International Union of Petroleum & Indus. Workers v. N.L.R.B., s. 91-1428
| Decision Date | 15 December 1992 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 91-1428,91-1483,s. 91-1428 |
| Citation | 980 F.2d 774 |
| Parties | 142 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2012, 298 U.S.App.D.C. 397, 123 Lab.Cas. P 10,479 INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PETROLEUM & INDUSTRIAL WORKERS, Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. IRWIN INDUSTRIES, INC., Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Petition for Review and Cross-Application for Enforcement of an Order of the National Labor Relations Board and Application for Enforcement of an Order of the National Labor Relations Board (Nos. 21-CB-9938 and 21-CA-25437).
Laurence D. Steinsapir, with whom Henry M. Willis and Susan L. Catler were on the brief, for petitioner in No. 91-1428.
James T. Winkler for respondent in No. 91-1483.
Margaret E. Luke, Attorney, N.L.R.B., with whom Jerry M. Hunter, Gen. Counsel, Aileen A. Armstrong, Deputy Associate Gen. Counsel, and Linda Dreeben, Supervising Atty., were on the brief, for respondent in No. 91-1428 and petitioner in No. 91-1483.
Before: EDWARDS, SENTELLE and RANDOLPH, Circuit Judges.
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge HARRY T. EDWARDS.
In December 1986, Irwin Industries, Inc. ("Irwin") succeeded Stockmar International, Inc. ("Stockmar") as the employer designated to perform maintenance contracts at two Southern California oil refineries, one owned by Chevron U.S.A., Inc. ("Chevron") and the other owned by Texaco Oil Company ("Texaco"). Stockmar was a party to a multiemployer collective bargaining agreement with the International Union of Petroleum and Industrial Workers ("Union"), and this agreement covered the Stockmar maintenance employees working at the Chevron and Texaco refineries. Irwin hired the former Stockmar employees when it assumed the maintenance contracts at the two locations, and the employees then continued to work pursuant to the same conditions that were in existence when Stockmar was the employer. Following the successorship in employers, the Union demanded bargaining rights for a unit composed of the former Stockmar employees and Irwin's existing unrepresented work force of refinery maintenance employees. Irwin acceded to this demand and recognized the Union as the bargaining agent for the maintenance employees. Irwin and the Union then executed a collective bargaining agreement.
Subsequently, unfair labor practice charges were filed with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or "Board") against Irwin and the Union, and complaints were issued. The Board found that Irwin had violated sections 8(a)(1) and (2) of the National Labor Relations Act ("Act"), 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1), (2) (1988), in recognizing the Union and entering into a collective bargaining agreement, allegedly because the Union had failed to demonstrate that it represented a majority of Irwin's refinery maintenance employees. For like reasons, the Board also found that the Union had violated section 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(1)(A) (1988). Finally, the Board found that, because of the Union's alleged minority status, Irwin had violated section 8(a)(3) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3) (1988), and the Union had violated section 8(b)(2) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(2) (1988), by agreeing to a union security provision in the collective bargaining agreement.
The case is now before the court on petition of the Union to review the order of the Board requiring the Union to disclaim recognition by Irwin, and to cease giving effect to the collective bargaining agreement executed by Irwin and the Union. The Board has cross-applied for enforcement of its order. In a consolidated case, the Board has applied for enforcement of its order requiring Irwin to withdraw recognition of the Union and to cease giving effect to the collective bargaining agreement executed with the Union. Because there is no substantial evidence to justify the Board's decision, and because the Board misapplied established law to the facts, we deny the petition and cross-petition for enforcement and grant the Union's petition for review.
This case presents a classic example of "successorship." The change in employers from Stockmar to Irwin resulted in no meaningful change in the employees' conditions of employment: the employees hired by Irwin all did exactly the same job, for the same pay, for the same supervisors, using exactly the same equipment. Furthermore, the Board specifically found that the unit of employees newly recognized by Irwin was appropriate for bargaining. In these circumstances, Irwin was a "successor" to Stockmar and the Union was entitled to a presumption of continued majority status. Thus, Irwin properly recognized the Union as the bargaining agent for a unit composed of the maintenance employees at the Chevron and Texaco refineries and Irwin's previously unrepresented maintenance employees at other refineries.
During the periods of time relevant to the instant case, Irwin and Stockmar were maintenance contractors servicing oil refineries and industrial plants in Southern California. Stockmar, along with Bay Western Industrial Maintenance, Inc. and Northwestern Industrial Maintenance, Inc., was party to a multiemployer collective bargaining agreement with the Union. The agreement was effective from July 1, 1984 to June 30, 1987, and covered a bargaining unit comprised of refinery and industrial maintenance employees from the three firms.
In July 1986, Chevron solicited bids for a contract to perform maintenance service at its refinery in El Segundo, California. Texaco contemporaneously solicited bids for maintenance work at its refinery in California's Carson/Wilmington area. Both Chevron and Texaco awarded their contracts to Stockmar. On October 1, 1986, Stockmar began performing under its new contracts with Chevron and Texaco. Stockmar also extended its multiemployer collective bargaining agreement to cover the 193 employees at the Chevron site and the 144 employees at the Texaco site.
Stockmar provided maintenance services to Chevron and Texaco until December 11, 1986, when it ceased operations due to financial difficulties. Chevron and Texaco officials then made arrangements with Irwin to take over the maintenance work Stockmar had been providing at the two sites.
Irwin began operations at both the Texaco and Chevron refineries on December 11, the same day Stockmar departed. Irwin hired all of the 337 former Stockmar employees working at the two sites. The newly hired employees at both locations performed the same work at the same wages and classifications as they had while working for Stockmar. The employees also used the same equipment, which Irwin had borrowed or bought, and worked under former Stockmar supervisors retained by Irwin. Finally, to avoid any disruption, Irwin guaranteed Stockmar's payroll obligations for the preceding week.
After hiring the Stockmar employees, Irwin had a total of 565 employees in its refinery division. This number included the 193 former Stockmar employees at the Chevron site and the 144 such employees at the Texaco site, all of whom were represented by the Union, and 228 previously hired employees, performing work at other refineries, who were not represented.
The same day Irwin took over for Stockmar, the Union requested that Irwin recognize it as the collective bargaining representative for all of its refinery maintenance division employees. Irwin refused. The Union responded by filing a charge against Irwin with the Board, alleging an unlawful failure to recognize and bargain with the Union. After discussions between the parties, Irwin agreed to recognize and bargain with the Union, and the Union withdrew its charge. Irwin recognized the Union on April 6, 1987, and the parties entered into a collective bargaining agreement on May 15, 1987. The agreement covered all of Irwin's refinery maintenance employees, and contained a union security clause requiring all employees to become members of the Union after 30 days of employment. Irwin notified its employees on May 20, 1987 that it had entered into an agreement with the Union.
After investigating charges that Irwin and the Union had committed various unfair labor practices in establishing a bargaining relationship, the Regional Director of the Board filed complaints on May 26 and June 22, 1987. On May 3, 1989, an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") held that Irwin had properly recognized the Union because the Union was entitled to a presumption of continued majority status following the transfer of the 337 Stockmar employees to Irwin. See ALJ Decision at 16, reprinted in Appendix ("A.") 760. The ALJ thus found no evidence to support the unfair labor practice charges.
The Board reversed the ALJ's decision. Irwin Indus., Inc., 304 N.L.R.B. No. 10 (Aug. 15, 1991), reprinted in A. 701. The Board agreed "that the unit in which bargaining was requested, i.e., all Irwin's maintenance employees (former Stockmar employees and its existing unrepresented work force), was appropriate" for purposes of bargaining. Id., slip op. at 5-6. Nonetheless, the Board held that Id. at 5. In light of these findings, the Board ordered both Irwin and the Union to cease giving effect to the May 15, 1987 collective bargaining agreement executed between them. Affirmatively, the Board ordered Irwin to withdraw recognition of the Union, and required the Union to disclaim Irwin's recognition. 1
We uphold an order of the Board unless, upon reviewing the record as a whole, we conclude that the Board's findings are not supported by ...
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