Local No. 636, United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry v. National Labor Relations Board

278 F.2d 858
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 31, 1960
DocketNo. 15012
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 278 F.2d 858 (Local No. 636, United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry v. National Labor Relations Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Local No. 636, United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry v. National Labor Relations Board, 278 F.2d 858 (D.C. Cir. 1960).

Opinion

BASTIAN, Circuit Judge.

This case is before us on petition of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, its Local 636, and Business Agent Tim McCarthy and President William B. Kelley of that Local (hereinafter referred to as petitioners), to review and set aside an order of the National Labor Relations Board (hereinafter referred to as the Board) issued against them on March 16, 1959. The Board filed a cross-petition asking enforcement of its order.

The material facts, as they appear in the examiner’s findings and in the Board’s final order, are not in dispute.

Since 1947, United Engineers & Constructors Inc. (hereinafter referred to as United Engineers) and petitioner United Association have been parties to a collective bargaining agreement known as the National Construction Agreement. The agreement provides, among other things, that United Engineers will hire all its pipefitters through Local 636; that all pipe 2% inches in diameter or less must be fabricated, that is, cut, bent and welded, on the job site; and that all pipe of greater diameter may be fabricated off the job site if the work be done in a plant employing Journeymen of United Association at the prevailing building construction wage rates in effect.

The action of the Board grew out of charges filed by The Detroit Edison Company (hereinafter referred to as Edison), a public utility engaged in the generation, sale and distribution of electrical energy within the State of Michigan, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Westinghouse), which is engaged in, among other things, the manufacture, distribution and sale of electrical products. The charges resulted in the issuance of a complaint by the Board, dated April 16, 1957, alleging that petitioners herein had engaged and were engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of § 8(b) (4) (A) 1 and other sections of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 61 Stat. 136 (1947).

The complaint, as amended, alleged that commencing on or about January 21, 1957, petitioners engaged in and induced and encouraged employees of United Engineers and others, at Edison’s construction projects at River Rouge, St. Clair and Monroe, Michigan, to engage in a strike or concerted refusal in the course of their employment to handle or work on materials or perform services, with an object of forcing or requiring [861]*861United Engineers to cease doing business with Westinghouse and with Edison.

As a result of the complaint, hearings were held during the period from June 3 to July 2, 1957, at Detroit, Michigan, and, as a result of those hearings, the above mentioned order of the Board was issued, directing petitioners to:

“1. Cease and desist from:
“(a) Engaging in a strike, and inducing or encouraging the employees of United Engineers and Constructors, Inc. or of any other employer or person, to engage in a strike or concerted refusal in the course of their employment to use, manufacture, process, transport or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials, or commodities or to perform any services for their employers, where an object thereof is to force or require United Engineers and Constructors, Inc. or any other employer or person, (1) to cease purchasing, using, handling, transporting, or otherwise working on or dealing in materials fabricated by Westinghouse Electric Corporation or by any other employer or person who does not employ Building Trades Journeymen and Apprentices for the fabrication of said materials under an agreement with United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, or its affiliated Locals, or (2) to cease doing business with the employers or persons mentioned in (1) above or with The Detroit Edison Company;
“(b) Engaging in a strike, and inducing or encouraging the employees of United Engineers and Constructors, Inc., or of any other employer or person which is a signatory to the National Construction agreement or any other such agreement with United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, to engage in a strike or concerted refusal in the course of their employment to use, manufacture, process, transport or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials, or commodities or to perform any services for their employers, by refusing, upon request of such employers, to refer members of Local 636, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, for work with said employers, for the objects described in (a) above.”

The order further directed petitioners, among other things, to take the following affirmative actions:

“2. * * * (a) Notify the members of said Local that Respondents have no objection to their installing or otherwise handling piping at any project of The Detroit Edison Company within the territorial jurisdiction of said Local which has been prefabricated by any employer with employees who are not members of Respondent Unions; 2
“(b) Notify the members of said Local that any previous instructions, requests or appeals which Respondents have made against installing or otherwise handling piping at projects of The Detroit Edison Company within the territorial jurisdiction of said Local, which piping was prefabricated by employees who are not members of Respondent Unions, have been withdrawn, and that the 'fabrication' clauses in the National Construction Agreement or any other such agreement with United Engineers and Constructors, Inc., or any contractor retained by The Detroit Edison Company to erect turbine units at projects within the Lo[862]*862cal’s jurisdiction, do not prohibit or otherwise preclude any member of said Local from installing or otherwise handling prefabricated piping which does not satisfy the terms of those clauses;
“(c) Notify the members of said Local that Respondent will not discipline, penalize, or otherwise discriminate against any member for working on prefabricated piping at The Detroit Edison Company’s aforementioned projects which contravenes the terms of the ‘fabrication’ clauses * * *”

In 1947 United Engineers was first engaged by Edison as general contractor in the construction of power plants. In 1956, as part of an expansion program, Edison entered into a contract with United Engineers for the construction of generating units at River Rouge, Michigan, among other places. Under the contract, the basic responsibility for the construction was upon United Engineers. This consisted of furnishing skilled labor, and supervising the handling and erection of a turbine generator. Under the National Construction Agreement, United Engineers hired all workmen directly through Local 636 and billed Edison for such cost. Edison retained sole control over the purchase of all material and equipment for the project and made the decision as to what portion of the work was to be performed by United Engineers. If subcontracts were let, the administration of the contracts was turned over to United Engineers to see that time, quality and performance was in accordance with its contract with Edison.

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Related

NLRB v. Pipefitters
429 U.S. 507 (Supreme Court, 1977)

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Bluebook (online)
278 F.2d 858, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/local-no-636-united-association-of-journeymen-apprentices-of-plumbing-cadc-1960.