General Truckdrivers, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 5 v. National Labor Relations Board

389 F.2d 757, 67 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2410, 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 8298
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 24, 1968
Docket24363
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 389 F.2d 757 (General Truckdrivers, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 5 v. National Labor Relations Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Truckdrivers, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local No. 5 v. National Labor Relations Board, 389 F.2d 757, 67 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2410, 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 8298 (5th Cir. 1968).

Opinion

HANNAY, District Judge:

This is a Petition for Review of an order by the NLRB adjudging liability and a cross-application by the Board for enforcement of that order.

The Board found that the Petitioner engaged in unfair labor practices against its union member, Joseph D. Albin, and violated his rights under two separate sections of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, to-wit, Section 8(b) (1) (A), Title 29, U.S.C.A. Section 158(b) (1) (A), and Section 8(b) (2), Title 29, U.S.C.A. Section 158(b) (2). The Section 8(b) (1) (A) violation concerned a finding of direct action against Albin personally in his being threatened with a pistol by Petitioner’s agent, one Edward G. Partin. The Section 8(b) (2) violations concerned actions against Albin’s employer, the Ryder Truck Lines, and consisted of insistence on Albin’s discharge, threats of concerted action, and a massive protest gathering at Ryder’s terminal.

Petitioner’s attack upon the validity of the Board order is two-fold: 1) that the Board lacked jurisdiction because there was still a remedy available to Al-bin under this collective bargaining contract with Petitioner and 2) that there is an insufficency of evidence in the record to support the findings of the Trial Examiner and the Board.

I.

Instant case is a dispute between a union member and the union. It is not a dispute between an employer and a union — the parties to whom the arbitration agreement in question expressly applies. In these circumstances, the jurisdictional authority of the Board here is provided by Section 10(a) of the Act, Title 29, U.S.C.A. Section 160(a), which, in material portions, provides, inter alia,

“The Board is empowered, as hereinafter provided, to prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice (listed in section 158 of this title) affecting commerce. This power shall not be affected by any other means of adjustment or prevention that has been or may be established by agreement, law, or otherwise * * * ” (Emphasis added throughout).

The effective application here of the foregoing provision of the Act is illustrated in language contained in the United States Supreme Court case of Carey v. Westinghouse Corp., 375 U.S. 261, at 271, 84 S.Ct. 401, 11 L.Ed.2d 320, to-wit:

“There is no question that the Board is not precluded from adjudicating unfair labor practice charges even though they might have been the subject of an arbitration proceeding and award. Section 10(a) of the Act expressly makes this plain, and the courts have uniformly so held. * * * ” Quoting from International Harvester Co., 138 N.L.R.B. 923, 925-926. 375 U.S., at 271, 84 S.Ct., at 408.

In any event, the mere existence of an unexercised right of arbitration where the essential and ultimate issue is one of an unfair labor practice within the meaning of the Act does not deprive the Board of jurisdiction. N.L.R.B. v. Acme Industrial Co., 385 U.S. 432, 436-437, 87 S.Ct. 565, 17 L.Ed.2d 495 and New Orleans Typographical Union No. 17 v. N.L.R.B., 5 Cir., 368 F.2d 755, 763 (1966).

II.

The record reveals that there had been several years of serious and even bitter intramural union opposition and rivalry between Albin and Partin.

In 1960-1961, for several consecutive months, Albin worked for the Petitioner-union, hereafter called Local 5, as an organizer. In the spring of 1961, he accepted employment with Ryder Truck Lines at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the fall of 1961, Albin filed union charges against one Edward Partin, the *759 secretary-treasurer and business manager of Local 5, alleging, among other things, that the latter had misappropriated Union funds. One A. G. Kline, a member of Local 5, joined Albin in bringing these charges. Partin joined the issue by filing counter charges with the Executive Board of Local 5. Albin secured the signatures of some three hundred members of Local 5 to a petition requesting the Teamsters International to investigate Partin and Local 5.

The Executive Board of Local 5 exonerated Partin; and, upon finding Albin and Kline guilty of the counter charges, it expelled them from the local union. On appeal from the Local decision to the union appellate agency, all parties were exonerated.

In the beginning of 1962, Albin was laid off by Ryder Truck Lines. The dispute with Partin intensified. Albin filed a grievance with Local 5 and appealed to the International the union decision that had exonerated Partin. In the spring of 1962, the International sent a panel to hear the controversy in Baton Rouge. When this hearing came to pass a threat of physical violence against Albin and Kline was made by an agent of Local 5. Shortly thereafter both he and Kline were knocked to the ground and beaten. This episode of threat and ensuing assault coincided with the hearing before the International in Baton Rouge.

During 1963, Albin accepted reinstatement with full rights at the Teamster’s New Orleans terminal. In that same year, however, the Company changed its operations. This change of operations called for a transfer of nearly all of the New Orleans employees to either the Company’s Houston or Baton Rouge terminals. Albin elected to transfer to Baton Rouge. This was destined to rekindle the dispute with Partin.

There is evidence in the record that Partin had previously declared that Albin would not be restored to his Local 5 membership in Baton Rouge. When it was made known to him that Albin would be coming back to Local 5 under the Company’s change in operation, Par-tin, directly and indirectly, had the Company notified that Albin would not be allowed to return on the technical grounds that Albin was no longer a member of Local 5. Later, it became known that Albin had successfully bid upon one of the job openings at the Baton Rouge terminal. The record shows that Partin thereupon reiterated to Robert Begeman, Ryder’s director of maintenance, that Albin would not be permitted to work under Local 5 jurisdiction. More specifically, Partin warned that if Albin returned to Baton Rouge:

“ * * * the operations could be shut down * * * that there could be slowdowns, that in some of the places where [Ryder] trucks would be sent to load or unload, they would not be loaded or unloaded”.

Albin’s transfer to the Baton Rouge terminal was effected in late June of 1965. The following day, at their first meeting in the new circumstances, a serious incident occurred between the two men. The record reflects that Par-tin cursed Albin and, without apparent provocation by Albin, uttered a death threat. This verbal threat was accompanied by Partin displaying the handle of an automatic pistol carried in the waistband of his trousers. Third parties intervened and led Partin from the premises.

The testimony on the details of this point is not undisputed; nonetheless, there is substantial evidence to support the findings of the administrative authorities below and their findings on this issue are not clearly erroneous. See and compare: N.L.R.B. v.

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389 F.2d 757, 67 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2410, 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 8298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-truckdrivers-chauffeurs-warehousemen-and-helpers-of-america-ca5-1968.