Roywood Corp. v. Radio Broadcast Technicians Local Union No. 1264

290 F. Supp. 1008, 68 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2881, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8638
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Alabama
DecidedJuly 16, 1968
DocketCiv. A. 4647-67
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 290 F. Supp. 1008 (Roywood Corp. v. Radio Broadcast Technicians Local Union No. 1264) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roywood Corp. v. Radio Broadcast Technicians Local Union No. 1264, 290 F. Supp. 1008, 68 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2881, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8638 (S.D. Ala. 1968).

Opinion

OPINION

DANIEL HOLCOMBE THOMAS, District Judge.

Roywood Corporation (Roywood) brought this action against Radio Broadcast Technicians Local Union No. 1264 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, (Local 1264) to enforce a liability created by Title 29 Section 187 for an alleged secondary boycott. The only question presented at this time is whether the de-advertising campaign of Local 1264 directed against Roywood and its advertisers is a secondary boycott proscribed by Section 8(b) (4) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158(b) (4). Damages, if any, sustained by Roywood are to be determined in further proceedings in this cause.

Roywood and Local 1264 were parties to a collective bargaining agreement which was terminated effective January 31, 1966, by Local 1264 giving notice of termination pursuant to the terms of the contract on November 2, 1965.

Subsequent to November 2, 1965, representatives of Local 1264 and Roywood met and exchanged contract proposals and reached tentative agreements on numerous provisions of a new contract. On February 1, 1966, Roywood submitted Local 1264 a “package proposal” which, among other things, provided for an immediate $10.00 per week wage increase to $135.00 per week and three additional $5.00 per week wage increases effective in 1968, 1969 and 1970, for a total increase of $25.00 per week in the aggregate over five years; up to three weeks vacation pay; two consecutive days off each week; 30 days sick leave each year with full pay; no split shifts; six paid holidays each year; a guarantee of 40 hours pay each week; up to five days leave with full pay in the event of a death in the immediate family; payment of one-half of the premiums for Blue Cross-Blue Shield Hospital insurance; $5,000.00 company paid life insurance policy; and, a guarantee of 52 full weeks pay each year for the full five year term of the proposed contract for every engineer employed by Roywood when the proposed contract was executed. This “package proposal” was accompanied by a letter which offered “to extend our present agreement up to a period of two weeks.”

On February 2, 1966, without having given any notice to Roywood, all of the engineers represented by Local 1264 failed to report to work and went on strike. Local 1264 immediately commenced picketing Roywood’s studio on Government Street with signs bearing the inscription: “WALA-TV Technicians On Strike Local 1264 IBEW AFL-CIO”. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers did not sanction Local 1264’s strike. Wages were not an issue in the strike. Wages offered by Roy-wood were higher than wages paid by any union radio station in the Mobile, Alabama, area and equal to the wages paid by WKRG-TV, the only other union television station in the broadcast area of WALA-TV.

Representatives of Roywood and Local 1264 met periodically to discuss the terms of a new contract; the last bargaining session was held on February 13, 1967.

Within two weeks after the strike began, Local 1264 commenced a systematic de-advertising campaign against Roywood. J. C. Burns, President of Local 1264, and the chief engineer at radio station WUNI, Mobile, Alabama, was in charge of Local 1264’s de-advertising campaign.

*1012 Local 1264 ascertained the names of WALA-TV’s advertisers by monitoring WALA-TV. An employee and the chief engineer of radio station WUNI monitored WALA-TV while they were on duty at WUNI. Local 1264 obtained the names of prospective advertisers from the telephone directory and from newspapers. Local 1264 contacted advertisers and prospective advertisers in person, by telephone and by letter and requested that advertisers “respect our picket line at WALA-TV and place your advertising with ONLY UNION STATIONS in this area.”

Local 1264 picketed adjacent to and across the street from many local advertisers that did not heed Local 1264’s “request”. The inscription on a typical advertiser picket sign was:

BULLARD OLDS. IGNORES PICKET LINES at WALA-TV
PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE PRODUCTS SOLD IN THIS STORE WHICH ARE ADVERTISED OVER WALA-TV IBEW LOCAL 1264 AFL-CIO

Local 1264 distributed handbills at the entrances of establishments that advertised on WALA-TV. On some occasions, Local 1264 handbilled and picketed an establishment simultaneously. A typical handbill carried this message:

QUALITY RAMBLER IGNORES PICKET LINES AT WALA-TV
PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE PRODUCTS SOLD IN THIS STORE WHICH ARE ADVERTISED OVER WALA-TV. IBEW, LOCAL 1264, AFL-CIO

Local 1264 distributed unfair lists at shopping centers and at various other places in and about Mobile. A typical unfair list stated:

“ATTENTION”
Fellow Trade Unionist The following merchants listed below, COMPLETELY IGNORE AFL-CIO PICKET LINES at WALA-TV. (Channel 10)
(Names of several firms and products)
The entire WALA-TV technical staff has been out on strike since February 2, 1966 * * * The station is now being operated by imported strike breakers * * * Can you SEE the difference * *
IBEW, Local 1264
AFL-CIO
Phone 433-9962

*1013 Local 1264 caused 8% x 13% placards and 14 x 22% placards to be printed for use in connection with its de-advertising campaign. The placards contained identical wording:

(Name of Product, Service or Advertiser)
IGNORES PICKET LINES of Local 1264, IBEW, AFL-CIO And Continues to Advertise Over the STRUCK FACILITIES of WALA-TV, Mobile, Alabama
DETACH AND MAIL THIS CARD TO ADVERTISER CROSSING OUR PICKET LINE

A postal card attached to the placard and addressed to the advertiser bore this inscription:

THE PLACARD FROM WHICH THIS POSTAL CARD WAS DETACHED WAS POSTED IN OUR UNION HALL THIS DAY. IT WILL REMAIN POSTED UNTIL WE ARE INSTRUCTED BY LOCAL 1264 OF MOBILE TO REMOVE SAME.

along with places for the name and address of the posting union. The following instruction also appeared on an attachment to the placard: “PLEASE POST IN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE”. The postal cards on the two placards were identical in size.

Local 1264 inserted the name of a product, service ■ or advertiser in the space provided on a large placard and mailed the placard to the advertiser. Local 1264 inserted the name of a product, service or advertiser on small placards, addressed the postal card attached to the small placard to the advertiser and forwarded small placards to various unions throughout the United States with instructions for the unions to mail the pre-addressed postal cards to the advertiser. The advertiser subsequently-received postal cards announcing that the placard displaying the advertiser’s name or the name of the advertiser’s product or service was posted in particular union halls.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
290 F. Supp. 1008, 68 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2881, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8638, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roywood-corp-v-radio-broadcast-technicians-local-union-no-1264-alsd-1968.