Masonry Magazine October 1988 Page. 21
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
288 NLRB No. 137
D-6075
Pittsburgh, PA
Case 6-CD-843
LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA, CONSTRUCTION
GENERAL LABORERS, LOCAL 373,
AFL-CIO
and
R. G. FRIDAY MASONRY, INC.
and
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING
ENGINEERS, LOCAL 66, AFL-CIO
DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE
The charge in this Section 10(k) proceeding was filed November 27, 1987, by the Employer, alleging that the Respondent. Laborers Local 373, violated Section 8(b)(4)(D) of the National Labor Relations Act by engaging in proscribed activity with an object of forcing the Employer to assign certain work to employees it represents rather than to employees represented by Operating Engineers Local 66. The hearing was held January 27, 1988, before Hearing Officer Barton A. Meyers.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board affirms the hearing officer's rulings, finding them free from prejudicial error. On the entire record, the Board makes the following findings.
I. Jurisdiction
The Company, a Pennsylvania corporation, is engaged as a masonry contractor in commercial and industrial construction.
During the most recent 12-month period, the Company performed services valued in excess of $50,000 for customers located outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. During the same period, the Company purchased goods and materials valued in excess of $50,000 directly from suppliers located outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The parties stipulate, and we find, that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act and that Laborers Local 373 and Operating Engineers Local 66 are labor organizations within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
II. The Dispute
# A. Background and Facts of Dispute
In early October 1987, R. G. Friday Masonry, Inc. (Friday) commenced work as a subcontractor for general contractor John R. Hess Company (Hess) in the construction of an office building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the Mobay Corporation. Friday performs the masonry work on the job, consisting of brick, block, and terra-cotta coating. Although the building under construction is about five stories high, the masonry work performed by Friday is limited mainly to the first and second floors. The disputed work involves the operation of a high-lift or "lull" type forklift for the purpose of raising brick, block, and mortar onto scaffolding at the construction site.
Robert G. Friday is the president and owner of Friday, which is signatory to collective-bargaining agreements with both Laborers Local 373 and Operating Engineers Local 66. Both contracts are effective from June 1, 1987, to May 31, 1990.
Friday owns a Pettibone forklift, a large rubber-tired vehicle, which, among other things, raises pallet loads of materials onto scaffolds up to a height of about 31 feet by means of a fork arrangement mounted on the end of a boom. Although Friday also owns six walk-behind forklifts that are operated by laborers, it is the operation of the Pettibone or high-lift type forklift that is in dispute.
On commencing work at the Mobay project, Robert Friday assigned the work of operating the Pettibone forklift to employees represented by Laborers. About November 20, on learning of this assignment of work, Operating Engineers Local 66, which also has a collective-bargaining agreement with Hess, telegraphed Hess alleging a violation of that agreement's subcontracting clause and requesting informal arbitration. A copy of the telegram was forwarded from Hess to Robert Friday, who indicated he was contemplating reassigning the forklift work to employees represented by Operating Engineers. Before any reassignment occurred, John McManus, president and field representative for Laborers Local 373, contacted Robert Friday about November 25 and informed him that he had heard Operating Engineers was claiming the forklift work. McManus added that if the work was reassigned to employees represented by Operating Engineers, Laborers would picket the job and shut it down. Thereafter, Friday filed the subject unfair labor practice charge. Progress on the project continued without interruption.
# B. Work in Dispute
The disputed work involves the operation of a Pettibone or a high-lift forklift for the purpose of raising brick, block, and mortar onto scaffolding in the course of the construction of a new office
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