231 NLRB 352
Intl. Longshoremen's Association
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CIO; International Longshoremen's Association,
Local 846, AFL-CIO; International Longshore-
men's Association, Local 970, AFL-CIO; Interna-
tional Longshoremen's Association, Local 1458,
AFL-CIO; International Longshoremen's Associa-
tion, Local 1624, AFL-CIO; International Long-
shoremen's Association, Local 1784, AFL-CIO;
International Longshoremen's Association, Local
1819, AFL-CIO; International Longshoremen's
Association, Local 1840, AFL,-CIO; International
Longshoremen's Association, Local 1736, AFL-
CIO; International Longshoremen's Association,
Local
1783, AFL-CIO and Tidewater Motor
Truck Association
International
Longshoremen's
Association,
AFL-
CIO; Hampton Roads District Council Interna-
tional Longshoremen's Association,
AFLCIO;
International Longshoremen's Association, Local
1970, AFL-CIO; International Longshoremen's
Association, Local 862, AFL-CIO; International
Longshoremen's Association, Local 1248, AFL-
CIO; International Longshoremen's Association,
Local 846, AFL-CIO; International Longshore-
men's Association, Local 970, AFL-CIO; Interna-
tional Longshoremen's Association, Local 1458,
AFL-CIO; International Longshoremen's Associa-
tion, Local 1624, AFL-CIO; International Long-
shoremen's Association, Local 1784, AFL-CIO;
International Longshoremen's Association, Local
1819, AFL-CIO; International Longshoremen's
Association, Local 1840, AFL-CIO; International
Longshoremen's Association, Local 1736, AFL-
CIO; International Longshoremen's Association,
Local 1783, AFL-CIO; Council of North Atlantic
Shipping Associations; and Hampton Roads Ship-
ping Association
and Tidewater Motor Truck
Association. Cases 5-CC-791, 5-CE-48, 5-CC-
792, 5-CE-49, 5-CC-793, 5-CE-50, 5-CC-794,
and 5-CE-51 '
August 12, 1977
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS
PENELLO AND WALTHER
On August 19, 1976, Administrative Law Judge
Leonard M. Wagman issued the attached Decision in
this proceeding. Thereafter, Respondents Council of
North Atlantic Shipping Associations, Hampton
Roads
Shipping Association, and International
Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO, and its
affiliated District Councils and Locals filed excep-
tions and supporting briefs. The General Counsel
filed an answering brief in support of the Administra-
tive Law Judge's Decision. Charging Party Houff
Transfer, Inc., filed cross-exceptions and supporting
brief.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the record and the
attached Decision in light of the exceptions and
briefs and has decided to affirm the rulings, findings,
and conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge
and to adopt his recommended Order.
Upon careful consideration and detailed analysis
of the record evidence, the Administrative Law
Judge concluded that Respondents violated the Act
as alleged. We agree. Notwithstanding our dissenting
colleague's incorrect intimation that the Administra-
tive Law Judge decided this case solely on the
authority of our decision in International Longshore-
men's Association, AFL-CIO (Consolidated Express,
Inc.), 221 NLRB 956 (1975), without giving due
consideration to the so-called critical dissimilarities
between that earlier case and the instant case, it is
clear that the Administrative Law Judge fully
developed the facts here to support the violations
which he found. Moreover, despite his own lengthy
analysis, our dissenting colleague has ultimately
failed to overcome the criteria (noted principally at
sec. B, par. 6, of the Administrative Law Judge's
Decision) that the Administrative Law Judge correct-
ly relied on in finding the violations in this
proceeding.
We further disagree with our dissenting colleague's
characterization of trucking industry representatives'
testimony as "conceding" that they knew the work
they were performing was in violation of the
container rules. These officials testified only that
Respondents and certain shipping personnel deemed
these actions to be violations, not that they actually
were violations, or that the trucking industry ac-
knowledged them to be such.
We also reject our colleague's reliance on the
Dublin agreement as support for his conclusion that
Respondents' object here was a work-preservation
object. The 1973 Dublin agreement, in relevant part,
contained provisions dealing with Respondents'
jurisdiction over the unloading of full shippers' loads
destined for warehouse storage within 50 miles of
port. Respondents' members had been doing that
work since 1969, but it is not the work at issue here.
Rather, as our dissenting colleague himself notes,
"the actions of the [Respondents] and shipping
companies which we must adjudge [in this proceed-
ing] involve only shippers' loads destined for a
beneficial owner more than 50 miles from port, but
which were picked up by motor transport carriers
352
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
and stripped at trucking stations within 50 miles of
port." To that end, the Dublin agreement does not
aid our colleague's position in any way.
Our dissenting colleague also finds some signifi-
cance in the fact that in the Consolidated Express
case, noted above, the charging parties were compa-
nies historically engaged in the primary function of
loading and unloading, whereas the Charging Parties
here are primarily engaged in the transportation of
cargo and not its loading or unloading. We view this
fact as a distinction without a difference because it is
not important what type of enterprise was doing the
work; rather, what is important is that Respondents'
members here, as in Consolidated Express, had not
historically done the work.
Finally, our colleague makes passing reference to
the Supreme Court's recent decision in Northeast
Marine Terminal Company, Inc. v. Caputo, Docket
76-444 (June 17, 1977). We agree with his statement
that the context of that case is "concededly different"
from that present here. And to the extent our
colleague extracts certain language from that deci-
sion which he indicates supports his position, we note
that the Supreme Court there expressly adopted
certain language from the Second Circuit's decision
in Consolidated Express, 537 F.2d 706 (1976). It was
also the Second Circuit which enforced our decision
in Consolidated Express with the words "it is clear
that the on-pier stripping and stuffing work per-
formed by longshoremen as an incident of loading
and unloading ships does not embrace the work [of
stuffing and stripping containers] traditionally per-
formed by Consolidated and Twin at their own off-
pier premises." (537 F.2d at 712.) Thus, reference to
the Northeast Marine case when read in conjunction
with the Consolidated Express decision proves only
one thing, that it is the facts of each case in the area
which are paramount.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor
Relations Board adopts as its Order the recommend-
ed Order of the Administrative Law Judge and
221 NLRB 956 (1975), enfd. 537 F.2d 706 (C.A. 2, 1976), cert. denied 97
S.Ct. 740 (1977) (hereinafter Consolidated Express).
2 National Woodwork Manufacturers Association v. N.LR.B.,
386 U.S.
612, 645 (1967).
3 The rules' pertinent provisions are as follows:
Rule I--Containers to be Loaded or Discharged by Deepsea ILA Labor.
(a) Cargo in containers referred to below shall be loaded into or
discharged out of containers only at a waterfront facility by deepsea
ILA labor.
(I) Containers owned, leased or used by carriers . . . which contain
consolidated container loads, which come from or go to any point
within a geographic area of any CONASA port described by a 50-mile
hereby orders that Respondents International Long-
shoremen's Association, AFL-CIO; Hampton Roads
District Council International Longshoremen's Asso-
ciation, AFL-CIO; ILA Locals 846, 862, 970, 1248,
1458, 1624, 1736, 1738, 1784, 1819, 1840, and 1970,
AFL-CIO; Atlantic Coast District Council Interna-
tional Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO; and
ILA Locals 333, 921, 953, 1355, and 1429, AFL-CIO,
their respective officers, agents, and representatives,
and Respondents Council of North Atlantic Ship-
ping Associations (CONASA), and Hampton Roads
Shipping Association (HRSA), their respective offi-
cers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall take the
action set forth in the said recommended Order.
CHAIRMAN FANNING, dissenting:
In concluding that Respondents violated Section
8(e) and Section 8(b)(4XiiXB) of the Act, the
Administrative Law Judge placed considerable reli-
ance on the Board's determination in International
Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO (Consolidated
Express, Inc.),' involving the knotty problem of some
facets of containerization in the New York port area.
Here, the problem involves another facet of contain-
erization as it developed some 10 years later in the
ports of Baltimore and Hampton Roads. While the
Administrative Law Judge cites additional factors
which I address below, it is his failure to perceive
distinctions between the work practices and bargain-
ing agreements negotiated by the ILA and the
shipping companies in New York and those involv-
ing the ports of Baltimore and Hampton Roads
which results in his erroneous legal conclusion. My
colleagues, I fear, by affirming the Administrative
Law Judge, fail to heed the Supreme Court's warning
that assessing whether a contractual provision has a
valid work-preservation objective "will not always be
a simple test to apply." 2 In my view, a more
searching inquiry reveals critical dissimilarities be-
tween this case and Consolidated Express.
At issue here is the limited question of whether
rules l(a)(3) and 2B(2) of the 1974-77 Rules on
Containers (hereinafter 1974 Rules),3 which entitle
circle with its radius extending out from the center of each port,
(hereinafter geographic area) or
(3) Containers designated for a single consignee from which the cargo is
discharged (deconsolidated) by other than its own employee within the
"geographic area" and which is not warehoused in accordance with
Rule 2(B).
Rule 2-Containers Not to be Loaded or Discharged by I.LA. Labor
B. Import Cargo:
(Continued)
353
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
International Longshoremen's
Association (ILA)
labor to strip and stuff shippers' loads 4 whenever the
work is to be done within 50 miles of port by other
than the consignee's employees, are valid work-
preservation provisions. In making this determina-
tion, careful scrutiny must be given to that history of
containerization which is unique to the ports of
Baltimore, Maryland, and Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The record discloses that container traffic first
appeared in Baltimore harbor and in the Hampton
Roads port area in 1965. For decades prior to this
time, ILA employees unloaded bulk cargo from
steamships on a piece-by-piece basis, sorted it out,
and transported the cargo to the end of the pier for
loading by them onto the back of a truck. Their work
therefore covered all movement of ocean cargo from
a delivery truck's tailgate to the ship's hold for export
cargo, and the converse for import cargo. Between
1965 and 1968, ILA's collective-bargaining agree-
ments covering longshoremen in the ports of Balti-
more and Hampton Roads did not contain any rules
regarding the extent to which longshoremen were to
be used in the handling of containers or their
contents. It appears that, during this period, ILA-
represented employees stripped (unloaded) import
containers which held less-than-trailer-load cargo
(LTL) and also consolidated full container loads.5
Full shippers' loads, however, were placed by ILA
labor on the pier, unless unloading was requested by
the consignee's agent or the stevedore. A motor
transport carrier generally would then drive to the
pier and pick up the shipper's load container intact.
With the advent of containerization, the work
opportunities associated with bulk cargo on the piers
diminished substantially. 6 The adaptation to bur-
geoning containerization led to a 56-day strike by the
ILA in 1963. Following the strike settlement, the ILA
entered into a 1968-71 collective-bargaining agree-
ment with Hampton Roads Maritime Association 7
and Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore
(STA), setting forth "Rules and Conditions Covering
Handling of Containers." It is apparent therefore
that these initial rules on containers were adopted in
(2) Containers discharged at a qualified consignee's facility by its own
employees.
4 The term "shipper's load" refers to a full container of goods from one
shipper to a single beneficial owner-consignee.
5 An LTL load refers to a container which is not full and which contains
the cargo of two or more shippers. Consolidated loads contain the goods of
two or more shippers and are usually destined for more than one consignee
or beneficial owner.
6 An ILA official testified that, before containerization, 5 gangs of 22
men loaded or unloaded an average of 30 tons per hour. With the new
Baltimore and Hampton Roads when containeriza-
tion in those ports was still in its infancy.8
Since the introduction of container traffic to the
ports of Baltimore and Hampton Roads, the shipping
companies and ILA have contractually agreed that
ILA-represented employees must load and unload
LTL and consolidated full container loads if destined
for a point within a 50-mile radius from the center of
port. Two subsequent agreements negotiated by the
ILA and representatives of the steamship carriers for
1971-74 and 1974-77 have also included provisions
authorizing ILA members to perform this work.9
These contractual provisions and the work practices
relative to LTL and consolidated loads, however, are
not at issue here.
Our sole concern is with the provisions in the 1974
Rules, which entitle ILA labor to strip shippers' loads
whenever such work is to be done less than 50 miles
from port. Specifically, the actions of the ILA and
shipping companies which we must adjudge involve
only shippers' loads destined for a beneficial owner
more than 50 miles from port, but which were picked
up by motor transport carriers and stripped at
trucking stations within 50 miles of port. This
practice is referred to as shortstopping.
In support of their contention that stripping of
shippers' loads was never work traditionally per-
formed by ILA labor, the General Counsel and the
motor carriers maintain that the ILA abandoned any
claim it might have had to such work in the 1968 and
1971 rules on containers applicable to the area
because they omitted any specific provision regard-
ing the handling of shippers' loads. This assertion
that shippers' loads were thereby unrestricted by the
ILA is belied by the work history involving shippers'
loads going to warehouses after the 1968 contract.
As recognized by the Administrative Law Judge
and conceded by the General Counsel, following
execution of the 1968 agreement, ILA longshoremen
stripped shippers' loads destined for a warehouse for
storage within 50 miles of port. Until the January
1973 Dublin agreements'
in which the ILA recog-
nized an exception for bona fide storage and agreed
method of loading and unloading ships, a 20-man gang and I crane could
load 600 tons per hour.
7 The Hampton Roads Maritime Association was the predecessor to the
Hampton Roads Shipping Association (HRSA), a Respondent in this case.
I From its inception in 1965, the amount of container traffic increased
every year. Although only numbering a handful in 1965, by 1969 I shipping
company was handling 4,000 containers per year in Baltimore and by 1973
the number had grown to 25,000.
9 The 1971 and 1974 contracts were negotiated by the Council of North
Atlantic Shipping Associations (CONASA), an association of employer
shipping associations, including STA and HRSA, which has been autho-
rized to enter into collective-bargaining agreements on behalf of its
members since 1971.
'o The Dublin agreement was not unique to Baltimore and Hampton
Roads but applied also to New York.
354
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
not to claim the right to handle import cargo to be
"warehoused in the normal course of business for at
least 30 days," the ILA retained jurisdiction to
unload shippers' loads destined for warehouses. '
Since the inception of containerization in both
Hampton Roads and Baltimore,
the ILA has
insisted, with the acquiescence of the shipping
companies, that shippers' loads go directly to their
destination intact. The only exemption from this
practice was that a shipper,
manufacturer, or
consignee could choose to strip or stuff shippers'
loads or manufacturers' loads using their own
employees.' 2 This agreement to allow shippers' loads
to pass through port unrestricted by ILA labor,
however, was never intended or interpreted to allow
motor carriers or warehousemen to load or unload
shippers' loads at their off-pier facilities. The tradi-
tional exemption for shippers' loads was premised on
the understanding that such loads are "through"
containers, much larger in size but properly analo-
gous to a single item of bulk cargo. When taken to a
trucker's warehouse to be stripped and repacked,
they lose that identity. The overwhelming testimony
indicates that this shortstopping of shippers' loads was
never approved by the ILA or the shipping compa-
nies as a permissible encroachment upon the ILA's
traditional work jurisdiction. 13
This situation with respect to the handling of
shippers' loads in the ports of Baltimore and
Hampton Roads is in marked contrast to the
agreements and practices relative to LTL and
consolidated container loads in the port of New
York, which were at issue in Consolidated Express.
Containerization first appeared in New York in the
late 1950's, much earlier than its advent in Baltimore
and Hampton Roads. In 1959, the ILA and the New
York Shipping Association (NYSA) reached an
agreement in which the ILA agreed that "any
employer shall have the right to use any and all type
" The Dublin agreement therefore took effect during the 1971 contract
and thus prior to the 1974 Rules which made the first explicit reference to
shippers' loads. If there was no consensus entitling ILA labor to strip
shippers' loads destined for warehouses prior to 1974. then the Dublin
agreement would have been a superfluous exemption under the 1971 Rules.
My colleagues. while not disputing this, do overlook its significance. Though
not encompassing the precise work at issue, the Dublin agreement
demonstrates that, notwithstanding the absence of specific contractual
provisions regarding the handling of shippers' loads prior to 1974, it was
understood that not all shippers' loads could pass through port unrestricted
by ILA labor. This evidence strengthens the ILA's claims concerning
shippers' loads and undermines the Administrative Law Judge's reliance on
the plain language of the 1968 and 1971 Rules in casting doubt on
Respondents' claim that the shortstopping of shippers' loads violated the
1968 and 1971 Rules.
12 The term "manufacturer's load" is essentially synonymous with that of
shipper's load. A "manufacturer's label" is a single shipment transported
directly. without stopping en route, from one consignee or manufacturer to
another.
13 For example. George Maier. port manager for U.S. Lines in Baltimore
and president of STA. testified that it "had always been a rule that prevailed
in Baltimore" that truckers were not to stnp any container that was a full
containers without restriction or stripping by the
Union."14 For years thereafter, work on any type
container was done by other than ILA labor in
accordance with the contractual agreement.' 5 The
Board concluded therefore that the ILA had bar-
gained away its claim to the stuffing and stripping of
LCL and LTL loads in question there.
There is no such restrictive contract clause in the
bargaining history of the instant case.'16 Rather, as
already indicated, the shipping companies have
implicitly agreed with the ILA's demand, since the
inception of containerization
in Baltimore and
Hampton Roads, that shippers' loads go directly to
their destination intact. And, from execution of the
1968 Rules until the Dublin agreement of 1973, ILA
labor, in fact, stripped shippers' loads that were
instead warehoused for storage within 50 miles of
port. Thus, unlike Consolidated Express, where the
union sought to extent its jurisdiction to cover work
it had bargained away, here the specificity of the
1974 Rules merely codified what had been the
practice and agreement of the ILA and the shipping
companies relative to shippers' loads.
In Consolidated Express, moreover, maritime cargo
in New York was sorted and consolidated for many
years by companies whose primary function was
consolidation; that is, the loading and unloading of
LCL and LTL loads. The Board there recognized
that these consolidators "generate such work them-
selves, performing it not on behalf of the employer-
members of NYSA but for their own customers who
have goods to ship." It was further determined by the
Board that the consolidator-charging parties in that
case were traditionally engaged in the work of
stuffing and stripping containers. In context, the
ILA's claim "to strip and stuff cargo merely because
that cargo was originally containerized by nonunit
personnel" was construed as a claim "to engage in
make-work measures."
shipper's load going to a single consignee. Maier further explained: "In
cases where it came to our attention, prior to the delivery of such a shipment
to a truckman and it came to our knowledge that the intent of the truckman
was to deconsolidate this container and restuff it into his own equipment at
his platform, we refused delivery of that cargo to the truckman."
The situation was similar in Hampton Roads. Jack Mace, executive
secretary of HRSA, testified that, if a member of HRSA was informed at the
pier by a motor carrier that it was going to strip a shipper's load at a
trucking station, the shipping company would instruct the ILA to perform
the work. Mace also testified that motor carriers in his area were aware of
the enforcement of the practice relative to shippers' loads "certainly as far
back as 1969."
," This provision was contained in sec. 8(a) of the 1959 memorandum of
settlement entitled "Containers-- Dravo Size or Larger."
15 The Board indicated that, "with few exceptions,' the ILA allowed all
containers to cross the New York docks without rehandling.
i6 The court of appeals did not agree with the Board's abandonment
theory in Consolidated Nevertheless, the absence of a similar clause in the
instant matter, considering the experience gained by the ILA as a result of a
decade of bargaining on this issue relative to New York. acquires particular
significance in my view.
355
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
That situation is not present here. The Charging
Parties are primarily engaged in the transportation of
cargo and not its loading and unloading.' 7 Contrary
to my colleagues' superficial assessment, this is
hardly a distinction without a difference. In Consoli-
dated Express, the Board stressed the record's clarity
that the charging parties had "engaged in the work of
stuffing and stripping containers" for many years.
Especially when viewed in the context that the ILA
had contractually bargained away its claim to the
stuffing and stripping of the containers in question
there, the persuasiveness of the ILA's claim to a
lawful work-preservation objective was considerably
diminished. Here, however, the ILA has never
relinquished its claim to stuff and strip shippers'
loads which do not go to their destination intact. Nor
does the record support the conclusion that the
motor carriers have "traditionally" been engaged in
the stuffing and stripping of such containers. With
respect to the record evidence that motor carriers
have shortstopped some shippers' loads at their off-
pier facilities and used their own employees to strip
the loads from the containers and stuff them into the
motor carriers' containers for transportation to the
consignee, it appears that the work was done without
the knowledge of either the ILA or the shipping
companies.' 8 Whether predicated upon considera-
tions of safety, state highway or bridge regulations,
I For example, Houff Transfer, Inc., first handled the containers of U.S.
Lines in March 1970. In the course of its business, Houff moves a few
hundred containers per year. Its president, Cletus Houff, testified, however,
that Houff has more domestic business (other than container business) than
steamship company container business. With respect to the operations of
Associated Transport, Inc., the record discloses that approximately 10
percent of its business is in the drayage of containers in foreign commerce.
'" Unlike Consolidated Express, in which the shipping documents
involved showed when the LTL or LCL containers originated from or were
destined to a consolidator, here, when a container is released to a motor
carrier, the delivery order specifies that the cargo is to be transported to the
consignee. Intent to shortstop is thereby difficult to ascertain, though the
early return of the shipping company's container may demonstrate that
shortstopping has, in fact, occurred. Effective enforcement of the rules is
thus difficult.
I' Inasmuch as the trucking companies pay a per diem for each day they
have a shipper's container, by immediately opening the containers and
reloading them in motor transport equipment, the trucking companies can
save money.
20 ILA President Thomas Gleason explained the ILA's position as
follows:
We are not telling Associated, or Pilot, or U.S. Lines not to do business
with each other. All we are saying to them is, "look we have a contract
which spells out what the rules are." U.S. Lines has no right to make an
agreement to bypass our contract. If Associated wants to handle these
containers and they want to take it and deliver it in their truck, then
come down to the pier with your truck, let the longshoremen, as they
have done it for 50 or 75 years, take that cargo and put it on the truck
and take it wherever you want. We have no objection to that.
Otherwise, take the container and bring it to the man's place of
business.
21 Pursuant to the ILA's 1968 contract, joint container committees,
representative equally of the ILA and the respective shipping associations in
the ports of Baltimore and Hampton Roads, were established to resolve ILA
complaints alleging violations of the container rules.
or economy,'9 it is apparent that the work involved
could just as satisfactorily have been done at the
piers by ILA labor.2 0 Viewed in this context, the
Administrative Law Judge's conclusion that the ILA
did not have a lawful work preservation objective
incorrectly focuses on motor carrier work "tradi-
tions."
The incidents alleged here as unlawful secondary
activity all involve shippers' loads destined for a
beneficial owner more than 50 miles from port, but
shortstopped by a motor carrier and stripped within
50 miles of port. Upon learning of these actions, the
ILA complained to the appropriate joint ILA-Ship-
ping Company Container Committee21 that the
motor carriers had violated the 1974 container rules.
In every case, fines were exacted against the shipping
companies which had released the containers to the
motor carriers. The shipping companies, in turn,
requested indemnification from the trucking compa-
nies.22 When the motor carriers refused, the shipping
companies canceled
their respective
equipment
interchange agreements, thereby precluding the
affected motor carriers from handling future contain-
er cargo.2 3
If work preservation is actually the objective of the
1974 container rules relative to shippers' loads, the
economic impact on the neutral motor carriers does
22 The record demonstrates that, for several years prior to adoption of
the 1974 contract, the trucking industry was aware that shortstopping was a
violation of the container rules. Allie McNeill, vice president of D.D. Jones
Transfer and Warehouse Company, Inc., a member of the Tidewater Motor
Truck Association, admitted that, since 1969, he knew of the rules and of
their application to containers destined for discharge within the 50-mile
radius of port. Robert McGleskey, district manager of Carolina Freight
Carriers Corp., testified that, shortly after he began operations in Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1970, he became aware that it was a violation of the rules for a
trucker to strip a shipper's load at its facility. McGleskey further admitted
his awareness that the steamship carrier would be assessed damages for this
violation. L. Chadwick, assistant manager of Hennis Freight, a member of
the Tidewater Motor Truck Association, and a former employee of
Associated Transport, admitted similar knowledge since 1971.
23 A shipping company will not turn over its container to a motor carrier
unless there is an equipment interchange agreement between the two
carriers. In effect, this agreement is a lease which delineates the rights and
obligations of the lessee-motor carrier while it has custody of the lessor-
shipping company's containers.
The equipment interchange agreement used by the shipper U.S. Lines
contains language giving the motor carriers "complete control" of the cargo
once they transport it from the pier. This "complete control" language is one
basis on which the Administrative Law Judge refutes the testimony of
Respondents' witnesses that all parties understood that shortstopping of
shippers' loads violated the container rules since the 1968 contract. I find the
Administrative Law Judge's reasoning unpersuasive.
The interchange agreement has nothing to do with the handling of cargo
but is primarily concerned with user responsibility and per diem charges.
There is no language in the agreement relative to the right of the trucker to
take cargo out of the container after its transfer from the shipper.
Perhaps a more significant provision in the interchange agreement is that
which obligates the lessee-motor carrier to "comply with any and all
appropriate formalities and requirements regarding the use, operation or
transportation of the containers or chassis." This arguably binds the trucker
to adhere to the shipper's obligation to the ILA as set forth in the container
rules.
356
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
not thereby transform the rules and their enforce-
ment into activity with a secondary objective.2
Whether rules l(a)(3) and 2B(2) have an improper
"cease doing business" objective, as found by the
Administrative Law Judge, is a question of fact
which must be resolved here on the basis of the work
history regarding shippers' loads in the ports of
Baltimore and Hampton Roads. In this vein, the
critical determinant is the record's disclosure that,
beginning in 1968, ILA labor stripped shippers' loads
destined for a warehouse within 50 miles of port.
This practice continued until the Dublin agreement
of January 1973 which exempted any cargo ware-
housed "in the normal course of the business of the
beneficial owner" for at least 30 days. The incidents
of shortstopping of shippers' loads by the motor
carriers for which the ILA here exacted fines,
however, do not constitute permissible warehousing
as defined in the Dublin agreement. These incidents
therefore violated rules l(a)(3) and 2B(2) of the 1974
container rules. In my view, these rules reflect the
work practices and agreements between the ILA and
the shipping companies relative to the handling of
shippers' loads almost since the inception of contain-
erization in the ports of Baltimore and Hampton
Roads. Until the Dublin agreement, the ILA and
shipping companies agreed that, if shippers' loads did
not go to their destination intact to be stripped and
stuffed by the employees of the shipper, manufactur-
er, or consignee, then the unloading and reloading of
such containerized loads should be done on the pier
by ILA longshoremen just as they had handled break
bulk cargo for decades.25 The intervening contracts
specifically confirm this. The ILA never bargained
away its claim to the work in dispute. Nor in
enforcing it does it seek either to expand the
longshore bargaining unit by the involuntary addi-
tion of other employees or to achieve any labor
relations objective outside of this unit. Against this
background, I view rules l(a)(3) and 2B(2) of the
1974 container rules as valid work-preservation
provisions, the maintenance and enforcement of
which violate neither Section 8(e) nor Section
8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act. To conclude otherwise
would be to restructure the work practices and
agreements which the ILA and the shippers have
negotiated in response to the momentous impact
which containerization brought to the ports of
Baltimore and Hampton Roads. This we do not have
authority to do.
I would further find, contrary to the Administra-
tive Law Judge, that the ILA's 30-day suspension of
the 1974 Rules on April 28, 1975, did not have an
objective proscribed by Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B).
In
compliance with the rules' "30 days written notice"
provision, ILA notified CONASA, in late March
1975, of its intent to suspend the rules because of
phony warehouse practices. It had come to the ILA's
attention that truckers were attempting to circum-
vent the "permissible warehousing" provisions of the
Dublin agreement by simply using their warehouses
as deconsolidation stations. As ILA President Tho-
mas Gleason explained, motor carriers were bringing
the cargo "in the front door and out the back" and
construing this as justifiable warehousing. After
negotiations, the ILA and CONASA executed a
supplemental agreement which "clarified and rein-
stated" the 1974 container rules. 2 6 Based on my
views as expressed above, I would similarly find that
the negotiations concerning the 30-day suspension of
the rules had a valid work-preservation objective.
Accordingly, I would dismiss the complaint in its
entirety.
24 See, e.g., Local 742, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America [J.L Simmons Company, Inc.] v. N.LR.B., 444 F.2d 895, 901
(C.A.D.C., 1971), cert. denied 404 U.S. 986 (1971): American Boiler
Manufacturers Association v. N.LR.B., 404 F.2d 547, 552 (C.A. 8, 1968), cert
denied. 398 U.S. 960 (1970), affg. 167 NLRB 602 (1967); N.LR.B. v. Local
Union No 23 of Sheet Metal Workers International Association of Greater
New York [Johnson Service Company], 380 F.2d 827, 830 (C.A. 2, 1967). See
also the Supreme Court's discussion of its interpretation of the historical
counterpart to Sec. 8(bX4XiiXB), in National Woodwork Manufacturers
Association v. N. LR.B., 386 U.S. 612, 627 (1967).
25 In Northeast Marine Terminal Company, Inc. v. Caputo, Docket 76 444
(June 17, 1977), the Supreme Court decided that an individual stripping a
container is engaged in a "longshonng operation" within the meaning of the
1972 amendments to the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensa-
tion Act (Act). Although the context is concededly different from that here,
the Supreme Court's discussion of containerization, in terms of moving
longshoremen's work shoreward, is instructive. The Court stated:
In effect, the operation of loading and unloading has been moved
shoreward, the container is a modern substitute for the hold of the
vessel. As Judge Friendly observed below. "stripping a container . . is
the functional equivalent of sorting cargo discharged from a ship:
stuffing a container is part of the loading of the ship even though it is
performed on the shore and not in the ship's cargo holds."
2S The clarification explained that trucking stations where containers are
unloaded within 50 miles of port do not constitute bona fide public
warehouses within the meaning of the Dublin 30-day warehouse exception.
DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
LEONARD
M.
WAGMAN, Administrative Law Judge:
These consolidated cases were heard before me in accor-
dance with Section 10(b) of the National Labor Relations
Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. ยง 158, el seq.), referred to
herein as the Act, on October 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, and 24,
1975. The Respondents participated in the hearing pursu-
ant to due notice and two consolidated complaints issued
respectively by the Regional Director for Region 5 on
September 25 and October 1, 1975, which were in turn
consolidated by order of the Acting Regional Director on
October 10, 1975. The consolidated complaint of October
10, 1975, alleged that all the Respondents had violated
Section 8(e) of the Act and that Respondents International
Longshoremen's Association and its Hampton Roads and
Atlantic Coast District Councils, and ILA locals (referred
357
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to herein collectively as ILA), named in the above caption
had violated Section 8(bX4)(ii)(B) of the Act.
In summary, Cases 5-CE-48, 5-CE-50, and 5-CE-51,1
allege that Respondents ILA, Hampton Roads District
Council and their affiliated locals in the Hampton Roads
port area, the Hampton Roads Shipping Association
(referred to herein as HRSA) and CONASA violated
Section 8(e) of the Act by entering into, maintaining, and
giving effect to provisions of their current collective-
bargaining
agreement whereby
employer-members of
HRSA have agreed to cease doing business with Associ-
ated Transport, Inc. (referred to herein as Associated),
Houff Transfer, Inc. (referred to herein as Houff), and
other employer-members
of Tidewater Motor Truck
Association (referred to herein as TMTA). Cases 5-CC-
791, 5-CC-793, and 5-CC-794 alleged that ILA, its
Hampton Roads District Council and their affiliated locals
in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, port area violated Section
8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act by imposing fines upon employer-
members of HRSA, including United States Lines, Inc.
(referred to herein as U.S. Lines), by suspending a portion
of the
1974-77 collective-bargaining
agreement
with
HRSA, and by entering into, maintaining, and seeking to
enforce portions of the same agreement regarding cargo
containers, all with an object of compelling such employer-
members of HRSA to cease doing business with Associ-
ated, Houff, and other members of TMTA.
In Case 5-CE-49, the complaint alleges that Respon-
dents ILA, its Atlantic Coast District Council, and their
affiliated locals in the Baltimore, Maryland, port area
violated Section 8(e) of the Act by entering into, maintain-
ing, and giving effect to provisions of their 1974-77
collective-bargaining agreement with Steamship Trade
Association of Baltimore, Inc. (referred to herein as STA),
including U.S. Lines and Lavino Shipping Company
(referred to herein as Lavino), whereby STA and its
employer-members have agreed to cease doing business
with Houff. Finally, Case 5-CC-792 alleges that Respon-
dents ILA, its Atlantic Coast District Council and their
affiliated locals in the Baltimore port area violated Section
8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act by engaging in conduct similar to
that alleged in Cases 5-CC-791, 5-CC-793, and 5-CC-794
for the purposes of compelling U.S. Lines and Lavino to
cease doing business with Houff.
Upon the entire record in this case, including the
transcript of the hearing before me, the transcript of
testimony in a proceeding ancillary to the instant case, i.e.,
William C. Humphrey, etc. v. International Longshoremen's
Association, AFL-CIO, et al. and Hampton Roads Shipping
Association, Civil Action 75-441-N in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk
Division, a proceeding in which the Regional Director of
Region 5 sought an injunction under Section 10(1) of the
I At the hearing, I granted the motion of the Council of North America
Shipping Associations (referred
to herein as CONASA), one of the
Respondents named in Case 5-CE-51, to intervene as a party to the
contract in Cases 5-CE-48, 5-CE-49, 5-CE-50, and 5-CE-51. However, in
making that ruling, I overlooked CONASA's status as a named Respondent
in Case 5-CE-5I. Accordingly, I now amend my ruling to correct that
inadvertence. The captions of Cases 5-CE-48, 5-CE49, and 5-CE-50
appear as amended at the hearing. I have restored the caption in Case 5-
CE-5 I to its correct form.
Act,2 and the parties' briefs, as corrected and supplement-
ed, I make the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. JURISDICTION AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
INVOLVED
Houff, a Virginia corporation, operates freight terminals
at Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. Associated,
a New York corporation, operates a freight terminal at
Virginia Beach, Virginia. Both Houff and Associated are
engaged in the interstate transportation of freight by motor
truck under licenses issued by the Interstate Commerce
Commission. During the preceding 12 months, Houff and
Associated,
respectively,
received
revenues exceeding
$50,000 from their interstate freight operations.
STA is an organization composed of various steamship
lines and steamship agencies doing business in the
Baltimore, Maryland, port area including U.S. Lines and
Lavino. It exists for the purpose, among others, of
bargaining collectively on behalf of its employer-members
with labor organizations, including ILA, concerning wages,
hours, and conditions of employment of the employees of
the Associations employer-members. U.S. Lines, a New
Jersey corporation, and Lavino, a Pennsylvania corpora-
tion, are engaged in the transportation of cargo by
oceangoing vessels in interstate and foreign commerce.
During the past 12 months, STA's employer-members
received in excess of $1 million from the transportation of
cargo in interstate and foreign commerce.
CONASA is, and at all times since 1971 has been, an
association of employer shipping associations, including
STA and HRSA, the members of which are engaged in the
business of conducting collective-bargaining negotiations
on behalf of their respective employer-members and
entering into collective-bargaining agreements covering the
employees of their employer-members. During the past 12
months, the employer-members of HRSA, including U.S.
Lines, received in excess of $1 million from the transporta-
tion of cargo in interstate and foreign commerce.
TMTA is an employer association composed of 28
employer-members including Associated, which are en-
gaged in interstate transportation and delivery of general
freight and commodities in and around the Hampton
Roads, Virginia, area. During the past 12 months, the
employer-members of Tidewater received in excess of
$50,000 from the interstate transportation and delivery of
freight and commodities.
At all times material herein, U.S. Lines, Lavino,
Associated, Houff, the employer-members of TMTA, STA,
HRSA, and CONASA, are, and each has been, an
employer as defined in Section 2(2) of the Act, engaged in
commerce and in operations affecting commerce within the
meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act, respectively.
2 Following the adjournment of the hearing in the instant case on
October 24, the parties had opportunity to determine if the hearing should
resume for purposes of cross-examination of witnesses who had testified in
the injunction proceeding. Thereafter, on December 9, 1975,
upon
agreement of all parties, I issued an order in which I received the transcript
in the injunction proceeding as part of the record herein, marked Jt. Exh. I,
and closed the hearing as of that same date.
358
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
I further find that ILA, Hampton Roads District
Council, Atlantic Coast District Council, and ILA Locals
333, 846, 862, 921, 953, 970, 1248, 1355, 1429, 1458, 1624,
1736, 1783, 1784, 1819, 1840, and 1970 are labor organiza-
tions within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
I conclude and find that it is proper to assert jurisdiction
in these proceedings.
II. THE ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
A.
The Facts
sions the following rules and regulations shall be
applied.
A.
Definitions and Rule as to Containers Covered.
Stuffing -
means the act of placing cargo into a
container.
Stripping -
means the act of removing cargo from a
container.
Loading -
means the act of placing containers aboard
a vessel.
Discharging -
means the act of removing containers
from a vessel.
i. The evolution of the ILA-CONASA Container
Rules
Prior to the mid-1960's, when the first containerships
appeared in Baltimore harbor and in the Hampton Roads
port area, the ILA longshoremen unloaded bulk cargo
from steamships, sorted it out on a piece basis, and
transported the cargo to the end of the pier for loading
onto the back of a truck. There, I find from the testimony
of ILA President Thomas W. Gleason, Sr., that the
longshoremen's work ended with respect to import cargo.
At that point, in Baltimore and in Hampton Roads, where
truck transportation was involved, a freight handler would
load the cargo onto the back of a truck sent by the
consignee. Although the ILA has represented the freight
handlers, I find from Mr. Gleason, Sr.'s, testimony that
they were not longshoremen. However, after the mid-
1960's with the increasing use of large containers, the work
opportunities associated with bulk cargo on the piers
diminished.
Notwithstanding this development, ILA's collective-bar-
gaining agreements covering longshoremen in the ports of
Baltimore and Hampton Roads for the years prior to 1968
did not contain any rules regarding the extent to which
longshoremen were to be utilized in the handling of
containers or their contents. During those years, ILA
longshoremen stripped (unloaded) import containers which
held less-than-trailer-load cargo (LTL).3 However, they did
not strip full shipper's loads (import containers loaded with
goods belonging to a single consignee, who was also
beneficial owner of the cargo) unless requested to do so by
the consignee's agent or the stevedore. Thus, as a rule, ILA
labor simply removed the shipper's load container from the
ship to the pier, where it was picked up by a motor
transport carrier.
In their 1968-71 collective-bargaining agreement, ILA
and HRSA's predecessor, Hampton Roads Maritime
Association, for the first time, dealt with containerization
in the bargaining unit. In this context, the provisions
pertinent to this case were as follows:
11. RULES ON CONTAINERS
The following provisions are intended to protect and
preserve the work jurisdiction of longshoremen and all
other ILA crafts at deepsea piers or terminals. To
assure compliance with the collective-bargaining provi-
a LTL cargo refers to individual shipments destined to two or more
consignees which have been shipped in a single container.
These provisions relate solely to containers meeting
each and all of the following criteria:
I.
Containers owned or leased by employer-signa-
tory members (including containers on wheels) which
contain LTL loads or consolidated full container loads.
2.
Such containers which come from or go to any
person (including a consolidator who stuffs containers
of outbound cargo or a distributor who strips contain-
ers of inbound cargo and including a forwarder, who is
either a consolidator of outbound cargo or a distributor
of inbound cargo) who is not the beneficial owner of
the cargo.
3.
Such containers which come from or go to any
point within a geographical area of any port in the
North Atlantic District described by a 50-mile circle
within its radius extending out from the center of each
port. It is understood that the center of Hampton
Roads will be defined as Middle Ground Light.
B.
Rule of Stripping and Stuffing Applied to Such
Containers
A container which comes within each and all of the
criteria set forth in "A" above shall be stuffed and
stripped by ILA longshore labor. Such ILA labor shall
be paid and employed at longshore rates under the
terms and conditions of the General Cargo Agreement.
Such stuffing and stripping shall be performed on a
waterfront facility, pier or dock. No container of cargo
shall be stuffed or stripped by ILA longshore labor
more than once. Notwithstanding the above provisions,
LTL loads or consolidated container loads of mail, of
household goods with no other type of cargo in the
container, and of personal effects of military personnel
shall be exempt from the rule of stripping and stuffing.
C.
Rules on No Avoidance or Evasion
*
*
5.
Failure to stuff or strip a container as required
under these rules will be considered a violation of the
contract between the parties. Use of improper, fictitious
or incorrect documentation to evade the provisions of
"B" shall also be considered a violation of the contract.
If for any reason a container is no longer at the
waterfront facility at which it should have been stuffed
or stripped under the rules then the steamship carrier
359
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
found guilty of intent to cause improper, fictitious, or
incorrect documentation to evade the provisions of "B"
above shall pay to the joint Welfare Fund $150.00 per
container which should have been stuffed or stripped.
Under the foregoing rules, ILA longshoremen working
on the piers were to strip and stuff LTL or consolidate full
container loads arriving on piers in containers owned or
leased by Hampton Roads Maritime Association members,
which were destined for or came from any person, not the
beneficial owner of the cargo, and which came from or was
destined to any point within a 50-mile radius from the
center of the port. The contract also provided that ILA was
to receive a royalty for each loaded container which passed
over the piers free of stripping or stuffing by "ILA
longshore labor."
The 1968-71 ILA-STA collective-bargaining agreement
covering the port of Baltimore contained precisely the
same container rules as were agreed to at Hampton Roads,
except that the liquidated damage provision called for
payment of $250 per violation instead of the $150 required
under the Hampton Roads contracts.
Since 1970, HRSA and STA have authorized CONASA
to bargain collectively with ILA on their behalf regarding
container rules. Thus, the container rules for both ports
have been uniform in their respective subsequent contracts
with ILA.
The ILA's 1971-74 collective-bargaining agreements
with HRSA and STA contained the same CONASA-ILA
container rules and royalty provision as found in the
agreements for 1968-71. As in the 1968-71 contracts, there
were no provisions in the 1971-74 contracts regarding the
stripping or stuffing of full shippers' loads by ILA
longshore labor. On September 11, 12, and 13, 1972, 3
months after the 1971-74 contracts were executed, CONA-
SA and ILA representatives constituting the CONASA-
ILA Container Committee met at Miami Beach, Florida,
regarding containerization. The committee discussed this
same topic from January 25 to 29, 1973, at Dublin, Ireland.
The determinations reached at these meetings included the
following which was promulgated in the committee's
Interpretive Bulletin No. 1:
INTERPRETATION 1.1
Containers Covered
The rules on containers relate solely to containers
meeting either of the following criteria:
(a) Containers owned or leased by carriers (including
containers on wheels) which contain LTL loads
or consolidated full container loads, which come
from or go to any point within a geographical
area of any port in the North Atlantic District
described by a 50-mile circle with its radius
extending out from the center of each port.
(b) Containers which come from or go to any person
(including a consolidator who stuffs containers of
outbound cargo or a distributor who strips
containers of inbound cargo and including a
forwarder, who is either a consolidator of out-
bound cargo or a distributor of inbound cargo)
who is not a beneficial owner of the cargo and
such containers come from or go to any point
within a geographical area of any port in the
North Atlantic District described by a 50-mile
circle with its radius extending out from the
center of each port.
Prior to the 1968 ILA collective-bargaining agreements
with HRSA and STA, a warehouse driver as a matter of
practice took full shipper's load from a pier, unstripped by
ILA longshore labor, and delivered it to a warehouse where
warehouse employees would strip the container of its
contents and store them. Beginning in 1969, following the
execution of the 1968 agreement, ILA longshoremen
stripped full shippers' loads which were to be delivered to a
warehouse for storage within a 50-mile radius of the center
of the port. ILA freight handlers loaded the freight onto
trucks for delivery to the warehouse. At Dublin, in January
1973, the CONASA-ILA Container Committee agreed to
the following modification of their rules:
1.
DEFINITIONS
A. Warehousing
A beneficial owner does not violate the Rules on
Containers when he warehouses his goods in
bona fide public warehouses under the following
conditions:
1. The container cargo is warehoused at a bona fide
public warehouse;
2. The beneficial owner pays the normal labor
charges in and out, and the normal warehouse
storage fees for a minimum period of thirty or
more days; and
3. The cargo is being warehoused (a) in the normal
course of the business of the beneficial owner, (b)
title to such goods has not been transferred from
the beneficial owner to another, and (c) it is
contemplated that such transfer of title will not
take place for at least 30 days after the warehous-
ing of the cargo. This exception shall not apply
where cargo is warehoused for the purpose of
avoidance or evasion of Rule 1.
4. The beneficial owner furnishes all documentation
and other information which permits the Con-
tainer Committee in the port to determine
whether conditions 1, 2 and 3 have been met.
5. This definition is limited to containers warehoused
as provided in the above conditions and any
warehouse which does not conform to such
conditions shall be deemed a distribution station
and treated accordingly.
The ILA-HRSA and ILA-STA contracts, effective October
1, 1974, until September 30, 1977, included the Dublin 30-
day warehouse provision as rule 2(BX4).
These contracts also departed from the 1971-74 con-
tracts with respect to the language of their container rules.
The 1974-77 CONASA-ILA rules on containers include
the following:
(g) Qualified Consignee-means the purchaser or
one who otherwise has a proprietary financial interest
360
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
(other than in the transportation or physical consolida-
tion or deconsolidation) in the import cargo being
transported and who is named in the delivery order.
(h) Consolidated Container Load-means a contain-
er load of cargo where such cargo belongs to more than
one shipper on export cargo or one consignee on import
cargo.
Rule I -
Containers To Be Loaded or Discharged By
Deepsea ILA Labor
(a) Cargo in containers refe,-red to below shall be
loaded into or discharged out of containers only at a
waterfront facility by ILA deepsea labor:
(1) Containers owned, leased or used by
carriers (including containers on wheels and
trailers), hereinafter containers, which contain
consolidated container loads, which come from or
go to any point within a geographic area of any
CONASA port described by a 50-mile circle with
its radius extending out from the center of each
port, (hereinafter "geographic area") or
(2) Containers which come from a single
shipper which is not the manufacturer ("manufac-
turer's label") into which the cargo has been
loaded (consolidated) by other than its own
employees and such containers come from any
point within the "geographic area," or
(3) Containers designated for a single consign-
ee from which the cargo is discharged (deconsoli-
dated) by other than its own employees within the
"geographic area" and which is not warehoused
in accordance with Rule 2(B).
*
*
*
*
Rule 2 - Containers Not be Loaded or Discharged by
ILA Labor
Cargo containers referred to below shall not be
loaded or discharged by ILA labor:
A.
Export Cargo
*
e
.
B. Import Cargo
*
*
*
respectively, a motor carrier, typically, has been selected by
a shipping agent or broker to transport a shipper's load to
the consignee. The broker or agent provides the carrier
with a delivery order and a bill of lading which authorizes
release of the shipper's load. The delivery order requests
that the water carrier deliver the cargo listed on the order
for transportation to the consignee. The bill of lading is a
contract between the shipper or shipper's agent and the
motor carrier which governs the movement of the shipper's
load to the consignee. Neither the delivery order nor the
bill of lading prohibits the motor carrier from stripping the
shipper's load from the container. The motor truck carriers
have not been and are not parties to the ILA's collective-
bargaining agreements covering longshore operations in
Baltimore or Hampton Roads. Nor have they agreed to be
bound by the rules on containers set forth in those
agreements. Typically, the containers listed on the delivery
order and bill of lading are the property of the shipping
company responsible for the cargo's ocean transportation.
Under established practice, the water carrier will not turn
over its container to a motor carrier unless there is an
equipment interchange agreement between the two carri-
ers. Such an agreement sets out the rights and obligations
of the lessee-motor carrier when it has custody of the
lessor-water carrier's containers. The equipment inter-
change agreement used by U.S. Lines in its dealings with
Houff is typical of such agreements, and contains the
following language which I find significant in determining
industry practices:
United States Lines, Inc.
EQUIPMENT INTERCHANGE AGREEMENT
FOURTH: The lessee shall:
(a) complete promptly and expenditiously the use for
which the containers or chassis has been furnished to it
and return the container or chassis to the terminal of
the lessor from which it was received or to such other
point as may be shown on the Equipment Interchange
Receipt and Inspection Report or otherwise mutually
agreed in writing;
.
(2) Containers discharged at a qualified consignee's
facility by its own employees.
Under the 1974-77 container rules, ILA labor is entitled
to strip full shippers' loads, whenever such work is to be
done within a 50-mile radius of the center of the port by
other than the consignee's employees. Under rule 7(c) of
the 1974-77 CONASA-ILA contract, the amount of
damages for each violation of this rule or the warehouse
rule is $1,000.
2. The employment of motor carriers to transport
full shippers' loads from piers to consignees
Since the inception of containerization at the port of
Baltimore, and in the port area of Hampton Roads,
*
r
(c) comply with any and appropriate formalities and
requirements regarding the use, operation or transpor-
tation of the containers or chassis;
.
*
*
(e) have complete control and supervision of such
containers or chassis while in its custody and posses-
sion; and shall control the detail of the work of any
employee or agent operating or using said containers or
chassis during such time any person operating, trans-
porting, in possession of, or using any such container or
chassis after the signing of said Equipment Interchange
Receipt and Inspection Report and until such form is
again signed upon return of the container or chassis to
361
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the lessor is not the agent or employee of the lessor for
any purpose whatsoever;. .. 4
As a matter of practice, when the motor carriers truck
arrives at the pier, the driver presents the delivery order
and bill of lading, locates and takes custody of the
container and drives it through safety inspection. After
satisfying the inspection, the truckdriver signs an inter-
change release receipt and hauls the containers away
pursuant to instructions from his employer. Normally, the
truckdriver hauls the container to the motor carrier's port
area terminal.
Frequently, after hauling a full shipper's load from a pier
to its port area terminal, a motor carrier will utilize its own
employees to strip the full shipper's load from the container
and stuff it into the motor carrier's container for transpor-
tation to the consignee. The motor carrier's decision to
strip the full shipper's load may rest upon consideration of
economy, safety, or state highway and bridge regulations.
In 1969, U.S. Lines handled 4,000 to 5,000 import
containers through its Baltimore terminal. This number
grew to 25,000 in 1974; 80 to 85 percent of these containers
were full shippers' loads. In 1974, Baltimore ILA labor
stripped 200-300 of these containers at the pier. Approxi-
mately 100 trucking concerns are engaged in hauling these
containers away from U.S. Lines' pier.
I have studied the available records of the ILA-STA
Joint Container Committee which was established under
the 1968 contract, and has been retained to the present
under subsequent contracts, to resolve ILA complaints
alleging violations of the container rules.5 It was, at the
time, difficult to determine from these records whether the
ILA's complaint in a particular case involved a shipper's
load. However, where there was any doubt as to the type of
load involved, I have assumed that such cases involved
shippers' loads. From these records I have determined that,
from September 1969 until November 1974, the ILA filed
with the STA-ILA Joint Container Committee 26 com-
plaints involving the stripping of 45 to 50 shippers' loads by
trucking firms from containers. These complaints alleged
that by permitting such stripping the named STA member
had violated the STA-ILA container rules. Five of the ILA
complaints involving a total of eight containers occurred
prior to the CONASA-ILA container committee meeting
on September 11-13, 1972, at Miami Beach. The remaining
ILA complaints involving the stripping of shippers' loads
by truckers bear dates later than September 13, 1972.
The record does not reflect the annual volume of import
containers received in the Hampton Roads port area.
However, the Respondents submitted HRSA-ILA Con-
tainer Grievance Committee records covering the period
from October 1969 through and including October 1974.
Again, these records do not clearly establish which cases
4 On June 28, 1973, U.S. Lines subscribed to the Uniform Intermodal
Interchange Agreement (UIIA) which now governs the terms of all U.S.
Lines interchange agreements with other signatories of that agreement.
Associated subscribed to UIIA on September 3, 1974. Houff became a
signatory on March 25, 1974. Par. 4 of that agreement provides in relevant
part:
4.
Use of Equipment
4.1 Responsibility of User in Possession of Equipment.
a.
User shall have the right of complete control and supervision of
involved full shippers' loads which were stripped by truck
operators. However, I have resolved all doubts in favor of
the shipper's load designation. In all, I found seven ILA
complaints regarding shippers' loads allegedly stripped by
truckers in violation of the HRSA-ILA contract. These
complaints involved 30 containers. Of these seven cases,
one, involving one import container bearing a full shipper's
load, arose prior to the September 1972 CONASA-ILA
Container Committee meeting in Miami, Florida.
3. The incidents involving Houff, Associated, and
other truck carriers
On February 19, 1974, Houff sent one of its tractors to
the U.S. Lines' Dundalk Marine Terminal, in the port of
Baltimore, to pick up two U.S. Lines 20-foot containers,
each a full shipper's load, with a total cargo weight of
78,810 pounds. ILA longshoremen had off-loaded the
containers from a ship onto the pier. The delivery order
and bill of lading issued to Houff for the U.S. Lines
containers showed the cargo was destined to Union
Carbide Corporation, Alloy, West Virginia. The Houff
driver also picked up a third 20-foot container, a shipper's
load from Lavino consigned to Merck & Co., Elkton,
Virginia. ILA longshoremen had previously off-loaded this
container from a ship onto the pier. Upon determining that
the three containers were overloaded, that they were
unsafe, and that their rental was a needless expense, Houff
stripped them and reloaded the cargo into Houff trailers.
On February 19, 1974, the ILA learned that Houff had
stripped the three containers. On the following day, ILA
complained to the STA-ILA Container Committee that
Houff had violated "the container agreement," and that
therefore liquidated damages of $1,000 and $2,000 were
due the ILA from Lavino and U.S. Lines, respectively. On
March 21, the STA-ILA Container Committee determined
that U.S. Lines had violated the contract as alleged by ILA
and assessed a fine of $2,000 against U.S. Lines. Similarly,
on May 10, the committee found that Lavino was guilty of
violating the container agreement, and assessed a fine of
$1,000 against that firm. Thereafter, U.S. Lines and Lavino
paid the fines to the STA-ILA Container royalty fund, and
requested indemnification from Houff. U.S. Lines threat-
ened to terminate Houff's interchange agreement if Houff
did not comply; Lavino threatened to have Houff entirely
banned from the port. Houff did not respond to either
requests. Effective July 22, 1974, U.S. Lines terminated its
equipment interchange agreement with Houff. Lavino also
terminated its equipment interchange agreement with
Houff, 6 months later.
Following cancellation of their equipment interchange
agreements with Houff, U.S. Lines and Lavino have
refused to release containers to Houff. Thus, for example,
equipment while in its possession and shall be responsible for returning
the equipment in the same condition as received, ordinary wear and
tear expected.
The 1968 contract provided, in pertinent part, as follows:
A committee represented equally by management and Union shall be
formed and shall have the responsibility and power to hear and pass
judgment on any violations of these rules ...
362
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
in January 1975, U.S. Lines denied a consignee's request
that two U.S. Lines containers containing shippers' loads
of twine be released to Houff for movement from Norfolk
to Staunton, Virginia. U.S. Lines advised the consignee
that it would not release containers because Houff was not
party to a U.S. Lines interchange agreement.
On September 24, 1974, after being selected by a broker
and receiving delivery orders and bills of lading, Associ-
ated sent two tractors to the Marine Terminal, Norfolk,
Virginia. There, in accordance with their documents, the
Associated drivers picked up eight shippers' loads in
containers either owned or leased to U.S. Lines, which had
been off-loaded from a U.S. Lines ship by ILA longshore-
men. When the eight containers arrived at Associated's
Virginia Beach terminal, 7 or 8 miles from the Marine
Terminal, the manager decided to strip all eight containers
and reload the shippers' loads into Associated containers
for shipment to consignees in Tennessee and North
Carolina.
On October 5, 1974, a U.S. Lines representative and an
ILA representative discovered that the eight U.S. Lines
containers had been stripped at Associated's Virginia
Beach terminal. Thereafter, the ILA complained to the
HRSA-ILA Container Committee which met on October
31 and fined U.S. Lines $8,000. In its letter notifying U.S.
Lines of the fine, HRSA explained:
The prime reason for imposing a violation of these
containers was due to the fact that Associated Trans-
port, Inc., representatives at the meeting would not
clarify as to whether the containers were stripped
within the 50 mile radius or delivered to their respective
destinations, but only stated that they supported the
contents of the letter from the Tidewater Motor
Carriers Association dated June 7, 1974.6
By letter of January 3, 1975, U.S. Lines demanded
payment of $8,000 from Associated to cover the fines
imposed by the HRSA-ILA Container Committee. Associ-
5 The letter referred to by HRSA was addressed to Jack W. Mace,
HRSA's executive secretary. and set forth the Tidewater Motor Truck
Association's position as to HRSA's container rule. as follows:
I.
2.
3.
Carriers would not allow the ILA to inspect the records or facilities
verifying movements of containers.
That carners reject payment of any penalty passed on to them by
steamship lines.
That carriers not be required to move containers to destination
under a house-to-house basis unless exclusive use of vehicle was
authorized.
7 Rule 8 of the CONASA-ILA rules on containers provides:
These Rules shall be in effect for the term of the CONASA-ILA
Agreement, provided, however, that either party shall have the nght to
cancel the Rules on Containers at any time on or after December 1,
1974, on thirty (30) days written notice of a desire to renegotiate the
provisions of these Rules.
Rule 2B(4) of the 1974 CONASA-ILA rules on containers provides as
follows with regard to warehousing:
Cargo in containers referred to below shall not be . . . discharged by
ILA labor:
ated did not comply. On February
15,
U.S. Lines
discontinued interchanging equipment with Associated. On
March 20, 1975, U.S. Lines formally terminated its
interchange agreement with Associated.
In circumstances similar to those found in the Associated
and the Houff incidents, involving shippers' loads, the
HRSA-ILA Container Committee levied two additional
$1,000 fines on U.S. Lines. One of these ILA complaints
involved one stripped container at Pilot Freight Carriers'
Portsmouth, Virginia, terminal. A second complaint de-
scribed a stripped container at Thurston Motor Lines'
Chesapeake, Virginia, terminal. Both truck terminals are
within 50 miles of the center of Hampton Roads. Pilot did
not respond to U.S. Lines' February 5 demand for
reimbursement. By letter of February 14, 1975, U.S. Lines
referred to its demand and warned Pilot that "after today
the interchange of equipment with you" would be discon-
tinued "until the situation involved is settled."
The record does not reflect whether U.S. Lines sent a
similar letter to Thurston. However, by letter dated
February 5, 1975, U.S. Lines warned that Thurston would
be held liable for stripping a full shipper's load destined for
a consignee located more than 50 miles from Hampton
Roads. The record does not disclose whether Thurston
suffered a loss of its U.S. Lines interchange agreement.
4.
The suspension of the 1974 CONASA-ILA
Container Rules
In late March 1975, ILA notified CONASA of its intent
to exercise its right' to suspend the rules on containers in
their collective-bargaining agreements covering Baltimore,
Hampton Roads, and all other CONASA ports, because of
"phony warehouse practices." On April 28, the rules on
containers were suspended. Thereafter, deepsea ILA labor
at the affected piers stripped all import containers of cargo
consigned to warehouses within 50 miles of the center of
the port.8 Freight handlers stripped the cargo into motor
transport carriers' containers for delivery to the warehouse.
B.
Import Cargo:
(4) Containers of a qualified consignee discharged at a bona fide public
warehouse within the "geographic area" which comply with all of the
following conditions:
1. The container cargo is warehoused at a bona fide public
warehouse.
2.
The qualified consignee pays the normal labor charges in and
out; and the normal warehouse storage fees for a minimum period of
thirty or more days, and;
3. The cargo being warehoused (a) in the normal course of the
business of the qualified consignee; (b) title to such goods has not been
transferred from the qualified consignee to another. The carrier on
request will furnish all documentation and other information which
permits the Container Committee in the port to determine whether
conditions 1, 2, and 3 have been met. This exception shall not apply
where cargo is warehoused for the purpose of avoidance or evasion of
Rule I. It is limited to containers warehoused as provided in the above
conditions and any warehouse which does not conform to such
conditions shall be deemed a consolidator or de-consolidated.
363
.
*
*
.
.
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The ILA's action caused delays of 5 to 8 days in the
movement of container cargo from the piers to warehouses.
The suspension also resulted in the diversion of import
container shipments from the Hampton Roads port area.
On May 30, 1975, following negotiations, CONASA and
ILA executed a supplemental agreement which, they
announced, "clarified and reinstated" the 1974 CONASA-
ILA container rules. Rule 2B(4) in the supplement
provided:
Cargo in containers referred to below shall not be ...
discharged by ILA labor:
*
*
*
B. Import Cargo
(4) Containers of a qualified consignee discharged at
a bona fide public warehouse within the 'geographic
area' which comply with all of the following conditions:
1. The container cargo is warehoused at a bona
fide public warehouse
2. The qualified consignee pays the normal
labor charges in and out; and the normal
warehouse storage fees for a minimum period of
thirty or more days; and stores the cargo for a
minimum period of 30 days; and
3. The cargo being warehoused (a) in the
normal course of the business of the qualified
consignee; (b) title to such goods has not been
transferred from the qualified consignee to
another.
The carrier on request will furnish all documentation
and other information which permits the Container
Committee in the port to determine whether conditions
1, 2, and 3 have have been met. This exception shall not
apply where cargo is warehoused for the purpose of
avoidance or evasion of Rule 1. It is limited to
containers warehoused as provided in the above
conditions and any warehouse which does not conform
to such conditions shall be deemed a consolidator or
de-consolidator.
[Clarification: In keeping with prior CONASA-ILA
decisions trucking stations where containers are unloaded
within the geographic area do not constitute bona fide
public warehouses even where cargo is destined for
delivery outside the geographic area.]
Since May 30, 1975, these warehouse rules and the
"Clarification" have been in effect in Baltimore, Hampton
Roads, and all other CONASA ports.
B.
Analysis and Conclusions
The General Counsel and the Charging Parties contend
that Respondents violated Section 8(e) of the Act by
maintaining, giving effect to, and enforcing rule l(aX3) and
rule 2B(2) of the CONASA-ILA rules on containers in their
1974-77 contracts. The General Counsel also contends
9 On July 9, 1976, International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO,
and New York Shipping Association, Inc., filed a petition for rehearing in
that, by imposing fines upon U.S. Lines and Lavino, ILA
violated Section 8(b)(4XiiXB) of the Act. According to the
General Counsel and Charging Parties, these portions of
the CONASA-ILA container rules and the attempts to
enforce them by fines constituted an attempt by ILA to
acquire work traditionally done by employees of motor
carriers.
The Respondents' defense is that rule l(aX3) and rule
2B(2) and their enforcement represented an effort to
preserve work traditionally performed by ILA labor and
that therefore such efforts were authorized by principles set
forth in National Woodwork Manufacturers Association et al.
v. N.LR.B., 386 U.S. 612 (1967), and American Boiler
Manufacturers Association v. N.LRB., 404 F.2d 547 (C.A.
8, 1968), cert. denied 398 U.S. 960 (1970). Under those
principles, if ILA's conduct and contractual agreements
with CONASA, HRSA, and STA, of which the General
Counsel complains, were designed to preserve work to
which ILA represented-employees of HRSA's and STA's
employer-members were entitled, then both the conduct
and the agreements would be primary in purpose and
would not run afoul of the Act. However, if ILA's real
object was to reach out for work traditionally done by
employees not represented by ILA, or work to which ILA
had waived all claims, the challenged container rules and
the pressures on HRSA and STA would have had a
secondary object violative of Section 8(e) and Section
8(b)(4Xii)(B) of the Act, respectively. Here, "[t]he touch-
stone is whether the agreement or its maintenance is
addressed to the labor relations of the contracting
employer vis-a-vis his own employees." National Woodwork
Manufacturers Association, supra, 386 U.S. at 645. Applying
the National Woodwork test as did the Board in Internation-
al Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO (Consolidated
Express, Inc., and Twin Express, Inc.), 221 NLRB 956
(1975), enfd. 537 F.2d 706 (1976),9 I find merit in the
General Counsel's and the Charging Parties' contentions.
In International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO
(Consolidated Express, Inc. and Twin Express, Inc.), supra,
the Board found that the ILA was attempting to obtain the
work of stuffing and stripping less-than-container load
cargo or less-than-trailer load cargo, which consolidators
traditionally performed at their own off-pier facilities with
their own employees, who were not in the unit represented
by the ILA. The Board observed that 'It]he traditional
work of the longshoremen represented by ILA has been to
load and unload ships. When necessary to perform their
loading and unloading work, longshoremen have been
required to stuff and strip containers on the piers." (221
NLRB at 959.) The Board then found (Id at 960) that:
the on-pier stripping and stuffing work performed by
longshoremen as an incident of loading and unloading
ships does not embrace the work traditionally per-
formed by Consolidated and Twin at their off-pier
premises ....
Yet, ILA's demands here could only be
met if the work traditionally performed off the pier by
employees outside the longshoremen unit were taken
Docket No. 75-4266 which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
denied on August 6, 1976.
364
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
over and performed at the pier by longshoremen
represented by ILA.
On these facts, the Board held that the 1971 container rules
negotiated between ILA and the New York Shipping
Association (these same rules appeared in the 1971 ILA
contracts covering the Baltimore and Hampton Roads port
areas, respectively) covering LTL or consolidated full
container loads did not have "a lawful primary object"
(Consolidated Express, supra, 221 NLRB at 961), and
therefore violated Section 8(e) of the Act. The Board also
held that fines imposed by ILA upon shipping companies
who were members of the New York Shipping Association
also violated Section 8(b)(X4XiiXB) of the Act.
Here, as in Consolidated Express, the facts show that
ILA's demands can only be satisfied "if the work
traditionally performed off the pier by employees outside
the longshoremen unit were taken over and performed at
the pier by longshoremen represented by ILA." Thus, the
history of the longshoremen's work tradition in Baltimore
and Hampton Roads shows that their role in handling
break-bulk import cargo ended at the head of the pier,
where an ILA freight handler picked up the cargo and
loaded it onto a truck. Thereafter, the fate of that cargo
was the responsibility of the motor carrier, as set forth in
the bill of lading.
The advent of containerization in the ports of Baltimore
and Hampton Roads did not change the traditional role of
the ILA longshoremen. The motor carriers have treated
import shippers' loads destined for consignees located
more than 50 miles from the center of the port of entry
much as they did break-bulk cargo. For, with very rare
exceptions, motor carriers have freely picked up the
steamship company's containers mounted on wheeled
trailers and hauled them to the consignee in accordance
with the bills of lading. The motor carriers have also
traditionally hauled such containers to their own truck
terminals and have stripped the shippers' loads from them
and are loaded into their own trailers, using truck terminal
employees, whenever considerations of state regulation,
safety, or economy persuaded a motor carrier to take that
precaution.
To counter the General Counsel's showing, Respondents
presented evidence to show that ILA, CONASA, HRSA,
STA, and various steamship and motor truck employers in
the Baltimore and Hampton Roads port areas understood
that such shortstopping of shippers' loads violated the
container rules in the 1968 and 1971 contracts. However,
the plain language of the 1968 and 1971 rules limited to
"LTL loads or consolidated full container loads" the
"complete control" language of the equipment interchange
agreements used by U.S. Lines in dealing with motor
carriers, and the paucity of grievances involving shippers'
loads in the ports of Baltimore and Hampton Roads prior
to the September 1972 CONASA-ILA meeting at which
ILA first sought adoption of rule l(a)3) and 2B(2) cast
doubt on the Respondents' claim. The fatal weakness in
Respondents' defense is its failure to rebut the General
Counsel's showing that, in the performance of contracts to
haul cargo from a pier to the consignee, motor carriers
have traditionally utilized their own employees whenever
economy, safety, or government regulations required the
stripping of a shipper's load destined to a consignee outside
the 50-mile zone.
From the foregoing and the record as a whole, I find that
the traditional on-pier work of longshoremen has not
included the work performed by the employees of motor
carriers, as Associated and Houff, at their off-pier facilities.
Thus if ILA's demand is to be satisfied here, motor carriers
seeking to do business with employer-members of HRSA
and STA would be obliged to assign this work to ILA labor
at the pier. Indeed, in order to avoid the sanctions revealed
in this case, motor carriers who might otherwise exercise
their discretion to transfer cargo after leaving a CONASA-
ILA pier would permit ILA labor to routinely strip all
shippers' loads destined outside the 50-mile zone, and thus
transform containers into cargo nets.
Here, I find as the Board found in Consolidated Express,
supra, 221 NLRB at 960, "the National Woodwork, supra,
and American Boiler Manufacturing Association v. N.LR.B.
cases are distinguishable from the instant case since, in
those cases, the very work claimed had once been
performed, exclusively, by employees in the units repre-
sented by the respondent organizations therein." Thus,
here, as in Consolidated Express, supra, rules l(a)(3) and
2B(2) of the 1974-77 CONASA-ILA rules on containers
have no valid work-preservation purpose. Their purpose is
to cause U.S. Lines, Lavino, and other employer-members
of HRSA and STA to cease doing business with motor
carriers who refuse to surrender to ILA's attempt to
acquire work now done by the motor carriers' employees. I
find therefore that by maintaining, giving effect to, and
enforcing the contracts and agreements known as the rules
on containers, as set forth in the 1974-77 collective-
bargaining agreements and as reaffirmed in their supple-
mental agreement of May 30, 1975, Respondents CONA-
SA, HRSA, and ILA violated Section 8(e) of the Act. I also
find that by threatening to assess and by assessing
liquidated damages as provided in those agreements,
thereby threatening, restraining, and coercing CONASA,
HRSA, STA, U.S. Lines, and Lavino, with an object being
to force those persons engaged in commerce to cease doing
business with Associated, Houff, Pilot, and Thurston,
Respondent ILA violated Section 8(bX4XiiXB) of the Act.
I also find that an objective of the suspension of the rules
on containers on April 28, 1975, was to pressure CONASA,
HRSA, STA, and their employer-members to cease doing
business with motor carriers who refused to adhere to rules
l(aX3) and 2B(2). In making this finding, I have looked in
large part at the timing of ILA's notice of suspension in late
March. For it was in March and February 1975 that U.S.
Lines suspended its equipment interchange agreements
with Associated, Thurston, and Pilot because they stripped
shippers' loads destined beyond the 50-mile zone and
demonstrated the apparent refusal of the motor carriers to
surrender to ILA pressure. Further evidence of ILA's
unlawful intent is contained in the declaration in the
CONASA-ILA supplemental agreement of May 30, 1975,
that "trucking stations where containers are unloaded
within the geographic area [50 miles of the center of each
port] do not constitute bona fide public warehouses even
where cargo is destined for delivery outside the geographic
area." Having found that ILA's suspension of the 1974-77
365
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CONASA-ILA rules on containers was motivated at least
in part by the same cease-doing-business object which
provoked the fines against U.S. Lines and Lavino, I further
find that, by that conduct, ILA again violated Section
8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act.
THE REMEDY
Having found Respondent ILA and Respondents HRSA
and CONASA engaged in unfair labor practices in
violation of Section 8(e) of the Act, and Respondent ILA
engaged in unfair labor practices in violation of Section
8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act, I shall recommend that they cease
and desist therefrom and take certain affirmative action
which I find necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act.
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings and conclusions
and the entire record in this case, and pursuant to Section
10(c) of the Act, I issue the following recommended:
ORDER 10
A.
Respondents International Longshoremen's Associ-
ation, AFL-CIO, Hampton Roads District Council, Inter-
national Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO, ILA
Locals 846, 862, 970, 1248, 1458, 1624, 1736, 1783, 1784,
1819, 1840, and 1970, AFL-CIO, their officers, agents, and
successors shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Maintaining, giving effect to, and enforcing the
contracts and agreements known as the CONASA-ILA
rules on containers to the extent and in the manner said
contracts and agreements have been found to be unlawful
herein, or any other contract or agreement, express or
implied, whereby CONASA and HRSA, on behalf of its
employer-members, agree to cease or refrain from doing
business with any other person in violation of Section 8(e)
of the Act.
(b) Continuing to seek or impose fines against employer-
members of HRSA, including U.S. Lines, or any other
person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting
commerce, where an object thereof is to force or require
such persons to cease doing business with Associated
Transport, Inc., Houff Transfer Inc., Pilot Freight Carriers,
Inc., Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., or any other employer-
members of Tidewater Motor Truck Association.
(c) In any other manner, including the suspension of the
CONASA-ILA rules on containers, coercing or restraining
CONASA, HRSA, or any of HRSA's employer-members,
or any other person engaged in commerce in an industry
affecting commerce, where an object thereof is to force or
require such persons to cease doing business with Associ-
ated Transport, Inc., Houff Transfer, Inc., Pilot Freight
Carriers, Inc., Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., or any other
employer-members of Tidewater Motor Truck Association.
2.
Take the following affirmative action which is found
necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act:
'0 In the event no exceptions are filed as provided by Sec. 102.46 of the
Rules and Regulations of the National Labor Relations Board, the findings,
conclusions, and recommended Order herein shall, as provided in Sec.
102.48 of the Rules and Regulations, be adopted by the Board and become
its findings, conclusions, and Order, and all objections thereto shall be
deemed waived for all purposes.
(a) Notify all of their members who are employed by
employer-members of HRSA that any and all of the
provisions known as the CONASA-ILA rules on contain-
ers which have been negotiated between ILA and CONA-
SA on behalf of HRSA which restrain, restrict, limit, fine,
or prohibit handling in the customary manner, containers
bearing shippers' loads, have been found to be void and
unenforceable with respect to Associated Transport, Inc.,
Houff Transfer, Inc., Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc., Thurston
Motor Lines, Inc., or any other employer-member of
Tidewater Motor Truck Association.
(b) Post at all of their respective business offices, meeting
halls, and dispatch halls copies of the attached notice
marked "Appendix A.""5
Copies of said notice, on forms
provided by the Regional Director for Region 5, after
being duly signed by a representative of each Respondent
labor organization named in this section of the Order, shall
be posted by each of the said labor organizations
immediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by
each of them for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in
conspicuous places, including all places where notices to
members are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be
taken by said labor organizations to insure that these
notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other
material.
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 5, in writing,
within 20 days from the date of this Order, what steps each
of the said labor organizations has taken to comply
herewith.
B.
Respondents International Longshoremen's Associ-
ation, AFL-CIO; Atlantic Coast District Council, Interna-
tional Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO, ILA Lo-
cals 333, 921, 953, 1355, and 1429, AFL-CIO, their officers,
agents, and representatives, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Maintaining, giving effect to, invoke, or enforcing the
contracts and agreements known as the CONASA-ILA
rules on containers to the extent and in the manner said
contracts and agreements have been found to be unlawful
herein, or any other contract or agreement, expressed or
implied, whereby CONASA and STA, on behalf of its
employer-members, agree to cease and refrain from doing
business with any other person in violation of Section 8(e)
of the Act.
(b) Continuing to seek or impose fines against employer-
members of STA, including U.S. Lines and Lavino, or any
other person engaged in commerce or in an industry
affecting commerce, where an object thereof is to force or
require such persons to cease doing business with Houff
Transfer, Inc.
(c) In any other manner, including the suspension of the
CONASA-ILA rules on containers, coercing or restraining
CONASA, STA, or any of STA's employer-members, or
any other person engaged in commerce in an industry
affecting commerce, where an object thereof is to force or
11 In the event that the Board's 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 Pursuant
to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of
the National Labor Relations Board."
366
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
require such persons to cease doing business with Houff
Transfer, Inc.
2.
Take the following affirmative action which is found
necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Notify all of their members who are employed by
employer-members of STA that any and all of the
provisions known as the CONASA-ILA rules on contain-
ers which have been negotiated between ILA and CONA-
SA, on behalf of STA, which restrain, restrict, limit, fine, or
prohibit handling in the customary manner, containers
bearing shippers' loads, have been found to be void with
respect to Houff Transfer, Inc.
(b) Post at all of their respective business offices, meeting
halls, and dispatch halls copies of the attached notice
marked "Appendix B."
1 2 Copies of said notice, on forms
provided by the Regional Director for Region 5, after
being duly signed by a representative of each Respondent
labor organization named in this section of the Order, shall
be posted by each of the said labor organizations
immediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by
each of them for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in
conspicuous places, including all places where notices to
members are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be
taken by said labor organizations to insure that these
notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other
material.
(c) Notify the Regional Director for Region 5, in writing,
within 20 days from the date of this Order, what steps each
of the said labor organizations has taken to comply
herewith.
C.
Respondents Council of North Atlantic Shipping
Associations, (CONASA), and Hampton Roads Shipping
Association (HRSA), their respective officers, agents,
successors, and assigns, shall:
I. Cease and desist from maintaining, giving effect to,
and enforcing the contracts and agreements known as the
CONASA-ILA rules on containers to the extent and in the
manner said contracts and agreements have been found to
be unlawful herein, or any other contract or agreement,
expressed or implied, whereby Respondent CONASA, on
behalf of its member, HRSA, and on behalf of its
employer-members, including U.S. Lines, agree to cease or
refrain from doing business with any other person in
violation of Section 8(e) of the Act.
2.
Take the following affirmative action which is found
necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) HRSA shall notify U.S. Lines and all other employer-
members of HRSA that any and all provisions of the
contracts and agreements known as the CONASA-ILA
rules and containers, which have been negotiated between
ILA and CONASA on behalf of HRSA, and which
restrain, restrict, limit, fine, or prohibit handling in the
customary manner, containers bearing shippers' loads,
have been found to be void and unenforceable with respect
to Associated Transport, Inc., Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc.,
Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., or any other employer-
member of Tidewater Motor Truck Association.
(b) CONASA shall notify U.S. Lines and all other
members of HRSA that any and all of the provisions
known as the CONASA-ILA rules on containers which
have been negotiated between ILA and CONASA on
behalf of HRSA which restrain, restrict, limit, fine, or
prohibit handling in the customary manner, containers
bearing shipper's loads, have been found to be void and
unenforceable with respect to Associated Transport, Inc.,
Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc., Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., or
other employer-member of Tidewater Motor Truck Associ-
ation.
(c) HRSA shall mail to U.S. Lines and each of HRSA's
other employer-members, and post at its Norfolk, Virginia,
office copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix
C."' 3 Copies of said notice, on forms provided by the
Regional Director for Region 5, after being duly signed by
Respondent HRSA's representative, shall be posted by it
immediately upon receipt thereof, and be maintained by it
for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in conspicuous places,
including all places where notices to employer-members
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.
(d) CONASA shall mail to HRSA, U.S. Lines, and each
of the other employer-members of HRSA, and post at
CONASA's main office in New York, New York, copies of
the attached notice marked "Appendix D."'4 Copies of
said notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for
Region 5, after being duly signed by Respondent CONA-
SA's representative, shall be posted by it immediately upon
receipt thereof, and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive
days thereafter, in conspicuous places, including all places
where notices to member associations 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.
(e) Notify the Regional Director for Region 5, in writing,
with 20 days from the date of this Order, what steps
Respondents CONASA and HRSA have taken to comply
herewith.
12 See fn. I I, supra.
13 See fn. II.supira.
14 See fn. I1, supra.
APPENDIX A
NOTICE To MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
After a hearing in which all sides had the opportunity to
present their evidence, it has been found that we violated
the law. Accordingly, we post this notice and we will keep
the promises we make in this notice.
WE WILL NOT enter into, maintain in effect, give
effect to, invoke, or in any other manner or by any
means enforce the contract and agreements known as
the CONASA-ILA rules on containers, rules l(aX3) and
2B(2) as set forth in the HRSA-ILA collective-bargaining
agreement effective from October 30, 1974, to Septem-
ber 30, 1977, and as restated by the ILA-CONASA
Memorandum of Agreement effective May 30, 1975, or
any other contract or agreement express or implied
whereby the Council of North Atlantic Shipping
367
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Associations, and the Hampton Roads Shipping Asso-
ciation, on behalf of its employer-members, agree to
cease or refrain from doing business with any other
person in violation of Section 8(e) of the Act.
WE WILL NOT seek or impose fines against employer-
members of the Hampton Roads Shipping Association,
including United States Lines, Inc., or any other person
engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting
commerce, where an object thereof is to force or require
such persons to cease doing business with Associated
Transport, Inc., Houff Transfer, Inc., Pilot Freight
Carriers, Inc., Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., or any other
member of Tidewater Motor Truck Association.
WE WILL NOT in any other manner, including the
suspension of the CONASA-ILA rules on containers,
coerce, or restrain the Council of North Atlantic
Shipping Associations,
Hampton Roads
Shipping
Association, or any of Hampton Roads Shipping
Association's employer-members, or any other person
engaged in commerce in an industry affecting com-
merce, where an object thereof is to force or require
such person to cease doing business with Associated
Transport, Inc., Pilot Freight Carriers, Inc., Thurston
Motor Lines, Inc., and any other employer-member of
Tidewater Motor Truck Association.
WE WILL and do hereby notify our members, and
other individuals employed by Hampton Roads Ship-
ping Association, or any of its employer-members, that
any and all of the provisions of the contracts and
agreements known as the CONASA-ILA rules on contain-
ers which have been negotiated between ILA and
CONASA on behalf of Hampton Roads Shipping Associ-
ation, which restrain, restrict, limit, fine, or prohibit
handling, in the customary manner, containers bearing
shippers' loads have been found void and unenforcea-
ble with respect to Associated Transport, Inc.
INTERNATIONAL
LONGSHOREMEN'S
AssocIATION, AFL-CIO,
LOCALS 846, 862, 970,
1248, 1458, 1624, 1736,
1783, 1784, 1819, 1840, &
1970
HAMPTON ROADS DISTRICT
COUNCIL, INTERNATIONAL
LONGSHOREMEN'S
ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO
APPENDIX B
NOTICE To MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
After a hearing in which all sides had the opportunity to
present their evidence, is has been found that we violated
the law by committing unfair labor practices. Accordingly,
we post this notice and we will keep the promises we make
in this notice.
WE WILL NOT enter into, maintain in effect, give
effect to, invoke, or in any other manner or by any
means enforce the contract and agreements known as
the CONASA-ILA rules on containers, rules l(a)(3) and
2B(2) as set forth in the Steamship Trade Association of
Baltimore, Inc. ILA collective-bargaining agreement
effective from October 30, 1974, to September 30, 1977,
and as restated by the ILA-CONASA memorandum of
agreement effective May 30, 1975, or any other
contract or agreement express or implied whereby the
Council of North Atlantic Shipping Associations, and
the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, Inc., on
behalf of its employer-members, agree to cease or
refrain from doing business with any other person in
violation of Section 8(e) of the Act.
WE WILL NOT seek or impose fines against employer-
members of the Steamship Trade Association of
Baltimore, Inc., including United States Lines, Inc.,
and Lavino Shipping Company, or any other person
engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting
commerce, where an object thereof is to force or require
such persons to cease doing business with Houff
Transfer, Inc.
WE WILL NOT in any other manner, including the
suspension of the CONASA-ILA rules on containers,
coerce or restrain the Council of North Atlantic
Shipping Associations, Steamship Trade Association of
Baltimore, Inc., or any of Steamship Trade Associa-
tion's employer-members, or any other person engaged
in commerce in an industry affecting commerce, where
an object thereof is to force or require such person to
cease doing business with Houff Transfer, Inc.
WE WILL and do hereby notify our members, and
other individuals employed by Steamship Trade Asso-
ciation of Baltimore, Inc., or any of its employer-
members, that any and all of the provisions of the
contracts and agreements known as the CONASA-ILA
rules on containers which have been negotiated
between ILA and CONASA on behalf of Steamship Trade
Association of Baltimore, Inc., which restrain, restrict,
limit, fine, or prohibit handling in the customary
manner, containers bearing shippers' loads have been
found void and unenforceable with respect to Houff
Transfer, Inc.
INTERNATIONAL
LONGSHOREMEN'S
ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO,
LOCALS 333, 921, 953,
1355, & 1429
ATLANTIC COAST DISTRICT
COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL
LONGSHOREMEN'S
ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO
368
INTL. LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
APPENDIX C
NOTICE To ALL EMPLOYEES AND ALL EMPLOYER-
MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
After a hearing in which all sides had the opportunity to
present their evidence, it has been found that we violated
the law by committing unfair labor practices. Accordingly,
we post this notice and we shall keep the promises we make
in this notice.
WE WILL NOT enter into, maintain in effect, give
effect to, invoke or in any manner or by any means
enforce the contracts and agreements known as the
CONASA-ILA rules on containers, rules l(aX3) and 2B(2),
as set forth in the HRSA-ILA collective-bargaining
agreement effective from October 1, 1974, to September
30, 1977, and as restated by the CONASA-ILA Memoran-
dum of Agreement effective May 30, 1975, or any other
contract or agreement, express or implied, whereby
CONASA, on behalf of HRSA, or HRSA on behalf of
employer-members, agrees to cease or refrain from
doing business with any other person in violation of
Section 8(e) of the Act.
WE WILL and do hereby notify United States Lines,
Inc., and all other employer-members of HRSA that any
and all of the provisions of the contracts and agree-
ments known as the CONASA-ILA rules on containers
which have been negotiated between ILA and CONASA
on behalf of Hampton Roads Shipping Association,
which restrain, restrict, limit, fine, or prohibit handling,
in the customary manner, containers bearing shippers'
loads have been found void and unenforceable with
respect to Associated Transport, Inc., Pilot Freight
Carriers, Inc., Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., and any
other employer-members of Tidewater Motor Truck
Association.
HAMPTON ROADS SHIPPING
ASSOCIATION
APPENDIX D
NOTICE To ALL EMPLOYEES AND ASSOCIATION-
MEMBERS
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
After a hearing in which all sides had the opportunity to
present their evidence, it has been found that we violated
the law by committing unfair labor practices. Accordingly,
we post this notice and we shall keep the promises we make
in this notice.
WE WILL NOT enter into, maintain in effect, give
effect to, invoke, or in any manner or by any means
enforce the contracts and agreements known as the
CONASA-ILA rules on containers, rules l(aX3) and 2B(2),
as set forth in the HRSA-ILA collective-bargaining
agreement effective from October 30, 1974, to Septem-
ber 30, 1977, and as restated by the CONASA-ILA
Memorandum of Agreement effective May 30, 1975, or
any other contract or agreement, express or implied,
whereby CONASA, on behalf of HRSA, or HRSA on behalf
of its employer-members, agrees to cease or refrain
from doing business with any other person in violation
of Section 8(e) of the Act.
WE WILL and do hereby notify United States Lines,
Inc., and all other employer-members of HRSA that any
and all of the provisions of the contracts and agree-
ments known as the CONASA-ILA rules on containers
which have been negotiated between ILA and CONASA
on behalf of Hampton Roads Shipping Association,
which restrain, restrict, limit, fine, prohibit handling, in
the customary manner, containers bearing shipper's
loads have been found void and unenforceable with
respect to Associated Transport, Inc.
COUNCIL OF NORTH
ATLANTIC SHIPPING
ASSOCIATIONS
369