NLRB v. PLUMBERS UNION OF NASSAU COUNTY, LOCAL 457, ETC.
| Decision Date | 06 February 1962 |
| Docket Number | Docket 27188.,No. 203,203 |
| Citation | 299 F.2d 497 |
| Parties | NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. PLUMBERS UNION OF NASSAU COUNTY, LOCAL 457, UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF the PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF the UNITED STATES AND CANADA, AFL-CIO, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
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Stephen B. Goldberg, Atty., N.L.R.B., Washington, D. C. (Stuart Rothman, Gen. Counsel, Dominick L. Manoli, Associte Gen. Counsel, Marcel Mallet-Prevost, Asst. Gen. Counsel, and Melvin J. Welles, Atty., N.L.R.B., Washington, D. C., on the brief), for petitioner.
Aaron Weissman of Delson, Levin and Gordon, New York City, for respondent.
Before MEDINA, MOORE and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
The National Labor Relations Board found Respondent, Plumbers Union of Nassau County, Local 457, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, had threatened and coerced neutral employers on a building construction job to cease doing business with Bady, the non-union plumbing contractor on the job, within the meaning of Section 8(b) (4) (ii) of the National Labor Relations Act, and with inducing or encouraging employees of neutral employers at the job to strike or refuse to perform services within the meaning of 8(b) (4) (i). The Board ordered respondent, its officers, etc., to cease and desist from these practices and to post appropriate notices, and now petitions this court for a decree enforcing in whole the order of the Board.
Enforcement ordered.
Searington Associates, Inc. and Shelter Rock Tennis Club, Inc., affiliated corporations, hereinafter referred to as Shelter Rock, undertook to build for their members a tennis and swimming club in Nassau County, New York. Shelter Rock contracted with various contractors for construction services on the job, all of which contractors were unionized but one, Bady d/b/a Bomat, the rough and finished plumbing contractor, at whose suggestion there was incorporated in his contract a provision that all labor supplied by Bomat should be non-union.
Mullen, an agent of the union, on visiting the job site March 28, 1960, learned there were no union plumbers on the job. He unsuccessfully sought to have Bady's men join or to have Bady hire union members, threatening to "knock off" the job and to have the union mechanics of other trades pulled off the job. Mullen talked to Rodriguez, president of Shelter Rock, telling him union plumbers would have to be employed or he would stop the job. Both Rodriguez and Mullen tried to obtain a compromise agreement from Bady but Bady refused. Mullen's threats to Bady were heard both by other employers on the job and by some of their employees. March 30, 1960 the other workers walked off except for some electricians, who later ceased work. March 31, 1960 a picket for the union was placed at the only entrance to the job site, with a sign as follows:
TO THE PUBLIC
THE PLUMBING CONTRACTOR ON THIS JOB EMPLOYS NON-UNION PLUMBERS & DOES NOT HAVE A CONTRACT WITH PLUMBERS LOCAL #457
The sign was later changed to read:
TO THE PUBLIC
Unfair labor practice charges were filed by Bady, a complaint issued, and application was made for an injunction. April 13, 1960 Judge Abruzzo suggested that the parties compromise. Bady refused all suggestions. Picketing ceased April 14, the union mechanics returned to work the next day. April 20, 1960 Shelter Rock informed Bady that the finish plumbing work would be performed by union labor, either by Bomat or others. April 25, 1960 a temporary injunction issued. The union was unaware of the existence of the Bomat contract provision against employment of union labor until the Labor Board hearing May 16, 1960.
On these facts the trial examiner recommended dismissal of the complaint because of the "non-union closed shop" provision in Bomat's contract, termed a "yellow dog" contract. The Board disagreed, entered the order referred to above and seeks enforcement.
The Board found, in accordance with the stipulation of the parties, that Bady was an employer and a person engaged in commerce. It is contended, however, that Shelter Rock and the subcontractors other than Bady were not shown to be in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce, as the Board found them to be. More specific evidence and findings were not essential under the facts of this case. Section 8(b) (4) (i) and (ii) of the amended Act extends to proscribed actions which are directed to "any individual employed by any person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce" (emphasis added). While Shelter Rock, the country club, may not have been engaged in an industry affecting commerce, it was open to the Board to infer, from the stipulation as to Bomat's volume of business in commerce, and the nature of the construction job here, in the light of its experience in this field, that a work stoppage by all the building crafts on the job would substantially affect the flow of materials into the state for incorporation into the building under construction, and that consequently Shelter Rock, the general contractor, was so engaged. While Shelter Rock and the contractors other than Bady may not have been shown to have been in commerce, a dispute stopping their work on the job is properly held to affect commerce. N. L. R. B. v. Denver Bldg. & Construction Trades Council, 341 U.S. 675, 71 S.Ct. 943, 95 L. Ed. 1284 (1951), International Broth. of Elec. Workers, etc. v. N. L. R. B., 341 U.S. 694, 71 S.Ct. 954, 95 L.Ed. 1299 (1951), Local 74 v. N. L. R. B., 341 U.S. 707, 71 S.Ct. 966, 95 L.Ed. 1309 (1951).
The threats to stop the job and to pull the other crafts off the job unless Bady capitulated, communicated to Shelter Rock and the other neutral employers, clearly violated 8(b) (4) (ii) (B) of the Act, as threats to "any person" to force the cessation of business with Bady. N. L. R. B. v. International Hod Carriers, Local 1140, 285 F.2d 397, 403 (8 Cir. 1960), cert. denied 366 U.S. 903, 81 S.Ct. 1047, 6 L.Ed.2d 203.
In view of Mullen's statements, that he was going to exert pressure on Bady, and that he was going to pull the men off the job, his association on the job...
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