Danielson ex rel. National Labor Relations Board v. Local 814, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America

355 F. Supp. 1293, 83 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2006, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14482
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 16, 1973
DocketNo. 73 Civ. 325
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 355 F. Supp. 1293 (Danielson ex rel. National Labor Relations Board v. Local 814, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Danielson ex rel. National Labor Relations Board v. Local 814, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, 355 F. Supp. 1293, 83 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2006, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14482 (S.D.N.Y. 1973).

Opinion

ROBERT J. WARD, District Judge.

The Regional Director, Region 2, of the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”), has filed this petition pursuant to Section 10 (l) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C § 160(1) (1965) (“the Act”), for a temporary injunction against Santini Brothers, Inc. (“Santini”) and Local 814, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“Local 814”), pending the resolution of certain matters now before the Board. For the reasons hereinafter discussed, the petition is granted.

A charge was filed with the Board by one Karl Lieb, Esq., on behalf of certain owner-operators of vehicles doing business with Santini, alleging that respondents have and are engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Sections 8(b)4(i), (ii)(A) and (B), and 8(e) of the Act. 29 U.S.C. Sections 158(b)4(i), (ii)(A) and (B), and 158(e) (1965).

Section 8(b)4(A) forbids labor organizations from attempting to coerce an employer (whether primary or secondary), or self-employed person, into joining any labor or employer organization. The section also outlaws labor action, the object of which is to force or require an employer or self-employed person to enter into any agreement prohibited by Section 8(e) of the Act. Section 8(b)4(B), which contains the secondary boycott provisions of the Act, is aimed at “shielding unoffending employers and others from pressures in controversies not their own.” NLRB v. Denver Bldg. & Constr. Trades Council, 341 U.S. 675, 692, 71 S.Ct. 943, 953, 95 L.Ed. 1284 (1951). Section 8(e), added in 1959 by the Landrum-Griffin Act, closed loopholes which enabled labor unions to circumvent the secondary boycott provisions, by making unlawful contracts with employers in which the employer agreed not to handle products of another employer or to cease doing business with any other person.

Thus, Sections 8(b)4(i), (ii)B and 8(e) are intended to prevent union activity designed to influence persons who are not immediate parties to the union’s dispute. The test for determining whether union activity is “primary” in nature was enunciated in National Woodwork Manufacturers Association v. NLRB, 386 U.S. 612, 645, 87 S.Ct. 1250, 1268, 18 L.Ed.2d 357:

The touchstone is whether the agreement or its maintenance is addressed to the labor relations of the contracting employer vis-a-vis his own employees.

The Alleged Violations of Section 8(e) of the Act:

Respondent Santini, a New York corporation engaged in local and interstate household and commercial moving, has, in the course of its operations, contracted with persons who own and operate their own vehicles for long disfánce moving. As noted above, these owner-operators are the charging parties before the Board. Petitioner contends that an agreement between respondent Local 814 and the Movers and Ware-housemen’s Association of Greater New York, Inc., an employer association of which Santini is a member, requires Santini to compel the owner-operators to become members of Local 814.

Petitioner contends further that since 1962 Santini has been contracting with owner-operators for long distance interstate runs and since 1964 employee drivers of Santini have not performed a significant amount of this work. The owner-operators are not members of Local 814.

In early 1971, during negotiations for a new contract between Local 814 and Santini, the Union proposed what is now [1296]*1296Article 24 of the Contract.1 This Article provides that all long distance drivers would be covered under the agreement as “employees”, and would be subject to the Union Security provisions which required all employees to become members of Local 814 after being employed thirty-one days.

Petitioner asserts that Article 24 of the 1971 contract as interpreted and enforced is not designed to protect unit work because employees of Santini have not performed long distance moving since 1964, in that the owner-operators are not themselves employees of Santini. Therefore, petitioner argues, Section 8(e) of the Act is violated. Petitioner also contends that Article 24 was reaffirmed by Local 814 and Santini within six months prior to the instant charge, as required by Section 10(b) of the Act.2 3This contention has not been contested by respondents.

The Alleged Violations of 8(b)lp(i), (ii) A and B of the Act:

Petitioner argues that Local 814 has engaged in work stoppages against Santini and threatens other such work stoppages for the purpose of requiring the owner-operators to join Local 814. This action on the part of the union, petitioner claims, constitutes a clear violation of 8(b)4(i), (ii)A. In addition, petitioner asserts that Section 8(b)4(i), (ii)B was violated in that on October 30, 1972, Local 814 “induced and encouraged” Santini employees who were members of Local 814 to engage in a work stoppage an object of which was to “force or require” Santini to terminate its business with non-union owner-operators who were independent contractors.

The Role of the Federal District Court:

Sections 10(a), (b) and (c) of the Act empower the Board to hear and determine complaints that employers or labor organizations have engaged in unfair labor practices. Section 10(f) of the Act states that if after investigating a charge of an unfair labor practice under certain sections of the Act (including Sections 8(b)4(A) and (B) and 8(e)), the investigating officer has

reasonable cause to believe such charge is true and that a complaint should issue, he shall, on behalf of the Board, petition any United States district court . . . for appropriate injunctive relief pending the final adjudication of the Board .... Upon the filing of any such petition the district court shall have jurisdie[1297]*1297tion to grant such injunctive relief . as it deems just and proper

The Second Circuit has determined the standard for granting injunctive relief under Section 10(i):

The role of the district court in a 10 (i) case is not to determine whether there has in fact been a violation of the Act but rather to determine whether the Regional Director could have reasonable cause to believe that the unfair labor practice charged had been committed and that its continuation-ought to be enjoined . We have interpreted that requirement to mean that there must be a “reasonable possibility” that the unfair labor practice charge will be sustained by the Board. National Maritime U. of Amer. v. Commerce Tankers Corp., 457 F.2d 1127, 1133 (2nd Cir. 1972) (citations omitted).

Are the Owner-Operators Employees or Independent Contractors?

A major portion of the hearing and the briefs herein are devoted to this issue. If the owner-operators are employees of Santini no unfair labor practices have been committed because under those circumstances Article 24 and the work stoppage would clearly have had the legal purpose of protecting unit work and no illegal secondary boycott would have occurred.

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Bluebook (online)
355 F. Supp. 1293, 83 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2006, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/danielson-ex-rel-national-labor-relations-board-v-local-814-nysd-1973.