National Labor Relations Board v. Arrmaz Products Inc.

123 F.4th 1295
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 16, 2024
Docket23-10291
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 123 F.4th 1295 (National Labor Relations Board v. Arrmaz Products Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Labor Relations Board v. Arrmaz Products Inc., 123 F.4th 1295 (11th Cir. 2024).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 1 of 19

[PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 23-10291 ____________________

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL WORKERS UNION COUNCIL OF THE UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, Intervenor, versus ARRMAZ PRODUCTS INC.,

Respondent. USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 2 of 19

2 Opinion of the Court 23-10291

Application for Enforcement of a Decision of the National Labor Relations Board Agency No. 12-CA-294086 ____________________

Before WILSON, BRASHER, and HULL, Circuit Judges. HULL, Circuit Judge: The International Chemical Workers Union Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, AFL-CIO (the “Union”) and ArrMaz Products, Inc. (“ArrMaz”), a specialty chemical manufacturer, entered into a stipulated election agreement to govern an election to decide whether the Union would be the collective bargaining representative of the employees of ArrMaz. On the day of the representation election, the Union challenged two ballots because they were filed by employees of AMP Trucking, Inc. (“AMP”), a separate company but a wholly owned subsidiary of ArrMaz. The two disputed AMP ballots were not counted, and the Union won the election by a 20 to 18 vote. In its certification order, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) sustained the Union’s challenge to the two disputed AMP employee ballots and certified the Union as the bargaining representative of ArrMaz’s employees. The Board found that under the stipulated election agreement between ArrMaz and the Union, only ArrMaz’s employees—and not AMP’s employees— were eligible to vote in the election. USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 3 of 19

23-10291 Opinion of the Court 3

Despite the certification order, ArrMaz refused to bargain. In a second order, the Board ordered ArrMaz to bargain with the Union. The Board severed and retained for further consideration the issue of whether to require ArrMaz to compensate its employees for the lost opportunity to engage in collective bargaining during the pendency of the post-election proceedings. The Board now applies for enforcement of its orders, and ArrMaz cross-petitions for review. After careful review, and with the benefit of oral argument, we grant the Board’s application for enforcement and deny ArrMaz’s petition for review. As a threshold matter, we have jurisdiction to review the Board’s orders because the Board consummated its decisionmaking process on the validity of the Union’s certification and ArrMaz’s duty to bargain with the Union. On the merits, we agree with the Board that the parties’ stipulated election agreement plainly and unambiguously provided that only ArrMaz employees were eligible to vote. As a result, AMP’s employees were not eligible to vote, and the Board properly sustained the Union’s challenge. I. BACKGROUND A. ArrMaz ArrMaz adopted its current name, ArrMaz Products, Inc., in July 2020. Before the election at issue, ArrMaz’s legal name was “Arr-Maz Products, Limited Partnership,” which was the name used in the election agreement with the Union. USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 4 of 19

4 Opinion of the Court 23-10291

At all relevant times, ArrMaz manufactured specialty chemicals used in the mining, fertilizer, phosphate, industrial ammonium nitrate, asphalt, and oil and gas industries. ArrMaz’s business includes sourcing raw materials, developing formulas, producing chemicals, and delivering those chemicals to its customers. ArrMaz employs about 18 Production Operators, 4 Sulfonation Operators, 1 Railside Operator, 3 Small Blend and Warehouse Operators, 6 Plant Maintenance Technicians, 1 Facilities Maintenance Technician, and 5 or 6 Electrical and Instrumentation Technicians. ArrMaz previously employed a Parts Clerk, but that position is now vacant. ArrMaz operates out of a facility in Mulberry, Florida. The Mulberry facility consists of 18 buildings, rail lines, parking areas, and a single entrance/exit point that is used by everyone who enters or exits the facility. The facility houses all of ArrMaz’s operations, including administration, research and development, information technology, laboratories, production, and distribution. B. AMP As mentioned above, AMP is ArrMaz’s wholly owned subsidiary. AMP has a private truck fleet that transports and delivers ArrMaz’s chemicals. AMP was created as an entity separate from ArrMaz for liability purposes—to protect ArrMaz from liability related to transportation of its chemicals over public roads. USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 5 of 19

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AMP operates out of a truck shop within the Mulberry facility. AMP delivers finished chemicals from the Mulberry facility to ArrMaz’s customers, transports raw materials to the Mulberry facility, and inspects and maintains a fleet of trucks, trailers, and other heavy equipment. AMP owns about 65 trailers, some of which are used to store raw, intermediate, and finished chemical products. AMP also owns and operates several trucks, but the trucks bear decals identifying them as ArrMaz. AMP’s trailers also bear ArrMaz decals so customers will know where the trailer is coming from. AMP employs a supervisor, nine drivers, and two maintenance technicians. Jesse Hargadine and Robert Strickland are the two maintenance technicians. Hargadine and Strickland are responsible for maintaining and repairing AMP’s trucks, trailers, and other heavy equipment. Like all AMP employees, Hargadine and Strickland work in the truck shop at the Mulberry facility. AMP does not have any of its own customers; AMP transports only ArrMaz’s products and materials. ArrMaz fully funds AMP’s operations and files a consolidated federal tax return that includes AMP. ArrMaz and AMP do not bill each other for services rendered. AMP’s accounting, human resources, and safety functions are performed by ArrMaz. USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 6 of 19

6 Opinion of the Court 23-10291

C. Arkema ArrMaz and AMP are both part of a larger five-level corporate structure that is principally owned by Arkema Delaware, Inc. (“Arkema”). ArrMaz and AMP are entirely responsible for the day-to-day operations of the whole enterprise and are the only companies with employees. D. The Stipulated Election Agreement On February 10, 2020, the Union filed with the Board a petition for a representation election. The Union sought to represent a bargaining unit of “Production, Warehouse, Rail Side Workers, Maintenance & Electrical Workers” at the Mulberry facility. On February 18, 2020, ArrMaz and the Union entered into a stipulated election agreement (the “Agreement”). The Agreement detailed the procedure for the representation election and defined which employees would be included in the collective bargaining unit. The Agreement was between and executed by only ArrMaz as the employer and the Union. Specifically, the Agreement listed (1) “Arr-Maz Products, Limited Partnership” at the top of the document next to the case number, and (2) “Arr-Maz Products, Limited Partnership” at the end of the document on the signature line under which “(Employer)” is typed. Neither Arkema nor AMP were referenced anywhere in the Agreement. USCA11 Case: 23-10291 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 12/16/2024 Page: 7 of 19

23-10291 Opinion of the Court 7

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Bluebook (online)
123 F.4th 1295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-labor-relations-board-v-arrmaz-products-inc-ca11-2024.