National Labor Relations Board v. Union Nacional de Trabajadores

540 F.2d 1
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJune 21, 1976
DocketNos. 75-1372, 75-1374 to 75-1376
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 540 F.2d 1 (National Labor Relations Board v. Union Nacional de Trabajadores) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Union Nacional de Trabajadores, 540 F.2d 1 (1st Cir. 1976).

Opinions

COFFIN, Chief Judge.

In this consolidated proceeding, the National Labor Relations Board petitions this court for enforcement of the orders it issued against the Union Nacional de Trabajadores (Union) and its agents in four sepa[5]*5rate unfair labor practice proceedings. The orders were issued to remedy numerous unfair labor practices that arose from violent incidents occurring at four Puerto Rican jobsites and involving several different companies and members and officials of the Union — all of whom are listed in the margin.1 The major issues before us are the propriety of the Board’s conclusions that the Union was guilty of the unfair labor practices found to have been committed and the appropriateness of the remedial features of the four orders.

In each of the four cases, the Board concluded that the Union had violated § 8(b)(1)(A) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(1)(A), by threatening employees, supervisors, and/or outsiders under circumstances in which the result was interference with the rights conferred by § 7 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 157. In addition, in No. 75-1376, the Board also found that the Union had violated § 8(b)(4)® and (ii)(B) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4)® and (ii)(B) by threatening and actually inflicting physical harm upon employees of third parties in order to force those third parties to terminate business relations with Catalytic, one of the companies with which the Union had differences. In each of the four proceedings, the Board issued orders requiring the Union to cease and desist from the unfair labor practices found and from infringing in any other manner upon the § 7 rights of the employees.2 In each case, the Board’s orders require that the Union not only post copies of the notices at their offices and meeting places but also mail copies to all the employees of the companies that were involved and publish copies in every newspaper of general circulation in the Commonwealth.

In addition to finding that the Union had committed various unfair labor practices, the Board, in proceedings related to No. 75-1374, dismissed the Union’s complaint that the employer had unlawfully refused to bargain with it and entered an order revoking the Union’s certification as the Carborundum employees’ collective bargaining representative and denying the Union the right to invoke the statutory procedures in aid of a demand for recognition until such time as the Carborundum employees demonstrate their support for the Union anew in an atmosphere free from the effects of the Union’s coercion.

In opposing enforcement, respondents challenge the Board’s substantive conclusions, the remedies it selected, and the procedures the Board followed in reaching its conclusions.3 Because the substan[6]*6tive and remedial challenges to the Board’s orders present discrete issues, we will discuss them separately. The facts will be stated together with the substantive discussions. Several of respondents’ arguments are too frivolous to warrant any discussion.

I. The Union’s Unfair Labor Practices4

No. 75-1S72. Here the Board concluded that the Union and its agent and president, Arturo Grant violated § 8(b)(1)(A) by (1) brutally assaulting Macal’s president, Manuel Calderon, in the presence of several of its employees, and (2) threatening Macal employees, on two separate occasions, with serious physical harm if they continued to work during a Union sponsored strike.5 The Union maintains that none of these actions occurred under conditions in which they could constitute violations of § 8(b)(1)(A).

The assault on Macal’s president occurred in Calderon’s office on April 22, 1974, the day before a Union sponsored strike began. Although respondents concede that Grant’s actions were reprehensible and violative of local law, they maintain that the admitted misconduct did not violate the Act because Grant did not have the required intent. They contend that the record clearly shows that the purpose of Grant’s confrontation with Calderon was to force Macal to reinstate certain employees whom Grant mistakenly, but honestly, believed had been fired because of their Union sympathies and activities. In actuality, the employees had resigned. Respondents characterize Grant’s actions as bona fide- attempts to promote the § 7 rights of the former employees, and they maintain that such acts, as a matter of law, cannot form the basis for a § 8(b)(1)(A) violation. Secondly, respondents note that at the time of the assaults, there was no strike or other concerted activity in progress. They argue that ongoing concerted activity is a necessary condition for a § 8(b) violation because only then is there a possibility that the Union action will affect the exercise of § 7 rights. We find no merit in either contention.

Preliminarily, we observe that, although § 8(b)(1)(A) makes it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization to restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed by § 7, threats directed against a non-employee can constitute a § 8(b) violation if they occur in contexts in which employees are likely to learn of them. See NLRB v. Imparato Stevedoring Corp., 250 F.2d 297 (3d Cir. 1957); NLRB v. Furriers Joint Council, 224 F.2d 78 (2d Cir. 1955). The reason for this rule is clear. An employee might reasonably regard such threats as a reliable indicator of what would befall him if he were to refrain from joining concerted activity in support of the [7]*7Union. See Taxi Drivers Union, 174 N.L.R.B. 1 (1969). In reviewing a Board determination that a labor organization’s violent assault of a non-employee constituted unlawful restraint and coercion of employees, the question is whether there is substantial evidence that the coercive conduct was likely to discourage legislatively protected employee activity. Evidence of specific intent to restrain or coerce employees is not required. See NLRB v. Local 140, 233 F.2d 539, 541 (2d Cir. 1956).

With this background, both of respondent’s contentions seem meritless. The mere fact that Grant may have perceived himself as promoting only the interests of certain employees who supported his Union does not eliminate the possibility that the violent and brutal assaults on Maeal’s president in his office would have had a coercive effect on any employees who wished to refrain from joining concerted activity on behalf of the Union. Indeed, the assault occurred under conditions in which one would expect it to influence the actions of employees. . It took place at the Macal plant, suggesting to employees that they would not even be safe at work if they were to oppose the Union, and arose from a Union dispute with management.

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540 F.2d 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-labor-relations-board-v-union-nacional-de-trabajadores-ca1-1976.