Local 449, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers Of America (Uaw)

182 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Local 449, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricul- tural Implement Workers of America (UAW) and National Metalcrafters, Inc. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) and'National Metalcrafters, Inc. Cases 33-CB-2043 and 33-CB-2044 5 March 1987 DECISION AND ORDER BY CHAIRMAN DOTSON AND MEMBERS JOHANSEN AND STEPHENS On 31 January 1985 Administrative Law Judge Claude R. Wolfe issued the attached decision. The Respondents filed exceptions and a joint supporting brief and the Charging Party filed cross-exceptions. The General Counsel filed a brief in support of the judge's decision. The National Labor Relations Board has delegat- ed its authority in this proceeding to a three- member panel. The Board has considered the decision and the record in light of the exceptions and briefs and has decided to affirm the judge's rulings, findings, and conclusions, as modified,' and to adopt the recom- mended Order.2 1 As noted by the judge, the Respondent Local's executive board, by letter sent 2 November 1983, notified the employees that it had "ap- proved" the internal union charges filed concerning their resignations and that such charges would be "administered" under the International con- stitution The judge concluded that the letter did not violate Sec. 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act. Although we do not find a separate violation of Sec 8(b)(1)(A) based on the letter, we note, as the judge found that the letter was the first notification to the employees that their resignations had not been accepted and we conclude that the letter was part and parcel of the Respondent's unlawful refusal to accept the employees' res- ignations from union membership. We also disagree with the judge's finding that the evidence does not establish that the Respondent Local's executive board is an agent of the Respondent International Union. The executive board represents the Re- spondent Local between membership meetings when urgent business so requires and, as found by the judge, for the purpose of receiving resigna- tions the executive board is clearly an agent of the Local Because, as the judge also found, the Local is an agent of the International it follows that the executive board is also an agent of the Respondent International Union In affirming the judge, we find it insignificant that the constitutional provision restricting resignations cannot be enforced by the imposition of fines. In Sheet Metal Workers Local 73 (Safe Air), 274 NLRB 374 (1985), we reaffirmed our holding in Machinists Local 1414 (Neufeld Porsche- Audi), 270 NLRB 1330 (1984), approved by the Supreme Court in Pattern Makers v. NLRB, 473 U S 95 (1985), that any restriction on resignation from union membership is invalid, irrespective of the period of restric- tion, and that the mere maintenance of a constitutional provision restrict- ing resignation restrains and coerces employees from exercising their Sec. 7 rights. Because the Respondents in this case have maintained a provi- sion restricting the submission of resignations to a 10-day period, we agree that they have violated Sec. 8(b)(1)(A) and that the entire provision as it pertains to the restrictions is invalid 2 The judge also ordered the Respondents to expunge from the consti- tution of the International Union and any other of the governing docu- ments of Local 449 and/or the International in which it may appear art. 6, sec. 17, of the constitution of the International Union. We agree See Auto Workers Local 73 (McDonnell Douglas), 282 NLRB No 64 (Dec. 18, ORDER The National Labor Relations Board adopts, the recommended Order of the administrative law judge and orders that the Respondents, Local 449, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Im- plement Workers of America (UAW) and Interna- tional Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), their officers, agents, and representatives, shall take the action set forth in the Order. 1986), in which we ordered expunction of the same provision and in doing so elaborated on the reasoning of Neufeld, supra. Barbara S. Van Auken, Esq., for the General Counsel. Robert C. Long, Esq., for the Charging Party. Michael B. Nicholson, Esq. and Ann C. Hodges, Esq., for the Respondent Unions. DECISION STATEMENT OF THE CASE CLAUDE R. WOLFE, Adminstrative Law Judge. This" consolidated proceeding was litigated before me at Rockford, Illinois, on October 18, 19, 22, and 23, 1984, pursuant to charges filed and served on November 14, 1983, and a consolidated complaint issued on January 30, 1984, and amended both before and at the hearing, which alleges that both Respondent Unions (Local 449 and the International) have maintained an unlawful re- striction on members' rights to resign their union mem- bership; have unlawfully refused to honor or accept such resignations tendered to them; and have unlawfully threatened resigned employees with internal union charges for crossing a picket line. Local 449 and the International deny the commission of unfair labor prac- tices, and advance the affirmative defenses that the com- plaint is barred by Section 10(b) of the Act, the doctrine of laches, and the doctrine of res. Judicata and/or collat- eral estoppel. On the entire record,2 and after considering the testi- monial demeanor of the witnesses and the posttrial briefs, I make the following FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS I. JURISDICTION AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS The pleadings established that the employer involved meets the Board's jurisdictional standards and is an em- ployer engaged in commerce with the meeting of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. Local 449 and the International are each a labor organization within the meaning of Sec- tion 2(5) of the Act. I The transcript of record, which reflects the case numbers as "30- CB-2043 and 30-CB-2044" should be corrected wherever the error ap- pears to read "33-CB-2043 and 33-CB-2044 " 2 Certain errors in the transcript are noted and corrected 283 NLRB No. 30 AUTO WORKERS LOCAL 449 (NATIONAL METALCRAFTERS) 183 II. THE ALLEGED UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES A. Relevant Facts and Law Local 449 and the International were each a signatory party to a collective-bargaining agreement covering the production and maintenance employees of Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc., of which the Charging Party is a division, who are employed at Rockford, Illi- nois plants, including that of the Charging Party. The agreement expired on April 13, 1983, by its terms, but was extended through April 16, 1983 , by agreement of all parties to the contract. No new agreement was reached and a strike was voted for by members of Local 449 and authorized by the International. A picket line was established and the strike and picketing of the Rock- ford plants previously referred to commenced about April 19, 1983, and was continuing at the time of the hearing. During the strike employees submitted resignations from union membership. The constitution of the Interna- tional Union adopted in May 1983 and the previous one adopted in June 1980 contain an identically worded sec- tion, denominated article 6, section 17, in both, reading as follows: A member may resign or terminate membership only if s/he is in good standing, is not in arrears or delinquent in the payment of any dues or other fi- nancial obligations to the International Union or to her/his Local Union and there are no charges filed and pending against her/him . Such resignation or termination shall be effective only if by written communication, signed by the member and sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Financial Secretary of the Local Union within the ten (10) day period prior to the end of the fiscal year of the Local Union as fixed by this Constitution, whereupon it shall become effective sixty (60) days after the end of such fiscal year; pro- vided, that if the employer of such member has been authorized either by such member individually or by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the employer and the Union to check off the mem- bership dues of such member, then such resignation shall become effective upon the effective termina- tion of such authorization, or on the expiration of such (60) day period,' whichever is later. The, bylaws of Local 449 expressly provide : "The Con- stitution of this organization shall be the Constitution of the International Union, UAW, and these By-Laws shall be in all respects subordinate to said Constitution and all applications and interpretations thereof." The testimony before me established that Local 449, as this quotation provides, does indeed conduct its affairs in accord with the provisions of the International constitution , and looks to that document for guidance in so doing. The maintenance of article 6, section 117, by the Inter- national and Local 449 is a violation of Section 8(b)(1)(A) because it places unlawful restrictions on union members' right to resign. The Board has recently held that union members have a right to resign from membership, and a union cannot lawfully restrict that right. The restrictions on resignation set forth in article 6, section 17, of the Unions' constitution are therefore in- valid under Machinists Local 1414 (Neufeid Porsche-Audi), 270 NLRB 1330 (1984), and the mere maintenance of such restrictions violates Section 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act. Engineers & Scientists Guild (Lockheed-California), 268 NLRB 311 (1983); Typographical Union (Register Publish- ing), 270 NLRB 1386 (1984). The complaint alleges that Local 449 and the Interna- tional have refused to honor or accept resignations from the members named below because those resignations did not comply with article 6, section 17, of the International constitution. 3 Set forth after each employee's name in the first column of dates is, in most cases, the postmark date on his or her letter to Local 449 notifying Local 449 of the sender's desire to resign or, as some writers put it, withdraw from union membership. The date following Robert Bartell's name is the date of mailing to which he credibly testified. There was no proffer , of any letter of resignation from Gary Hare or Jody Wills. Although Local 449 has letters of resignation in its possession from Gerald Cole and Don Smith, they are not dated. The postmark on Rudi Sobirai's envelope containing his letter of resignation is unreadable, thus the date on the letter appears after his name. With respect to Joe Avendano, Leonard Forsell, Patrick Horkheimer3 Andrew Larson, Pat Smith, and Charles Woodard, no envelopes were produced for their letters of resignation, and I have therefore set down after their names the dates they wrote on the letters. The letter of Larry Hare was mailed to National Metalerafters, but was in Local 449's possession at the time of the hearing. Perry Wilhite re- signed by telegram. The second column contains the dates of rehire`' for these employees. Dates ofResignation letters or mailing dates Rehire date Joe Avendano ............................................................................................................... 5/20/83 5/23/83 Robert Bartell ............................................................................................................... 6/27/83 9/27/83 Roger Bougord ............................................................................................................ 5/20/83 5/23/83 3 The fact that the resigning members submitted their resignations in constitution are invalid and unenforceable . Newspaper Guild Local 47 writing, and many by certified mail, return receipt requested , persuades (Pulitzer Publishing), 272 NLRB (1984); Newspaper Guild Local 3 (New me they were aware of the constitution's requirements, but whether York News), 271 NLRB 1251, 1252 fn. 8 (1984). members had sufficient notice would make no difference in this case be- 4 The Company's records report them as "rehire" rather than "return" cause the restrictions on resignation in art . 6, sec. 7, of the International or "recall." 184 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Dates of Resignation letters or mailing dates Rehire date Teri Casas ...................................................... ............. ............ ............. ............. 5/4/83 5/2/83 Julie Chorak .......................................................... ................................................. 4/30/83 5/2/83 Gerald Cole ................................................................................................................ undated 7/5/83 Dan Cooper .............................................................................................................. 10/7/83 10/10/83 Harold Cooper .......................................................................................................... 9/30/83 10/3/83 Darrell Danekas ...................................................................................................... 5/2/83 5/2/83 Roy Davis ................................................................................................................... 4/30/83 5/2/83 Mary Ferdon ............................................................................................................. 5/2/83 5/2/83 Leonard Forsell ........................................................................................................ 9/6/83 9/6/83 Larry Gulley ............................................................................................................ 5/31/83 5/31/83 Billy Haggard ............................................................................................................. 4/30/83 5/2/83 Koren Haggard ......................................................................................................... 4/30/83 5/2/83 Gary Hare ................................................................................................................. none 5/2/83 Larry Hare ............................................................................................................ 4/30/83 5/2/83 Dave Hawkins ........................................................................................................... 10/24/83 10/24/83 Sheila Hoffman ....................................................................................................... 4/30/83 5/2/83 Patrick Horkheimer .................................................................................................. 9/29/83 9/29/83 Virginia Hunt ............................................................................................................ 5/2/83 5/2/83 Andrew Larson ......................................................................................................... 9/7/83 9/8/83 Juanita Lawrence ................................................................................................. 4/30/83 5/2/83 Lawrence Lewis ...................................................................................................... 5/3/83 5/2/83 Wesley Kleasner .......................................................................................................... 10/7/83 10/10/83 John Marks ................................................................................................................. 11/1/83 11/1/83 Wanda McClard .................................................................................................... 8/8/83 8/8/83 LaVerne Melvin .......................................................................................................... 5/2/83 5/2/83 Ron Olthoff ............................................................................................................... 4/30/83 5/2/83 Brenda Parham ......................................................................................................... 6/8/83 6/1/83 Shirley Phillips ........................................................................................................... 5/2/83 5/2/83 Larry Simmins .............................................................................................................. 5/16/83 5/16/83 Don Siemens .............................................................................................................. 8/3/83 8/4/83 Curtis Smith ............................................................................................................ 5/3/83 5/2/83 Don Smith .................................................................................................................. undated 10/24/83 Pat Smith .................................................................................................................... 9/27/83 9/28/83 Rudi Sobirai ............................................................................................................... 8/24/83 8/29/83 Perry Wilhite ............................................................................................................. 6/6/83 7/11/83 Jody Wills ................................................................................................................... none 7/5/83 Charles Woodard ................................................................................................... 8/27/83 8/29/83 Juanita Woods ............................................................................................................ 5/5/83 5/2/83 Certain other members of Local 449, including its president, Stanley Mayer, and its vice president, Jerry Fields, filed charges against all those above named except John Marks on October 3, 1983, for engaging in conduct unbecoming a member, such conduct being re- signing from Local 449 improperly under article 6 of the International constitution and crossing the picket line to perform work while a strike against the Employer was in progress. On November 2, 1983, the executive board of Local 449 "approved" the charges and directed that they be administered as set forth in article 31 of the Interna- tional constitution. One must not place too much empha- sis on the use by the executive board of the word "ap- proved" because other record evidence makes it clear that it does not take a position on the merit of the charges, but only certifies that the charges may be brought under existing provisions of the International constitution. Pursuant to its "approval" of the charges, the executive board, on November 2, 1983, sent the fol- lowing letter, on Local 449 letterhead in a Local 449 en- velope, to all of the members listed above in column A except possibly Gerald Cole and Koren Haggard: The Executive Board of Local 449 on November 2, 1983, approved charges filed by the Members of Local 449 against you for engaging in conduct un- becoming a member of said Local Union. The charges are resigning from Local 449 UAW improperly under Article 6 of the UAW Interna- tional Constitution and crossing the picket line to perform work while a strike against the employer, National Metalcrafters is in progress. These charges shall be administered as per Arti- cle 31 of the UAW International Constitution. The Executive Board Local 449 Nine addressees5 did not claim or open their letters and they were returned to the sender. The fact the letter was directed to all the employees named above obvious- ly established that their resignations had then been re- ceived by Local 449. 5 Robert Bartell, Harold Cooper, Mary Ferdon, John Marks, Curtis Smith, Donald Smith, Pat Smith, Juanita Woods, and LaVerne Melvin AUTO WORKERS LOCAL 449 (NATIONAL METALCRAFTERS) The complaint alleges that both unions, by Local 449's executive board, on November 2, 1983, threatened the employees named above in column A with internal union charges for crossing the picket line. The threat is alleg- edly contained in the November 2 letter quoted above. Apart from the failure of the evidence to support the General Counsel's contention that the executive board is an agent of the International,6 all the letter does is advise the charged member that a charge had already been filed. The executive board is required by article 31 of the International constitution to give such notification. I cannot believe the General Counsel is contending that a charged member should not be notified of the charge, and the notice of a charge already filed is hardly a threat of a charge. The letter contains nothing of a threatening nature and does not violate Section 8(b)(l)(A) of the Act. None of the charged members have appealed the exec- utive board's action set forth in its November 2 letter. Neither Union has taken any further action on the charges. No fines have been imposed and none can be imposed on the charged members because a constitution- al convention was held from May 15 to 20, 1983, during which the International constitution was amended to eliminate all provisions for fining members, and to ex- pressly set forth the only action that can be taken against a member found guilty as charged, which is suspension or removal from union office or suspension or expulsion from membership. The Respondents' contention that their inability to levy fines against the resigning members is a defense is without merit. The controlling rule set forth in Neufeld Porsche Audi, supra, is that a union may not place restric- tions on a member's right to resign. Whether charges are filed or fines levied is only significant in that they may be coercive restrictions on the exercise of that right. The refusal to honor a resignation tendered, without more, violates the Act, and an issue in this case is whether there has been a refusal to honor the resignations. The resignations, as the executive board letter of November 12 acknowledges, reached Local 449. I am also persuad- ed that the filing of charges against resigning members on October 3 is evidence that resignations tendered prior to that time had been received. Many of the resignations were sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, in compliance with the directive in article 6, section 17, of the International constitution. Thel others were in writ- ing,7 but were either sent by regular mail or delivered by other unspecified means, including, in one case, by telegram. Local 449 received 'these resignations, and whether they were sent by registered or certified mail, requested a return receipt, or were Shand delivered would seem to be of no discernible importance to the recipient 6 The executive board is plainly a creature constructed by Local 449, and is its agent Local 449 bylaws specifically provide for the executive board to consist of Local 449's executive officers, and specifically set forth in detail its duties. It does not act in a vacuum, as the Respondents seem to suggest, but is an arm of Local 449 erected by that Local for specific purposes of the Local, and operates under authority delegated to it by Local 449 T Whether Gary Hare or Jody Wills resigned in writing is not shown in the record. 185 inasmuch as the registry and/or certification and return receipt provisions redound to the benefit of the sender, not the receiver, by establishing receipt of the message sent. Moreover, the requirements of registry and/or cer- tification and return receipt for written resignations are themselves restrictions on resignation that accomplish nothing but to make the process of resignation more dif- ficult. Finally, the Board has long held "the failure of employees to follow union rules and regulations in termi- nating their union membership will not deprive them of the protection of the Act where they have clearly indi- cated they no longer wish to remain members of the Union." Auto Workers (Paulding, Inc.), 1130 NLRB 1035, 1043 (1961); and see Distillery Workers Local 80 (Capitol- Husting), 235 NLRB 1264, 1265 (1978). For all of these reasons I conclude and find the written resignations of the employees were effective on receipts and should have been honored9 more than 6 months prior to the filing and service of the charges in this case, but this raises a question of statutory limitations because Section 10(b) of the National Labor Relations Act provides, in pertinent part, that "no complaint shall issue based upon any unfair labor practice occurring more than six months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board and the service of a copy thereof upon the person against whom such charge is made." The question is whether the resig- nations submitted before May 14, 1983, were rejected before or after that date. The first and only communica- tion to the resigning members with respect to their resig- nations was the executive board's letter of November 2, 1983, well within the 6-month period. This letter was a clear notice to the resigning members that their resigna- tions were not being honored by Local 449. The 6- month limitation period under Section 10(b) does not begin to run until the alleged unlawful activity with which a respondent is charged becomes actually or con- structively known to the person adversely affected. Car- penters Wisconsin River Valley Council (Skippy Enter- prises), 211 NLRB 222, 227 (1974). Accordingly, I find the 6-month limitation period on the refusal to honor the resignations began to run on November 4, 1983, the date the November 2 letters were received, because it was on that date and by that letter the employees were first put on notice that their resignations had not been accepted. The Board recently reaffirmed that a union violates Sec- tion 8(b)(1) by refusing to acknowledge the effectiveness of its members' resignations when its bylaws contain an invalid restriction on resignation. Typographical Union (Register Publishing), 270 NLRB 1386 (1984). Here, the restriction is in the International constitution, which con- tains the rules on resignation to which Local 449 adheres and ,on the basis of which its executive board concluded the charges against resigning members were properly brought. Neither the International nor Local 449 has ever acknowledged the effectiveness of the resignations. I find that the failure to acknowledge the resignations or s Newspaper Guild of Local 3 (New York News,), 271 NLRB at 1252 9 The letters addressed to Local 449 or its officers and mailed are pre- sumed to have been received in the ordinary course of mail Communica- tions Workers Local 11500 (American Telephone), 272 NLRB 850 (1984) The presumption has not been rebutted. 186 DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD notify the affected employees that the effectiveness of their resignations was still in question until November 4 was not a mere oversight but a deliberate refusal to honor the resignations. Local 449, by so refusing, violat- ed Section 8(b)(I)(A) of the Act. Inasmuch as the Inter- national constitution and the testimony of Sam Casazza, the subregional director of the International, establishes that a resignation from membership submitted to Local 449-also constitutes a resignation from the International, Local 449 is found to be an agent of the International for the purpose of receiving such resignations. I therefore conclude and find that the International, by its agent Local 449, failed and refused to honor the resignations submitted by the employees named hereinabove and by so doing violated Section 8(b)(l)(A) of the Act. The evidence that Casazza is an agent of Local 449 for all purposes and Meyer an agent of the International for all purposes is not particularly persuasive, but, for the purposes of this case, it is unnecessary to resolve that issue. B. Affirmative Defenses Raised by the Respondents The Respondents urge that the maintenance of the constitutional provision involved in this case for 38 years without challenge by the Board may not now be chal- lenged, due to the time limitation in Section 10(b) of the Act1O and the doctrine of laches. It is true that the en- actment of the provision long preceded the statutory lim- itation period and may not now be found to be an unfair labor practice. This does not, however, bar a fording that the maintenance within the period is unlawful. With re- spect to the lathes argument it is clear, as the Charging Party points out, that a laches defense is inapplicable to the, Board. Merrell M. Williams, 265 NLRB 506, 508 (1982). The defense of res judicata is not applicable be- cause the issues in this case have not been litigated, and nothing substantial has been offered to support a bare claim of collateral estoppel. The Respondents' contention that the failure of resign- ing members to contest the intraunion charges against them through the Union's internal appeal procedures re- quires dismissal of the unfair labor practice charges re- quires no discussion other than to say it is totally without merit. Carpenters Ventura County Council (Commercial Constructors), 259 NLRB 541, 546 (1981). CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The Charging Party is an employer engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 2. Local 449 and the International are labor organiza- tions within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act. 3. Local 449 and the International violated Section 8(b)(l)(A) of the Act by maintaining invalid restrictions on resignations from membership. 10 Sec. 10(b) provides, in pertinent part, that no complaint shall issue based on any unfair labor practice occurring more than 6 months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board and the service of the charge on the charged party 4. Local 449 and the International violated Section 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act by refusing to accept employees' effective resignations from membership. - 5. The aforesaid violations of Section 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act are unfair labor practices affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 6. The Respondents have not violated the Act in any other manner alleged in the complaint, as amended. On these findings of fact and conclusions of law and on the entire record, I issue the following reco, mmend- ed11 ORDER The Respondents, Local 449, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of Amer- ica (UAW) and the International Union, United Automo- bile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), their officers, agents, and representa- tives, shall 1. Cease and desist from (a) Maintaining in their governing documents article 6, section 17, of the constitution of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Imple- ment Workers of America. (UAW). (b) Interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act by refusing to acknowledge or accept'their effective resignations from membership in Local 449 and the International. (c) In any like or related manner restraining or coerc- ing 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) Remove from the constitution of the International Union, and any other of the governing documents of Local 449 and/or the International in which it may appear article 6, section 17, of the constitution of the International Union.12 (b) Acknowledge and approve the resignations from membership received from the employees found in this decision to have tendered such resignations, give each of the employees written notification of the acknowledg- ment and approval, and dismiss any intraumon charges pending against any of them for crossing a picket line'to work after submitting a resignation from union member- ship,13 with written notification to them of the dismissal. 11 If no exceptions are filed as provided by Sec. 102.46 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, the findings, conclusions, and recommended Order shall, as provided in -Sec. 102.48 of the Rules, be adopted by the Board and all objections to them, shall be deemed waived for all pur- poses 12 The removal remedy in this case does not preclude UAW local unions located in Canada and serving Canadian nationals and industries, and over which the Board has no jurisdiction, from, maintaining art 6, sec 17 in their local governing documents 13 The dismissal of the pending intraunion charges for working after resigning from membership is essential to assure affected members such charges will not be acted on With respect to those members who're- turned to work before the Union received their resignations, the charges filed against them for so doing may not be found by me to have been either improperly filed or improperly, considered by the executive board Continued AUTO WORKERS LOCAL 449 (NATIONAL METALCRAFTERS) 187 (c) Post at their offices and meeting halls Rockford, Il- linois, copies of the attached notice marked "Appen- dix."14 Copies of the notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 33, after being signed by the Respondents' authorized representatives, shall be posted by the Respondents immediately upon receipt and maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places including all places where notices to members are cus- tomarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondents to ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. (d) Deliver to the Regional Director signed copies of the notice in sufficient number to be posted by the em- ployer involved, if willing. (e) Notify the Regional Director in writing within 20 days from the date of this Order what steps the Re- spondent has taken to comply. (Newspaper Guild Local 3 (New York Times), 272 NLRB 338 (1984)), but this does not alter my finding that their resignations were effective on receipt and must be approved by the Respondents. 14 If 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 Nation- al 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 " APPENDIX NOTICE To EMPLOYEES AND MEMBERS POSTED BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD An Agency of the United States Government WE WILL NOT restrain or coerce employees in the ex- ercise of the rights guaranteed them in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act by maintaining in our gov- erning documents article 6, section 17, of the constitution of the International Union, United Automobile, Aero- space & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), which reads as follows: Section 17. A member may resign or terminate membership only if s/he is in good standing, is not in arrears or delinquent in the payment of any dues or other financial obligations to the International Union or to her/his Local Union and there are no charges filed and pending against her/him. Such resignation or termination shall be effective only if by written communication, signed by the member and sent by registered or certified mail, return re- ceipt requested, to the Financial Secretary of the Local Union within the ten (10) day period prior to the end of the fiscal year of the Local Union as fixed by this Constitution, whereup it shall become effective sixty (60) days after the end of such fiscal year; provided, that if the employer of such member has been authorized either by such member individ- ually or by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the employer and the Union to check off the membership dues of such member, then such resignation shall become effective upon the effective termination of such authorization, or on the expira- tion of such sixty (60) day period, whichever is later. WE WILL NOT refuse to acknowledge or grant resigna- tions from union membership tendered to us in writing. WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner restrain or coerce you in the exercise of the rights guaranteed you by Section 7 of the Act. WE WILL remove from our governing documents arti- cle 6, section 12, of the constitution of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). WE WILL acknowledge and grant membership resigna- tion requests tendered to us in writing. The resignation requests previously tendered to us in 1983 by the em- ployees named below are acknowledged and granted: Joe Avendano Robert Bartell Roger Bougord Teri Casas Julie Chorak Gerald Cole Dan Cooper Harold Cooper Darrell Danekas Roy Davis Mary Ferdon Leonard Forsell Larry Gulley Billy Haggard Koran Haggard Gary Hare Larry Hare Dave Hawkins Sheila Hoffman Patrick Horkheimer Virginia Hunt Andrew Larson Juanita Lawrence Larry Lewis Wesley Kleasner John Marks Wanda McClard Ron Olthoff Brenda Parlham Shirley Phillips Larry Shimmins Don Siemens Curtis Smith Don Smith Pat Smith Rudy Sobirai Perry Wilhite Jody Wills Charles Woodard Juanita Woods LaVerne Melvin WE WILL dismiss all intraunion charges filed against members who returned to work after we received their resignations from union membership. LOCAL 449, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AERO- SPACE & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW) INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMO- BILE, AEROSPACE & AGRICULTURAL. IM- PLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW)