N.L.R.B. v. Local 299, Intern. Broth. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America

• Decision Date: 23 January 1986
• Docket Number: No. 84-5910,84-5910
• Citation: 782 F.2d 46
• Parties: 121 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2478, 54 USLW 2398, 104 Lab.Cas. P 11,811 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. LOCAL 299, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 46

782 F.2d 46

121 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2478, 54 USLW 2398,

104 Lab.Cas. P 11,811

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. LOCAL 299, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA, Respondent.

No. 84-5910.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued Oct. 3, 1985.

Decided Jan. 23, 1986.

Elliott Moore, Deputy Associate Gen. Counsel, N.L.R.B., Washington, D.C., John Elligers, Judith Dowd (argued), for petitioner.

Peter B. Karagozian, James P. Hoffa, Detroit, Mich., Gerry Miller (argued); Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, Goldberg, Previant, Uelmen, Milwaukee, Wis., for respondent.

Before MARTIN and CONTIE, Circuit Judges and PECK, Senior Circuit Judge.

CONTIE, Circuit Judge.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) seeks enforcement of its order requiring Local 299, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (Union) to reimburse employees for lost wages resulting from their participation in a union instigated, but unauthorized, work stoppage. The NLRB held that Local 299 breached its statutory duty of fair representation, thereby committing an unfair labor practice in violation of section 8(b)(1)(A) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 158(b)(1)(A). For the reasons set forth below, we deny enforcement of the order.

I.

McLean Trucking Company (McLean), a North Carolina corporation, maintains a motor carrier terminal in Detroit, Michigan. Local 299 was the exclusive bargaining representative for McLean employees during the time in question. The relevant collective bargaining contract was the Teamsters National Master Freight Agreement and local supplements, effective April 1, 1979 through March 31, 1982. This contract prohibited most work stoppages, and it specified that if a work stoppage was not authorized by the Union, McLean could suspend or discharge participating employees, and the employees would not have recourse to grievance procedures. ¹ In the event of a work stoppage, the employer was obligated under the contract terms to notify certain union officials of this fact and to inquire as to whether the stoppage was authorized. If there is no response to these inquiries, the work stoppage was deemed to be unauthorized. ²

In September 1979, Peter Jennings became the terminal manager at McLean's Detroit facility, his primary directive being to improve the facility's profitability. One of Jennings' plans was to eliminate job positions ("bids"), including daytime positions ("day-dock bids"). Jennings discussed this possibility in late 1979 with George Langkil, a Union business agent, and Murray Duncan, a Union steward, but did not implement any changes. However, in March of 1980, Jennings deemed it necessary to eliminate ten job positions and ten employees. Three of the ten positions were day-dock bids. The daytime employees affected would not be fired because of their seniority, but they would have been required to work different shifts.

On March 18, 1980, before these changes were officially adopted or announced, Jennings held a meeting open to all employees. The employees were allowed to voice their concerns over various company policies during this two-hour meeting, although they were not informed of the upcoming changes. Employees who attended the meeting were reimbursed for their time. Jennings obviously was not persuaded by the employees' arguments, however, to deviate from his plan. On March 19th, Jennings posted an announcement that, effective March 24, 1980, ten employees would be laid off and three day-dock bids would be eliminated. New starting times for affected employees were also posted.

On March 24th, the three employees who lost their day-dock bids arrived at McLean at 7:00 a.m. and were accompanied by several Union business representatives, including Langkil and Duncan. Jennings was asked to turn over the employees' time cards so they could punch in for work. Jennings refused, responding that the new working times were posted. Langkil then told Jennings that there was going to be a meeting, but Jennings insisted that there was work to be done and there was no time for a meeting.

However, as employees arrived for work and punched-in, Duncan advised them to go to the breakroom for a meeting. At 8:00 a.m. an automatic alarm signaling the shift to begin went off. Shortly thereafter, Jennings had the dispatcher announce on the public address system that the shift had begun. Jennings entered the breakroom at 8:05 and stated that he expected the workers for that shift to report to work. Jennings again informed Langkil, while in the conference room, that there would be no meeting and workers should report to work immediately. Langkil replied that no one would work until the three day-dock workers were placed back on the day shift. When another shift began at 8:30 a.m., these workers were also sent to the breakroom for a "meeting," the shift alarm rang and the dispatcher announced the beginning of the shift.

Later in the morning, pursuant to the collective bargaining contract, Jennings sent two sets of mailgrams to the Union's International President, the Chairman of the Central Conference of Teamsters, the Teamsters Conference Office and Local Union President Bob Lins. These mailgrams stated that a work stoppage was under way, asked whether it was authorized, and specified that it was contrary to the contract and created by Union business agents. Jennings informed Langkil that he had sent the mailgrams and then read the pertinent no-strike provision of the contract to him, including the possibility of suspension or discharge for participating employees. Langkil continued to maintain that the employees were merely holding a meeting and were not participating in a work stoppage. The Union never responded to the mailgrams. Neither Langkil nor Jennings told the employees that the company regarded the "meeting" as an illegal work stoppage or that they could be disciplined for participating in the work stoppage since the Union failed to authorize it.

Local Union President Lins arrived around 3:00 p.m. and met with Jennings; nothing was accomplished. Lins told Jennings that a Union meeting would be held that evening and that, "Nobody will be going back to work until I get back with you tomorrow morning to tell you how the bids are going to be."

At 10:00 p.m. a meeting was held at the Union hall and about 40 employees attended. One of the midnight shift employees asked if he should report to work. Lins responded in the affirmative and also stated, "You can stay out 23 hours and 59 minutes, and they can't do anything to you." Possible discipline was not mentioned at this meeting. The midnight shift reported to work.

McLean subsequently suspended for 30 days the employees who had participated in the work stoppage, a total of 58 people. The Union filed grievances on behalf of these employees alleging that the events on March 24, 1980 did not constitute a work stoppage in violation of the contract, but was merely a meeting.

The National Grievance Committee deadlocked with respect to whether the employees had participated in an unauthorized work stoppage. The grievances were then routed to the Michigan Joint State Arbitration Committee for resolution in October 1980. This Committee held that the activities constituted an unauthorized work stoppage, and that according to the terms of the contract the employees therefore were unable to avail themselves of the grievance procedures.

Gerald LaBond, a McLean employee, subsequently filed charges against the Union in a class action suit, ³ and a complaint was issued by the NLRB. A trial was held before an administrative law judge (ALJ), who held that the Union violated its duty of fair representation by placing the interests of three individuals above the interests of the Union as a whole and by failing to inform the employees about the possibility of discipline. ⁴ Applying the doctrine adopted by the NLRB in NLRB v. Miranda Fuel Co., 140 NLRB 181 (1962), enforcement denied, 326 F.2d 172 (2d Cir.1963), the ALJ concluded that the Union, by violating its duty of fair representation, engaged in an unfair labor practice in violation of section 8(b)(1)(A) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 158(b)(1)(A). ⁵ The ALJ ordered that the Union cease and desist from these practices and reimburse each employee for the loss suffered as a result of the disciplinary suspensions, including interest. The Union was also required to post the usual notifications of an NLRB order.

The Union appealed the ALJ's order to the Board. On review by a three-member panel, the Board adopted the ALJ's order but modified the conclusions of law. The Board reasoned that the Union's position that the events on March 24, 1980 was merely a meeting and not a work stoppage was never taken in good faith, and that the Union misled the employees as to the consequences of their actions. The Board also held that the Union's failure to authorize the work stoppage constituted arbitrary conduct, and that the employees "had a right to expect that the union would not encourage them to violate the contract in a way that would expose them to a loss of income or even employment." The Board concluded that the Union's lack of good faith and its arbitrary conduct amounted to a breach of its duty of fair representation in violation of section 8(b)(1)(A). The Board requested enforcement of its order pursuant to section 10(e) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(e).

II.

The Board's factual findings are conclusive if supported by substantial evidence judged by the record as a whole. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(e). ⁶ See also NLRB v. Cement Transport, Inc., 490 F.2d 1024, 1027 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 828, 95 S.Ct. 47, 42 L.Ed.2d 52 (1974); Laborers & Hod Carriers Local No. 341 v. NLRB, 564 F.2d 834, 837 (9th Cir.1977). "Substantial evidence" is "such relevant evidence as a...