Dean K. Buckley v. National Labor Relations Board, and System 99, Intervenor

432 F.2d 409
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 24, 1970
Docket24546_1
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 432 F.2d 409 (Dean K. Buckley v. National Labor Relations Board, and System 99, Intervenor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dean K. Buckley v. National Labor Relations Board, and System 99, Intervenor, 432 F.2d 409 (9th Cir. 1970).

Opinion

BYRNE, District Judge:

Dean Buckley has petitioned this Court to review a decision by the N.L. R.B. dismissing unfair labor practice charges brought against both intervenor, System 99, and Line Drivers Local No. 468 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Buckley’s charges were dismissed on the grounds that the record before the Board was insufficient to support the Trial Examiner's conclusions that the Union caused System 99 to discriminatorily discharge Buckley because he was not a union member.

System 99 is a trucking company employing both local and long-distance “line” drivers. The collective bargaining agreement between the company and the union divides the line drivers into three categories. First, there are “regular bid drivers” who bid for particular trips. Second are the “extra board drivers” who receive jobs if there are runs remaining after the regular bid drivers have secured work. The third class encompasses “casual drivers”. These men work only when there are more assignments than those which can be handled by both the regular bid drivers and the extra board drivers.

Unlike the other categories, casual drivers do not have seniority rights and are not permanent employees of the company. They also receive “termination notices” from the company after each trip. System 99 maintains a list of casual drivers whose names are obtained from the union hiring hall, referrals from other companies, and from personal application by the drivers themselves. Relative to the employment of casual workers, the company-union contract provides that

“When the employer needs additional men he shall give the local union equal opportunity with other sources to provide suitable applicants, but the employer shall not be required to hire those referred by the local union.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Also, the contract has a union shop clause but no exclusive hiring hall provision.

Non-union member Buckley applied System 99 for a casual driver job in early July 1967. Shortly thereafter, Don Gardner, dispatcher at the company’s Emeryville terminal, arranged for Buckley to drive a truck load to Fresno. Later Buckley made three hauls to Redding on July 13 and 22, and on August 1.

After the August 1st trip, Gardner gave Buckley an application blank for permanent employment with the company. Gardner also told Buckley that he *411 would be called to work the following day.

On August 2nd union President Manny Joseph, having received a copy of Buckley’s most recent termination slip, telephoned Joseph Tudisco, System’s terminal manager, to discuss the “equal opportunity” provision. According to Buckley, Gardner told him on August .3rd that Manny Joseph had called and said that Buckley could no longer be employed at the company because he was not a member of the union. Don Armour, a fellow employee of Buckley, testified that Gardner told Buckley, in Armour’s presence, that Buckley could not work unless he were a union member.

According to the company, casual drivers were not employed again until August 7. The company claims that after that date it twice attempted to hire Buckley as a driver but that he was not available for employment. In addition, Chris Sorenson, System’s central line dispatcher and Gardner’s superior, testified that Buckley told him that he, Buckley, had a permanent job with another company as a supervisor. Sorenson also stated that Buckley’s name was then removed for the first time from the casual drivers list after Buckley’s declaration.

While Buckley was employed with the other company (Clipper Carloading), System 99 received copies of tachograph charts 1 for two runs by Buckley. These records indicated that Buckley had exceeded the speed limit during the trips and that he had abused the trucks’ engines.

After leaving the employ of Clipper Carloading, Buckley sent a telegram to System 99 advising the company that he was again available for work. On the same day, dispatcher Sorenson sent Buckley a letter telling him that his name had been added to the casual list. Although his name was on the list, the company never again hired Buckley as a driver. Due to the company’s inaction, Buckley filed an unfair labor practices charge with the N.L.R.B. alleging that System had ceased employing him as a casual driver solely because he was not a member of the union.

Although petitioner Buckley has failed to set forth a statement of the issues presented for review, 2 we take the following as the issues in this case: (1) was there substantial evidence to support the Board’s findings that the union did not violate section 8(b) (2) and (1) (A) of the Act by Manny Joseph’s telephone conversation with Tudisco on August 2nd, and (2) was the Board’s finding that System did not violate section 8(a) (3) of the Act by its failure to employ Buckley as a casual driver after August 1st supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole.

As to the first issue, the trial examiner found that the collective bargaining agreement “gave the union the right to provide Interlines (System 99) with names of applicants for employment only” but that Manny Joseph

“ * * * was not satisfied with furnishing only a list of names. He complained of having members out of work while Interlines (System 99) was employing nonmembers, namely Buckley and Dare. Tudisco testified that this was the purpose of Joseph’s call.”

The trial examiner also found that Manny Joseph appeared to “have spoken in a tone of voice which conveyed his purpose to require employment of members of Local 468 as casual drivers in preference to nonmembers” as an inference from Joseph’s statement, “Don’t tell me you aren’t using any (nonmembers)”, *412 and from his reference to Buckley and another non-union employee.

Lastly, the trial examiner concluded that

“ * * * on a ratio of five members to two non-members Local 468 had no cause to complain of a contract which gave it the privilege only of an ‘equal opportunity’. * * * The very fact that Joseph mentioned Buckley and Dare as nonmembers being used by Interlines is, in itself, indicative of the fact that he was taking the position that members should be given work in preference to nonmembers, for, if Joseph’s sole purpose was merely to supply names of applicants, he could have done that without any mention at all of non-members who were working.”

The Board’s conclusions and findings were contrary to the examiner’s:

“The record indicates that the list of applicants was not required by Tudisco until after Joseph complained of having members out of work. There is no evidence in the record that Joseph was requesting Tudisco to use union members to the exclusion of Buckley based on the testimony of Tudisco, to whom the call was made, and Business Agent Vercessi, who was in the union office when Joseph called Tudisco.” (Board’s emphasis.)
In addition, the Board held that

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Related

Adkins v. Dirickson
523 F. Supp. 1281 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1981)
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527 F.2d 1273 (Ninth Circuit, 1975)
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401 F. Supp. 74 (D. Minnesota, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
432 F.2d 409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dean-k-buckley-v-national-labor-relations-board-and-system-99-ca9-1970.