Contract Transport

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Board volumes of NLRB decisions. Readers are requested to notify the Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C. 20570, of any typographical or other formal errors so that corrections can be included in the bound volumes. Contract Transport, Inc. and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 41, AFL- CIO. Case 17-CA-18387 March 6, 1996 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN GOULD AND MEMBERS BROWNING AND COHEN On January 22, 1996, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint alleging that the Respondent has violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act by refusing the Union's request to bargain and to furnish certain information following the Union's certification in Case 17-RC-11192. (Official notice is taken of the "record" in the representation proceeding as defined in the Board's Rules and Regulations, Secs. 102.68 and 102.69(g); Frontier Hotel, 265 NLRB 343 (1982).) The Respondent filed an answer admitting in part and denying in part the allegations in the complaint. The Respondent requested that the complaint be dismissed and that it be awarded attorneys' fees. On February 12, 1996, the General Counsel filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. On February 14, 1996, the Board issued an order transferring the proceeding to the Board and a Notice to Show Cause why the motion should not be granted. The Respondent filed a response. The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. Ruling on Motion for Summary Judgment In its answer the Respondent admits its refusal to bargain and to furnish information, but attacks the validity of the certification on the basis of its requests for review with respect to the Board's unit determination and finding of no contract bar and its objections to the election in the representation proceeding. All representation issues raised by the Respondent were or could have been litigated in the prior representation proceeding. The Respondent does not offer to adduce at a hearing any newly discovered and previously unavailable evidence, nor does it allege any special circumstances that would require the Board to reexamine the decision made in the representation proceeding. We therefore find that the Respondent has not raised any representation issue that is properly litigable in this unfair labor practice proceeding. See Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. NLRB, 313 U.S. 146, 162 (1941). Accordingly, we grant the Motion for Summary Judgment.¹ We also find that there are no factual issues requiring a hearing with respect to the Union's request for information. The Union requested the following information from the Respondent: an updated employee list which includes their name, address, and phone number. The Respondent's answer admits that the Respondent refused to provide this information to the Union. Further, although the Respondent's answer denies that the information requested is necessary and relevant to the Union's duties as the exclusive bargaining representative of the unit employees, it is well established that such information is presumptively relevant and must be furnished on request. Sea-Jet Trucking Corp., 304 NLRB 67 (1991); and Mobay Chemical Corp., 233 NLRB 109 (1977). On the entire record, the Board makes the following FINDINGS OF FACT I. JURISDICTION At all material times, the Respondent, a corporation, with offices and places of business in the States of Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, and Missouri, including at its facility in Kansas City, Missouri, has been engaged in the interstate transportation of mail and other freight pursuant to contracts with the United States Postal Service and other customers. During the 12-month period ending December 31, 1995, the Respondent in conducting its business operations described above, derived gross revenues in excess of $50,000 from the transportation of mail across state lines. We find that the Respondent is an employer engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act and that the Union is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. II. ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES A. The Certification Following the election conducted by mail from December 20, 1994, to January 3, 1995, the Union was certified on August 24, 1995, as the collective-bargaining representative of the employees in the following appropriate unit: All full-time and regular part-time drivers, fuelers, and mechanics employed by the Employer at its Kansas City, Missouri facility, EXCLUDING all office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. 1 The Respondent's request for attorneys' fees is denied. 320 NLRB No. 96 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Union continues to be the exclusive representative under Section 9(a) of the Act. B. Refusal to Bargain Since November 27, 1995, and December 7, 1995, respectively, the Union has requested the Respondent to bargain and to furnish information, and, since January 12, 1996, the Respondent has refused. We find that this refusal constitutes an unlawful refusal to bargain in violation of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act. CONCLUSION OF LAW By refusing on and after January 12, 1996, to bargain with the Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of employees in the appropriate unit and to furnish the Union requested information, the Respondent has engaged in unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. REMEDY Having found that the Respondent has violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act, we shall order it to cease and desist, to bargain on request with the Union, and, if an understanding is reached, to embody the understanding in a signed agreement. We also shall order the Respondent to furnish the Union the information requested. To ensure that the employees are accorded the services of their selected bargaining agent for the period provided by the law, we shall construe the initial period of the certification as beginning the date the Respondent begins to bargain in good faith with the Union. Mar-Jac Poultry Co., 136 NLRB 785 (1962); Lamar Hotel, 140 NLRB 226, 229 (1962), enfd. 328 F.2d 600 (5th Cir. 1964), cert. denied 379 U.S. 817 (1964); and Burnett Construction Co., 149 NLRB 1419, 1421 (1964), enfd. 350 F.2d 57 (10th Cir. 1965). ORDER The National Labor Relations Board orders that the Respondent, Contract Transport, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall 1. Cease and desist from (a) Refusing to bargain with International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 41, AFL-CIO as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in the bargaining unit, and refusing to furnish the Union information that is relevant and necessary to its role as the exclusive bargaining representative of the unit employees. (b) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act. 2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act. (a) On request, bargain with the Union as the exclusive representative of the employees in the following appropriate unit on terms and conditions of employment and, if an understanding is reached, embody the understanding in a signed agreement: All full-time and regular part-time drivers, fuelers, and mechanics employed by the Employer at its Kansas City, Missouri facility, EXCLUDING all office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. (b) Furnish the Union information it requested on December 7, 1995, that is relevant and necessary to its role as the exclusive representative of the unit employees. (c) Post at its facility in Kansas City, Missouri, copies of the attached notice marked "Appendix." Copies of the notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 17, after being signed by the Respondent's authorized representative, shall be posted by the Respondent immediately upon receipt and maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondent to ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. (d) Notify the Regional Director in writing within 20 days from the date of this Order what steps the Respondent has taken to comply. Dated, Washington, D.C. March 6, 1996 William B. Gould IV, Chairman Margaret A. Browning, Member Charles I. Cohen, Member (SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 2If this Order is enforced by a judgment of a United States court of appeals, the words in the notice reading "Posted by Order of the National Labor Relations Board" shall read "Posted Pursuant to a Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National Labor Relations Board." CONTRACT TRANSPORT, INC. APPENDIX NOTICE To EMPLOYEES POSTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD An Agency of the United States Government The National Labor Relations Board has found that we violated the National Labor Relations Act and has ordered us to post and abide by this notice. WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain with International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 41, AFL- CIO as the exclusive representative of the employees in the bargaining unit, and WE WILL NOT refuse to furnish the Union information that is relevant and necessary to its role as the exclusive bargaining representative of the unit employees. WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce you in the exercise of the rights guaranteed you by Section 7 of the Act. WE WILL, on request, bargain with the Union and put in writing and sign any agreement reached on terms and conditions of employment for our employees in the bargaining unit: All full-time and regular part-time drivers, fuelers, and mechanics employed by us at our Kansas City, Missouri facility, EXCLUDING all office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. WE WILL furnish the Union the information that it requested on December 7, 1995. CONTRACT TRANSPORT, INC.