Keystone Steel & Wire

KEYSTONE STEEL & WIRE 283 Keystone Steel & Wire, Division of Keystone Con- solidated Industries, Inc. and Independent Steel Workers' Alliance. Case 38-CA-3387 March 11, 1980 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS PENELLO AND TRUESDALE On August 23, 1978, the National Labor Rela- tions Board issued a Decision and Order in the above-entitled proceeding' in which the Board found that Respondent had violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and ordered Respondent to cease and desist from its unlawful acts and to take certain af- firmative actions to remedy the violations found, including reinstatement of Blue Cross/Blue Shield as the administrator/processor of the hospital, medical, and surgical benefits program. Thereafter, on September 12, 1979, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, on a petition for review and cross-application for en- forcement of the Board's Order, granted enforce- ment in part and denied enforcement in part, re- manding the matter to the Board for further con- sideration.2 In its opinion, the court found that Re- spondent had violated the Act in the manner set forth in the Board's Decision, but found unwar- ranted the part of the Board's remedy requiring Respondent to reinstate Blue Cross/Blue Shield as the administrator/processor of the health insurance program. 3 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. In accord with the opinion of the court of ap- peals, which the Board has accepted as the law of the case, we have reconsidered our prior Decision and Order 4 and have decided to modify our remedy, as set forth below. Because the court has precluded the Board from ordering that Respondent reinstate Blue Cross/ Blue Shield as the administrator/processor of the hospital, medical, and surgical benefits plan, we shall rescind that portion of the Order. We will, however, require Respondent to restore all benefits '237 NLRB No 91 2 606 F.2d 171. 3 In addition, the court considered par. l(a) of the Board's Order, pro- viding that Respondent shall cease and desist generally from refusing to bargain in good faith with the Union. to be overly broad and therefore refused to enforce it. 4The statements of position of the Charging Party, Respondent, and the General Counsel have been received and duly considered. 248 NLRB No. 40 which the unit employees enjoyed prior to the sub- stitution of Metropolitan for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. There are a variety of differences of vary- ing subtlety between the operation of the plan under Blue Cross/Blue Shield and under Metro- politan. However, we have specifically identified two conditions which we shall explicitly order Re- spondent to restore. The computation of the usual and customary charges5 differs under the two ad- ministrator/processors, in part because of the dif- ferent geographical areas used by the two in com- puting these figures. Thus, we shall order Respon- dent to use the geographical area utilized by Blue Cross/Blue Shield to determine these charges, or, in the alternative, to pay at least the same level of usual and customary benefits as paid by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. In no instance will the benefits be lower than that currently enjoyed by unit em- ployees. In addition, we shall order Respondent to make whole, with interest, any unit employee who lost money as a result of its unilateral change in the administrator/processor of the health care plan. Secondly, Blue Cross/Blue Shield made available a "labor consultant" who visited the union hall on a regular basis to furnish information and handle claims problems for employees. We shall order Re- spondent to reinstate this service. Finally, nothing in our Order shall require Respondent to withdraw any benefits the employees now enjoy. As the court has already enforced our Order as it pertains to the merits of the unfair labor practice, except with respect to certain aspects of the remedy, our supplemental Order will be limited ac- cordingly. ORDER Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Re- lations Board hereby orders that the Respondent, Keystone Steel & Wire, Division of Keystone Con- solidated Industries, Inc., Bartonville, Illinois, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall take the following affirmative action which is deemed necessary to effectuate the purposes and policies of the Act: 1. Restore all services and benefits enjoyed by the employees in the appropriate unit prior to the substitution of Metropolitan for Blue Cross/Blue Shield as the administrator/processor of the hospi- tal, medical, and surgical benefits program, includ- ing, but not limited to: I The insurance plan provides that claims he paid in the amount of the "usual and customary" fee for that particular claim item The usual and customary figures are computed on a regular basis in a manner that in- sures that the) bear a relationship to fees actually charged by medical practitioners KEYSTONE STEEL & WIRE 283 284 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD (a) Utilization of the same geographical areas used by Blue Cross/Blue Shield for determining its usual and customary charges, or, in the alternative, payment of at least the same level of usual and cus- tomary benefits as Blue Cross/Blue Shield. (b) Provision of a "labor consultant" to handle the health insurance claims of unit employees. Nothing in this Order shall require the revoca- tion of any benefits currently enjoyed by unit em- ployees. 2. Make whole, with interest,6 any unit employee who lost money as a result of Respondent's unilat- eral change of the administrator/processor of the hospital, medical, and surgical benefits program. 3. Post at its offices and plants in Bartonville, Il- linois, copies of the attached notice marked "Ap- pendix." 7 Copies of said notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 33, after being duly signed by an authorized representative of Keystone Steel & Wire, Division of Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc., shall be posted by Respondent immediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive days there- after, in conspicuous places, including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to insure that said notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. 4. Notify the Regional Director for Region 33, in writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order, 6 Florida Steel Corporation, 231 NLRB 651 (1977). See, generally, Isis Plumbing & Heating Co., 138 NLRB 716 (1962). 7 In the event that this Order is enforced by a Judgment of a United States Court of Appeals, the words in the notice reading "Posted by Order of the National Labor Relations Board" shall read "Posted Pursu- ant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National Labor Relations Board." what steps Respondent has taken to comply here- with. APPPENDIX NOTICE To EMPLOYEES POSTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD An Agency of the United States Government WE WILL restore all services and benefits enjoyed by the employees in the appropriate unit prior to the substitution of Metropolitan for Blue Cross/Blue Shield as the administra- tor/processor of the hospital, medical, and sur- gical benefits program, including, but not limited to: Utilization of the same geographical areas used by Blue Cross/Blue Shield for deter- mining its usual and customary charges, or, in the alternative, payment of at least the same level of usual and customary benefits as Blue Cross/Blue Shield Provision of a "labor consultant" to handle the health insurance claims of unit employees. Nothing in this notice shall require the revo- cation of any benefits currently enjoyed by the unit employees. WE WILL make whole, with interest, any unit employee who lost money as a result of our unilateral change of the administrator/pro- cessor of the hospital, medical, and surgical benefits program. KEYSTONE STEEL & WIRE, DIVISION OF KEYSTONE CONSOLIDATED INDUS- TRIES, INC.