Cement Masons Union Local 337

CEMENT MASONS UNION LOCAL 337 Cement Masons Union Local 337, Operative Plaster- ers' and Cement Masons' International Association of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO and California Association of Employers. Case 20-CC-1014 July 30, 1971 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING AND BROWN On May 4, 1971, the National Labor Relations Board issued its Decision and Order in the above case,' finding, inter alia, that the Respondent had engaged in picketing with signs and handbills in violation of Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and ordering it to case and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action. Thereafter the General Counsel filed a motion for reconsideration, which was duly served on the parties, and which requested the Board to (1) make appropriate findings with regard to the "TO CON- SUMERS ONLY . . ." picketing which began on May 2, 1970; (2) make appropriate findings as to the remaining secondary employers alleged in the com- plaint; and (3) make any additional appropriate findings necessary to correct the sequence of events, including correcting the date on which the Trial Examiner found that handbilling began. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel. The Board, having duly considered the matter, has decided to grant, in part, and deny, in part, the General Counsel's motion. The complaint in this case was based on an allegedly unlawful product boycott imposed by Respondent in furtherance of a primary labor dispute with Howard W. Whitney, the general contractor on a reasidential housing development. Thus, commencing on May 2, 1970,2 Respondent picketed the develop- 1 190 NLRB No. 46. 2 All dates refer to 1970. 3 N.L R.B. v. Fruit and Vegetable Packers & Warehousemen, Local 760, 377 U.S. 58. 377 ment on weekends when no employees of Whitney or subcontractors were present, with signs stating: TO CONSUMERS ONLY Cement Masons Work Done By General Contractor Below Standard Established by Cement Masons Local 337, Monterey County PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THESE HOMES This picketing terminated on July 29 and, on August 15, was followed by the picketing and handbilling which furnished the specific basis for our original conclusion, which we hereby reaffirm, that Respondent violated Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act. However, in our initial Decision and Order, no specific finding was made with respect to the picketing which occurred between May 2 and July 29. Upon reconsideration, we find merit in the General Counsel's request to this phase of Respondent's conduct since the issues arising therefrom were alleged and fully litigated. As in the case of the picketing and handbilling which began on August 15, the May 2 picket sign, urging a consumer boycott against Schuler,Invest- ments, the owner of the homes and a neutral person, imposed direct coercive pressure on Schuler to force him to cease doing business with Whitney, the primary employer. Furthermore, and for the reasons set forth by the Trial Examiner in finding the August 15 picketing and handbilling unlawful, the May 2 conduct was neither privileged consumer picketing within the Tree Fruits doctrine3 nor protected as ".. . publicity, other than picketing . . ." within the proviso to Section 8(b)(4).4 Accordingly, we find that the May 2 picketing violated Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B).5 Finally, we find no merit in the General Counsel's request that certain named subcontractors of Whitney be included in our remedial order as neutral employ- ers. In our opinion, -these subcontractors doing business with the primary employer were not known to have been the object of any direct pressures to force them to cease doing business with Whitney, and the unlawful product boycott directed at Schuler was too remote to constitute 8(b)(4)(ii) restraint and coercion against these subcontractors. 4 Cf. N.I,.R B. v. Serreile, Inc., 377 U.S. 46. 5 The remedy provided in our initial Decision and Order is not affected by this additional finding and need not be modified. 192 NLRB No. 52 378 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Accordingly, the General Counsel's motion is to the picketing which occurred between May 2, 1970, hereby granted t•insofar as it requests ,the Board to and July "29; 1970;-=but in-alljother respects is hereby make additional and clarifying findings with respect denied.