Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company v. Meter

• Decision Date: 02 November 1967
• Docket Number: No. 19003.,19003.
• Citation: 385 F.2d 265
• Parties: MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Appellant, v. Clarence A. METER, Regional Director of the Eighteenth Region of the National Labor Relations Board, for and on Behalf of the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

385 F.2d 265 (1967)

MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Appellant, v. Clarence A. METER, Regional Director of the Eighteenth Region of the National Labor Relations Board, for and on Behalf of the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Appellee.

No. 19003.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

November 2, 1967.

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Thomas M. Vogt, St. Paul, Minn., for appellant; Charles F. Bisanz, of Felhaber, Larson, Fenlon & Vogt and Thomas J. Scheuerman, St. Paul, Minn., were with him on the brief.

Julius G. Serot, Asst. Gen. Counsel, N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C., for appellee; Arnold Ordman, Gen. Counsel, Dominick L. Manoli, Associate Gen. Counsel and Marvin Roth, Atty., N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C., were with him on the brief.

Before MATTHES, GIBSON and LAY, Circuit Judges.

MATTHES, Circuit Judge.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M or Company) has appealed from an order of the district court granting a temporary injunction pursuant to the provisions of Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 160(j) (1947).¹ We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (1948).

The procedural chronology of this case can be briefly summarized as follows. On July 10, 1967, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO and its Locals 6-75 and 6-418 (hereinafter called the Union or OCAW) filed a charge alleging that 3M had committed unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8(a) (1) and (5) of the Act. The events which spawned the unfair labor practice charge revolved around the question whether 3M was required to bargain with the selected negotiating committee of the OCAW notwithstanding the presence of representatives from other unions whom the OCAW had invited to attend the negotiations for the purpose of participating in the discussion and advising it. 3M firmly took the position that inclusion of other union representatives in effect forced it to bargain on a nationwide basis, a method of bargaining concededly illegal in the absence of mutual consent by the parties involved. Concluding that there was "reasonable cause" to believe that the Company was engaged in the unlawful conduct as charged, the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board on August 2nd issued a formal complaint against 3M, and a hearing was set for September 6th. In the interim on August 11th, the Regional Director filed in the district court a petition for a temporary injunction pursuant to Section 10 (j). On September 6, 1967, after giving 3M a full hearing in response to his show cause order, the district judge, Honorable Philip Neville, entered a temporary injunction, from which this appeal is taken, restraining 3M from refusing to bargain collectively with the OCAW and its local affiliates through its chosen representatives "including not to exceed three, nonvoting * * * representatives from other unions and/or plants of the Company * * *."

The pertinent background facts are not in dispute. 3M is a manufacturer of industrial abrasives, tapes, duplicating equipment and numerous other products. Less than ten percent of its business involves government contracts. It operates approximately seventy plants throughout the United States and has some fifty-five separate collective bargaining agreements with various local unions covering its operations. The OCAW and its two affiliated Locals 6-75 and 6-418 are the respective bargaining representatives at 3M's St. Paul and Hastings, Minnesota plants.² The OCAW also represents employees at six other 3M plants.

Previous contract negotiations between 3M and the OCAW have always been conducted on a plant-by-plant basis, although the Union since 1957 has requested 3M to bargain on a company-wide basis on certain cost items. With the exception of an original recognition strike and a short work stoppage 3M has bargained amicably and successfully for a period of almost twenty years with the OCAW and Local 6-75 for the St. Paul plant, and for a period of approximately seventeen years with the OCAW and Local 6-418 for the Hastings plant. Although each plant has a separate collective bargaining agreement with each Local, major cost items for the two plants have been negotiated jointly while non-cost or operational items have been negotiated on a single plant basis. The most recent contracts covering the St. Paul and Hastings plants were effective from May 4, 1964 to August 27, 1967, and by agreement of the parties were extended to September 17, 1967.

Prior to 1967, the composition of the Union's negotiating committee had consisted of four officers and five area committeemen, elected by the membership, and various international representatives of the OCAW. Since 1962 the Union has also been represented by Stephen I. Harris, a representative of the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO (I.U. D.), who is an expert on pensions. At no time prior to 1967 did the Union's negotiating committee include officers or members of other labor organizations having collective bargaining agreements with 3M.

Shortly before the expiration date of the contracts, the OCAW, in conjunction with the I.U.D., initiated new negotiations with 3M in accordance with the contract terms. The Union's proposed bargaining pattern, however, had somewhat changed in that it now included a program of "coordinated bargaining," which 3M contends was designed to force it to negotiate major economic items on a national level. In June of 1967 the OCAW advised 3M that the Union's negotiating committee would include representatives from other unions representing 3M plants for the 1967 St. Paul-Hastings contract negotiations.³ The reason given for inclusion of these additional representatives was that they were needed to intelligently evaluate and verify various presentations made by 3M regarding labor contracts and conditions at other plants, inasmuch as 3M utilized these factors in comparing current contract suggestions submitted by the Union. The record clearly reveals, however, that these additional representatives were present solely in an advisory capacity to negotiate in behalf of the two OCAW Locals and had no vote on the question of acceptance or rejection of 3M proposals.⁴

On June 27th, and again on July 7th and 10th, 3M's Director of Industrial Relations, Charles F. Tourek, informed the Union representatives that the Company was not prepared to bargain with a negotiating committee that included members of other unions, but would meet "under the same conditions as in the past." On the basis of the Company's stated opposition to the presence of "outsiders," the Union on July 10, 1967 filed the current unfair labor practice charge, alleging that the Company had refused to bargain with the Union in violation of Sections 8 (a) (1) and (5).

Despite the pendency of this unfair labor practice charge a meeting was prearranged for July 14th. Negotiations commenced with the same Union entourage that was characteristic of former negotiations between 3M and the OCAW, but during the course of the meeting an OCAW representative announced that two representative of other unions would join the negotiating committee. As these individuals entered the meeting the 3M negotiators, headed by Tourek, departed.

On the basis of the foregoing facts the district court concluded that there was "reasonable cause" to believe that 3M had violated and was continuing to violate the provisions of Sections 8(a) (1) and (5), and that unless enjoined such conduct would continue to be detrimental to the interests of the OCAW and its members. The court accordingly restrained 3M from refusing to bargain with the OCAW solely on the basis of the composition of its negotiating committee.

The scope of our review of a Section 10(j) proceeding is limited to determining whether the district court's finding that there was reasonable cause to believe that the Company violated Sections 8(a) (1) and (5) is clearly erroneous, and whether the court abused its discretion in granting injunctive relief. Cf. Local Joint Board, Hotel & Restaurant, etc., Union v. Sperry, 323 F.2d 75, 77 (8th Cir. 1963);⁵ See also Johnston v. J. P. Stevens & Company, 341 F.2d 891, 892 (4th Cir. 1965); Douds v. International Longshoremen's Ass'n., 241 F.2d 278, 285 (2d Cir. 1957).

The question upon which the parties are in disagreement concerns the standard to be applied by the district court in determining whether injunctive relief should be granted. 3M contends for the proposition that under Section 10(j) an injunction is an extraordinary remedy and may be granted only where traditional equity criteria are present, that is, where relief is necessary in order to preserve the status quo or prevent irreparable harm pending the determination on the merits of the labor dispute by the N. L. R. B. The Board, on the other hand, submits that the standard in the district court is whether there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of the Act, as charged, has been committed and whether injunctive relief is "just and proper."

The statute itself provides little assistance in determining what standards are to be applied, since it lays down no definitive guidelines for imposition of injunctive relief. Section 10(j) vests the Board with discretion in the first instance to petition the district court for "appropriate temporary relief or restraining order" upon the issuance of a complaint charging an unfair labor practice. The district court, after proper notice, can grant the Board "such temporary relief or restraining order as it deems just and proper." (Emphasis supplied.) However, the legislative history of Sections 10(j) and 10(l) does demonstrate that the question whether the district court acted properly in the exercise of its discretion must be determined by consideration of all the facts and circumstances underlying the unfair labor practice charge.

The motivation behind the enactment of Sections...