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NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. DETROIT RESILIENT FLOOR DECORATORS LOCAL UNION NO. 2265 OF the UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, Respondent

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit1963-05-22No. No. 15082
317 F.2d 269

Summary

Holding. The court agreed with the Board that contributions to an industry promotion fund are not a mandatory subject of collective bargaining because such funds advance industry policy goals rather than affecting wages, hours, or conditions of employment. The Board's order was enforced.

The National Labor Relations Board sought to enforce an order against a union that had insisted a floor-covering employer contribute to an industry promotion fund as a condition of their collective bargaining agreement. When the employer refused and the union threatened to strike, the employer capitulated but then challenged the union's demand to the Board, arguing that industry fund contributions were not a mandatory bargaining subject.

The Board found the union violated federal labor law by pressing this demand. The central legal question was whether contributions to an industry promotion fund constitute "wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment"—the categories of mandatory bargaining subjects under the Labor Management Relations Act. Although the Board has previously recognized that mandatory bargaining covers various employee benefits like pensions, vacation, and insurance, it determined that an industry promotion fund serves industry-wide policy objectives rather than direct employee compensation or employment conditions.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether industry promotion fund contributions constitute mandatory bargaining subjects
  • The scope of "wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment" under the Labor Management Relations Act
  • Whether insisting on industry fund contributions violates Section 8(b)(3) of the Act

Procedural posture

The Board petitioned this court for enforcement of its order against the union after a trial examiner found an unfair labor practice.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

CECIL, Chief Judge.

This cause is before the Court on petition of National Labor Relations Board for enforcement of its order against respondent, Detroit Resilient Floor Decorators Local Union No. 2265 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO. The parties will be referred to hereinafter as the Board and the Union, respectively.

The facts of the case are not in dispute. The Union negotiated with the employer, Mill Floor Covering, Inc., of Detroit, Michigan, and reached agreement on all contract provisions except one. This single impasse arose out of a union demand that the employer contribute to Floor Covering Industry Promotion Fund. The employer refused to do so. The Union threatened to strike. The employer agreed to make the payments under protest, taking the position that the subject was not one for mandatory bargaining under the Labor Management Relations Act. The employer filed a charge against the Union with the Regional Director.

A trial was had before a trial examiner. Upon submission of his report to the Board, it found that the Union had engaged in an unfair labor practice, in violation of Section 8(b) (3) (Sec. 158 (b) (3), Title 29 U.S.C.) of the Act.

The Board ordered the Union, inter alia, to cease and desist from insisting upon the employer’s compliance with the provision in the collective bargaining agreement for contribution to the fund. The Board further ordered the Union to post the usual notices. The question presented is whether a requirement to make contributions to a fund, such as Floor Covering Industry Promotional Fund, is a proper subject of mandatory collective bargaining. Section 8(d) of the Act (Sec. 158(d), Title 29 U.S.C.) specifies as mandatory subjects of collective bargaining “wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, * *

The Board has held that “wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment” include all emoluments of value or other benefits accruing to employees out of their relationship with their employer. E. g., a pension plan (Inland Steel Company, 77 NLRB 1, 4, enf’d 170 F.2d 247, 12 A.L.R.2d 240 (C.A.7), cert. den., 336 U.S. 960, 69 S.Ct. 887, 93 L.Ed. 1112); vacations, seniority, reimbursement for expenses away from headquarters, sick leave (Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co., 113 NLRB 478); a stock purchase plan (Richfield Oil Corporation, 110 NLRB 356, enf’d 97 U.S.App.D.C. 383, 231 F.2d 717, 58 A.L.R. 833 (C.A. D.C.), cert. den. 351 U.S. 909, 76 S.Ct. 695, 100 L.Ed. 1444); group insurance (Clinton Foods, Inc., 112 NLRB 239); a bonus (Niles-Bement-Pond Company, 97 NLRB 176, enf’d 199 F.2d 713 (C.A. 2).

The Board said in its Decision and Order in this case: “To hold, however, under this act, that one party must bargain at the behest of another on any matter which might conceivably enhance the prospects of the industry would transform bargaining over the compensation, hours, and employment conditions of employees into a debate over policy objectives.” 136 NLRB 769, 771.

The Board concluded “that the question of participation in an industry promotion fund is not a mandatory subject of bargaining because it is neither wages, hours nor a term or condition of employment.” Id. at 772. We agree. See, National Labor Relations Board v. Wooster Division of Borg-Warner Corp., 356 U.S. 342, 78 S.Ct. 718, 2 L.Ed.2d 823.

The respondent claims that the Trial Examiner committed prejudicial error in refusing to permit the introduction in evidence of specific examples of other industry promotion funds. Since we hold that such funds are not a proper subject for mandatory collective bargaining, it is not necessary to determine this question.

Enforcement of the Board’s order is decreed.