills, Maryland, which was about 27 miles away from its other two facilities. This location was chosen because it was easily accessible by Baltimore public transportation and the company planned to hire from the Baltimore metropolitan area labor pool. In fact, one of the bus lines which served the Owings Mills plant also ran by the Potee Street plant, a factor which company officials considered to be positive.
In March of 1977, Universal purchased the Owings Mills plant with the intention of using it to supplement its production facility at Hollins Ferry Road but not to replace that facility. Production began at Owings Mills in mid-September, 1977.
Although the company never informed the union formally of the impending expansion at Owings Mills, union members found out that the company was planning a new facility. They made several inquiries as to when the new plant was going to open and if the union would be recognized there, but these questions were never directly answered. In August or September of 1977 the site of the new plant was visited by union officials and on or about September 12, 1977 the union requested that Universal recognize it as the bargaining representative of the employees at Owings Mills. This request was denied by the company. After some organizational efforts by the union failed, the union filed a grievance against the company for denying this request. The General Counsel issued a complaint and notice of a hearing on January 6, 1978.
In early October, 1977, Universal officials decided that the Owings Mills plant, which was to be primarily staffed by newly hired employees, needed a certain number of experienced workers. Universal chairman Stephen Knepper authorized personnel director Robert O'Neill to recruit several Hollins Ferry Road employees for transfer to the new facility. O'Neill asked four Hollins Ferry Road workers if they would transfer to the new plant. He did not select the workers asked by seniority, but based the offers on recommendations by company management. Three of the four accepted the offer. At no time did the company notify the workers' bargaining representative that it was making these unilateral offers.
Again in late October the company offered transfers to 15 other Hollins Ferry Road employees, once again not selected on the basis of seniority. Twelve of these fifteen accepted the offer. The three who did not were laid off due to adverse business conditions.
By the end of September, 1977, Owings Mills had 65 production and maintenance employees, and by the end of October, 1977 the plant had 80 employees. Hollins Ferry Road at that same time had 200 and Potee Street about 50.
One of the 15 employees offered transfers in late October was Teresa Egitto. O'Neill informed her that she was laid off but could resume working at the Owings Mills plant. She testified that she was told that the work there would be the same, but that there was no union at the new facility and, because of this, the working conditions and benefits were better. She also claimed that O'Neill told her that if the employees at Owings Mills decided to have the union represent them, the working conditions at Owings Mills would deteriorate.
O'Neill also told several of the employees who had transferred that they would retain their seniority with the company for vacation purposes and other benefits, but that for layoffs, plant seniority would be the rule. Also, wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment were different from that which was negotiated with the union and embodied in the collective bargaining agreement.
Because of various market problems, Universal began to experience serious setbacks in the smoke detector market, beginning at the end of October, 1977. These setbacks forced a general layoff which affected the employees of all three of the company's plants. This layoff was terminated in January of 1978, but the market setbacks, along with the inefficiency of the Hollins Ferry Road plant, made that facility unprofitable for the company. On February 1, 1978, Universal's director of operations Amadee Dean recommended to chairman Knepper that Hollins Ferry Road be closed down. The next day Knepper decided to follow this recommendation and began to plan for the plant's closure by the end of that month. On February 3, Knepper authorized O'Neill to offer transfers to Owings Mills to the Hollins Ferry Road employees. That same day O'Neill began making offers to the employees on a seniority basis. Each employee was asked to fill out a card acknowledging that the offer was made and indicating his or her decision on the offer. Those who refused transfers to Owings Mills were told that positions might not be open at Potee Street, but that they would be placed on a preferential hiring list for that plant.
Seventy-two of the Hollins Ferry Road employees accepted the offer of transfer and thirty-one declined. Of the 31 who declined, two were given positions at Potee Street. The other 29 were laid off.
In addition to beginning the transfer process, the company also wrote to the union regarding the closure of the Hollins Ferry Road plant. In a letter dated February 3, 1978, a lawyer for the company wrote to union officials to inform them that "it will probably be...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Local 512, Warehouse and Office Workers' Union v. N.L.R.B.
...(change in law after ALJ decision does not require specific objection to preserve matter for appeal); Universal Security Instruments, Inc. v. NLRB, 649 F.2d 247, 260 (4th Cir.) (no motion for reconsideration needed to preserve for appeal general exception to backpay order based on new remed......
-
Aguinaga v. UNITED FOOD & COM. WORKERS INTERN., Civ. A. No. 83-1858-T.
...age, and personal limitations. Lundy Packing Co. v. NLRB, 856 F.2d 627, 629 (4th Cir. 1988). The Union cites Universal Security Instruments, Inc. v. NLRB, 649 F.2d 247 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 965, 102 S.Ct. 506, 70 L.Ed.2d 380 (1981) for the proposition that when an employee reje......
-
N.L.R.B. v. Cutting, Inc.
...presented at the proper time." NLRB v. Allied Products Corp., 548 F.2d 644, 654 (6th Cir.1977); accord Universal Security Instruments, Inc. v. NLRB, 649 F.2d 247, 260 (4th Cir.1981). In this case, our decision overturning the Board's finding of unlawful refusal to reinstate the former econo......
-
Gulf States Mfg. Inc. v. N.L.R.B.
...a motion for reconsideration with the Board as a prerequisite to appeal. For this proposition, it cites Universal Security Instruments, Inc. v. NLRB, 649 F.2d 247, 260 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 965, 102 S.Ct. 506, 70 L.Ed.2d 380 (1981). Universal Security In a case in which the par......