Pioneer Construction Co.

966 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Pioneer Construction Company and United Construction Workers Local No. 10, Christian Labor Association . Cases 7-CA- 5627(1) and 7-CA-5627(2). May 24, 1967 DECISION AND ORDER Upon charges duly filed by the United Construction Workers Local No. 10, Christian Labor Association, herein called the Union, or the Charging Party, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, by the Regional Director for Region 7, issued a complaint dated September 28, 1966, against Pioneer Construction Company, herein called the Respondent, alleging that the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. Copies of the charge, complaint, and notice of hearing before a Trial Examiner were duly served upon the Respondent. The complaint alleged in substance that the Respondent had violated the Act in that it had unlawfully refused to bargain with the Union after it was certified as the collective-bargaining representative of the Respondent's employees. On November 14, 1966, all parties to this proceeding entered into a stipulation by which they waived a hearing before a Trial Examiner and the issuance by him of a Trial Examiner's Decision and Recommended Order and agreed to submit the case to the Board for findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order, based upon a record consisting of paragraphs 1 through 16 of the complaint and subparagraphs 1(A) and (B) of Respondent's answer. In addition, the parties agreed that the following documentary evidence be included in the record as Joint Exhibits (a) through (f): (a) the charge in Case 7-CA-5107; (b) the Settlement Agreement and Notice to All Employees in Case 7-CA-5107; (c) the petitions in Cases 7-RC-6760 and 7-RC-7094; (d) the Decision and Direction of Elections in Cases 7-RC-6760 and 7094; (e) the Certifications in Cases 7-RC-6760 and 7094; (f) an unexecuted copy of the contract referred to in subparagraph 10(c) of the complaint. On November 15, 1966, the Board approved the stipulation and ordered the proceeding transferred to the Board. Thereafter, the Respondent and the General Counsel filed briefs. Upon the basis of the stipulation, the briefs, and the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT The Respondent, a Michigan corporation, maintains its principal office and place of business at 550 Kirkland, S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it is engaged as a general contractor in the construction of commercial and industrial buildings in the Western Michigan area. During the year ending December 31, 1965, Respondent, in the course and conduct of its business operation, purchased and caused to be transported and delivered to its construction sites in Western Michigan construction materials and other goods and materials valued in excess of $70,000, of which goods and materials valued in excess of $50,000 were transported and delivered to it directly from points located outside the State of Michigan. We find that the Respondent is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act and that it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED United Construction Workers Local No. 10, Christian Labor Association, is a labor organization as defined in Section 2(5) of the Act. III. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES In their stipulation, the parties agreed to the following facts: (1) that on or about February 26, 1965, Respondent recognized the Charging Party as the collective-bargaining representative for all its construction employees and executed a collective- bargaining contract with the Charging Party which expired on April 30, 1965; (2) that on March 12, 1965, an unfair labor practice charge was filed by the Carpenters Union' in Case 7-CA-5107, alleging, inter alia, that Respondent, by recognizing the Charging Party and contracting with it, had given unlawful assistance to the Charging Party in violation of Section 8(a)(1) and (2) of the Act; (3) that in May 1965, Respondent joined a multi- construction-employer group which negotiates with the Charging Party for the group's nonsupervisory construction employees, and executed the multiemployer group contract that had been recently negotiated with the Charging Party; (4) that this contract was made retroactive to May 1, 1965, was for a 2-year period, and had a terminal date of April 30, 1967; (5) that on June 24, 1965, the parties in Case 7-CA-5107 were notified that a complaint ' Carpenters Local No 335, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America , AFL-CIO 164 NLRB No. 103 PIONEER CONSTR. CO. 967 would issue alleging a violation of Section 8(a)(1) and (2), absent a settlement ; (6) that on or about July 23, 1965, Respondent and the Charging Party with the approval of the Regional Director executed an informal settlement agreement in adjustment of the 8(a)(1) and (2) allegations in Case 7-CA-5107, providing, inter alia , that Respondent would not give effect to the February 26, 1965, contract with the Charging Party, or any renewal thereof unless and until the said Union shall have been certified by the Board as the representative of its employees ; (7) that on November 1, 1965, the Charging Party filed a petition in Case 7-RC-7094 f or a unit' of all construction employees , which was consolidated with Case 7-RC-6760 previously filed by the Carpenters Union for a unit of carpenters ; (8) that following elections which were won by the Charging Party, the Regional Director , on April 12 and June 2, 1966 , certified the Charging Party as the exclusive collective -bargaining representative of the employees in the units found appropriate; and (9) that since on or about July 9, 1966, and continuing to date, Respondent has refused to bargain collectively on the terms of a new collective- bargaining contract , asserting that its contract of May 1965 is still in force and effect in view of the Charging Party's certification. The May 1965 collective-bargaining contract, which Respondent contends was revitalized by the subsequent certifications of the Charging Party, expired on April 30, 1967. Any order which the Board might now issue would necessarily require Respondent to bargain with the Charging Party for a future contract. The same obligation exists by virtue of the existing certifications. In these circumstances, we find that effectuation of the policies of the Act does not require us to decide the technical legal question posed by this case. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the complaint. However, this action is without prejudice to the Charging Party's right to proceed with negotiations for a new collective-bargaining contract to succeed the one which expired on April 30,1967. ORDER Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the complaint herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed in its entirety.