National Labor Relations Board v. Houston Chapter, Associated General Contractors of America, Inc., and Construction Employers' Association of Texas

349 F.2d 449
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 14, 1965
Docket21327
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 349 F.2d 449 (National Labor Relations Board v. Houston Chapter, Associated General Contractors of America, Inc., and Construction Employers' Association of Texas) 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
National Labor Relations Board v. Houston Chapter, Associated General Contractors of America, Inc., and Construction Employers' Association of Texas, 349 F.2d 449 (5th Cir. 1965).

Opinion

GRIFFIN B. BELL, Circuit Judge:

This petition of the National Labor Relations Board for enforcement of its order finding respondents in violation of § 8(a) (5) and (1) of the Act 1 presents a unique labor law question. Respondents are non-profit corporations with memberships consisting of employers engaged in the building and construction trade in Texas. The unfair labor practice charge which gave rise to the petition to enforce was filed by the Construction and General Laborers Union, Local No. 18, International Hod Carriers, Builders and Common Laborers Union, AFL-CIO, the statutory bargaining representative for the hod carriers and laborers employed by the contractors forming respondents’ membership. The unfair labor practices occurred in Houston, Texas where respondents have their principal offices and places of business. Each respondent is the collective bargaining agent for its respective employer members, and the activities of the members admittedly affected interstate commerce in the degree required to give the Board jurisdiction.

Respondents and the Union began negotiating for a new contract several weeks prior to the expiration date, October 31, 1961, of the then existing contract. The union proposed that the contract include a provision for a non-discriminatory union hiring hall. The terms, among others, of the tendered provision were that the hiring hall would be the sole source of employees for the various contractors represented by respondents, that the union would select and refer applicants on the basis of such factors as seniority in employment by the respective contractors, length of residence in the area, and general work experience in the trade, but without dis *451 crimination by reason of membership or non-membership in the union. The employer was to retain the right to reject any applicant for employment, and the right to discharge any employee for good cause who had been accepted, but whose services consequently proved unsatisfactory. The hiring hall proposal had reference, of course, only to employees in the categories represented by the union.

Respondents rejected the proposal on the advice of counsel that a non-discriminatory union hiring hall was illegal under the Texas right to work laws which generally provide that no person shall be denied employment on account of membership or non-membership in a labor union. 2 Upon the expiration of the existing contract, the union called a strike in support of its contract demands including the demand for the hiring hall. A Texas state court enjoined the strike on the basis that a hiring hall agreement would contravene the public policy embodied in the Texas right to work laws. The parties subsequently entered into a contract substantially similar to the old contract, but without prejudice to the union pursuing its rights with respect to the hiring hall question. The union then filed a charge with the Board alleging that respondents had violated § 8(a) (5) and (1) of the Act by refusing to bargain regarding the hiring hall proposal. The trial examiner sustained the unfair labor practice complaint issued on this charge.

The board affirmed, holding, with two members dissenting, that the hiring hall question presented a mandatory subject of bargaining under § 8(d) of the Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(d). The board, as had the examiner, rejected the contention of respondents that the hiring hall proposal would constitute an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment within the meaning of § 14(b) of the Act, 29 U.S. C.A. § 164(b). This section leaves control of this question to the states where they choose to prohibit such a requirement.

We enforce. In our view the hiring hall clause in question was a mandatory subject of collective bargaining under the Act, and it does not fall under the § 14 (b) exception.

It is now settled law that a labor contract providing for a non-discriminatory hiring hall is legal, absent the actual practice of discrimination under the agreement. Local 357, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, etc. v. N. L. R. B., 1961, 365 U.S. 667, 81 S. Ct. 835, 6 L.Ed.2d 11. But, the question whether a demand for such a clause falls within the class of mandatory subjects of bargaining, thus making it lawful to insist on their inclusion in labor agreements, depends on whether the demand comes within the meaning of the language “ * * * wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment * * *” in § 8(d) of the Act. 3

Respondents urge that this language does not cover the obtaining of employment but is instead limited to those conditions which arise after an actual employment relationship has been established. They point to the inclusion of the term “hire” in § 8(a) (3), 29 U.S. C.A. § 158(a) (3), which makes it an unfair labor practice to discriminate “ * * * jn regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment * * *”, and the fact that “hire” is not included in § 8(d) to support this contention. The argument is that the omission was intentional and thus the hiring process is not embraced in § 8(d). However, § 8(d) also fails to mention “tenure of employment” while this clause is present in § 8(a) (3), *452 and it has been held that “tenure of employment” is a condition of employment and subject to mandatory bargaining. See Fiberboard Paper Products Corp. v. N. L. R. B., 1964, 379 U.S. 203, 85 S.Ct. 398, 13 L.Ed.2d 233. Cf. Town & Country Mfg. Co. v. N. L. R. B., 5 Cir., 1963, 316 F.2d 846. The terms of hiring in this particular industry, such as would provide for the establishment of a seniority system through the use of a hiring hall, no less than tenure, are terms and conditions of employment.

Respondents also urge that § 8(d) is limited in scope to no more than what is allowed under the 1959 amendment to the Act set out in § 8(f), 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(f), which amendment would prohibit a strike to obtain the hiring hall clause. Section 8(f), in pertinent part, permits an employer in the building and construction industry to make a contract with a union before the union’s majority is established to provide that the employer will notify the union of employment opportunities, or give such union an opportunity to refer qualified applicants-for such employment. The amendment makes such a contract legal when absent the amendment it would not be, because of the union not having a majority, but the contract is not a mandatory subject of bargaining so that strike action in support of obtaining it is authorized. N. L. R. B. v. Int. Hod Carriers, 8 Cir., 1960, 285 F.2d 397, cert. den., 366 U.S. 903, 81 S.Ct. 1047, 6 L.Ed.2d 203. See 1 Leg.Hist. of LMRDA, pp. 424-425, 452, 946 (1959). The union in the case at bar was the statutory bargaining agent and § 8(f) is not applicable here by way of limitation or otherwise.

The case of N. L. R.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

UAW v. Hardin Cnty., Ky.
Sixth Circuit, 2016
James M. Sweeney v. Michael R. Pence
767 F.3d 654 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Michigan State AFL-CIO v. Callaghan
15 F. Supp. 3d 712 (E.D. Michigan, 2014)
Kennedy v. St. Joseph's Ministries, Inc.
657 F.3d 189 (Fourth Circuit, 2011)
Maurice Clarett v. National Football League
369 F.3d 124 (Second Circuit, 2004)
Local 514 Transport Workers Union v. Keating
2003 OK 110 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2003)
Local 514, Transport Workers of America v. Keating
212 F. Supp. 2d 1319 (E.D. Oklahoma, 2002)
Wood v. National Basketball Ass'n
809 F.2d 954 (Second Circuit, 1987)
Wood v. National Basketball Association
809 F.2d 954 (Second Circuit, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
349 F.2d 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-labor-relations-board-v-houston-chapter-associated-general-ca5-1965.