National Labor Relations Board v. Hudson Motor Car Co.

128 F.2d 528, 10 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 685, 1942 U.S. App. LEXIS 3629
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 3, 1942
Docket9121
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 128 F.2d 528 (National Labor Relations Board v. Hudson Motor Car Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Hudson Motor Car Co., 128 F.2d 528, 10 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 685, 1942 U.S. App. LEXIS 3629 (6th Cir. 1942).

Opinion

HAMILTON, Circuit Judge.

The Board ordered the respondent, the Hudson Motor Car Company, to cease and desist from discouraging membership in International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, Local 154, an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor, or any other labor organization of its employees, and from discriminating in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any terms or conditions of employment.

It ordered the respondent to cease and desist from interfering with, restraining or *530 coercing its employees in any other riianner, in the exercise of their right to self-organization to form or join labor organizations, to bargain collectively or to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining. The Board ordered the full and immediate reinstatement to their former positions or to positions substantially equivalent thereto without prejudice to any of their rights and privileges of the following employees:

James Gordon Wilson,. Clifton K. Jones, William McDonald, George Gallant, Arthur E. Blower, James O’Neill, James Henry Brown, Percival Joseph Denesha, Zoley Morgan, Leonard Sullivan and Frank Sip-ple and to make each whole for any loss of pay suffered by reason of discrimination against him by paying to each a sum equal to the amount normally received by him from the date of respondent’s alleged discrimination against him to September 21, 1940, and from the date of the order to the date of respondent’s offer of reinstatement, less net earnings, if any, during said time. The Board ordered the posting of appropriate notices in conspicuous places in its plant for a period of sixty days.

’ Respondent resists enforcement of the Board’s order solely on the ground that the Board’s findings of fact are not supported by'substantial evidence. The tendered issue requires such an outline of the primary facts as will sufficiently reflect the ultimate facts.

Respondent is a Michigan corporation, with its general offices and plants located at Detroit, Michigan, and is in the business of manufacturing finished automobiles, automobile parts and automobile chassis. The facts concerning the unfair labor practices charged pertain' to the respondent’s main plant which is devoted to machine assembly and shipping operations. It also operates two other plants, one of which is used for stamping body assembly and painting and the other for machinery and service parts. All three plants are so interrelated as to constitute a continuous process of manufacturing which ends in' the main plant.

At the time of the unfair labor practices which the Board found to exist, respondent employed approximately 10,000 persons. In July 1936, the International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, originally an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor, issued a charter to- á labor organization of respondent’s employees which is designated in the record as “Hudson Local No. 154.”.' In July,of.'the same year, the parent organization transferred its affiliation to the Committee for Industrial Organization. A few months later the American Federation of Labor suspended the International Union and on November 16, 1938, the Congress of Industrial Organization, successor to the earlier C. I. O. granted a charter to the I. U. U. A. W. A. In April 1937, the C. I. O. caused a sit-1 down strike in respondent’s plant which ultimately was settled by the respondent granting Local 154, C. I. O., recognition as collective bargaining agent for its members. Thereafter, petitioner following proceedings under Section 9 of the Act, certified Local 154, C. I. O., as the exclusive representative of .all respondent’s employees in an appropriate bargaining unit which included all of respondent’s employees except .supervisory officials, foremen, straw bosses and other salaried, employees. See Matter of Hudson Motor Car Company and Local 154, International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, C I. O. affiliate, 8 N.L.R.B. 1080.

In November 1938, respondent and Local 154, C. I. O., entered into a further collective bargaining contract and by its terms the local was granted exclusive recognition as a bargaining agent for all of respondent’s employees, which contract was effective during the period of' time here in controversy but did'not provide for a closed shop.

In January 1939, some of the members of the International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, commenced a campaign to take that organization into the A. F. of L. and Local 154, C. I. O., was infected with this struggle. The effort was abortive in the local and culminated in practically all of appellant’s employees remaining with the C. I. O. and respondent continued to deal with the officers and stewards of that organization as the exclusive bargaining representatives of its employees.

; Respondent’s contract with Local 154, C. I. O., provided inter alia that “neither the Union nor its members will intimidate or coerce employees, and also agrees not to solicit membership or dues on company time or plant property. * * * Union headquarters is the regular place for payment of dues but the company agrees that the voluntary payment of dues on plant property, provided work is not' interrupted, will not be considered a violation of the above pro *531 visions.” The contract further provided “that a chief shop steward or designated executive officer, in order to investigate or adjust grievances may, when necessary, leave his department, but before doing so must personally notify his foreman.”

Comparatively few of respondent’s employees continued with the A. F. of L. and the uncontradicted evidence shows that during the period from May to September 1939 representatives of Local 154, C. I. O., openly solicited these members in the plant of respondent during working hours and in many instances threatened them with physical violence and ejection from the plant, if they did not become members of the C. I. O. Some of them appealed to respondent’s supervisory officials for protection and were informed there was nothing the Company could do because it would have a complete shut down if any disciplinary measures were taken against the C. I. O. members. The collection of dues by the C. I. O. from its members while the plants were in operation, as well as the solicitation and intimidation of the A. F. of L. members was carried on in the presence of respondent’s foremen and plant protection men. In some instances the solicitors, by physical force, compelled the employees who were members of A. F. of L. to stop work while being threatened with violence if they did not join the C. I. O.

On several occasions respondent’s foremen told its A. F. of L. employees that they were in the wrong group and if they would join the C. I. O. faction all trouble in the plant would be eliminated and they would have peace.

Shortly before the annual shut down for change of models early in July 1939, a committee representing Local 154, C. I. O., notified respondent’s agent in charge of the operation of its plants that the C. I. O. members refused to work with members of the Local 154, A. F. of L. Respondent’s personnel director immediately instructed the A. F. of L. members to cease from carrying on any activity that would aggravate this situation and warned them that they were not to pass out any literature or union buttons or to collect dues during working hours, or on the premises of respondent at any time. The personnel director also told the C.

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

Related

J. A. Utley Co. v. National Labor Relations Board
217 F.2d 885 (Sixth Circuit, 1954)
Eichleay Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board
206 F.2d 799 (Third Circuit, 1953)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
128 F.2d 528, 10 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 685, 1942 U.S. App. LEXIS 3629, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-labor-relations-board-v-hudson-motor-car-co-ca6-1942.