Masonry Magazine February 1992 Page. 49
Finally, on April 5, Laborers Secretary-Treasurer Joseph Lombardo Jr. wrote separately to Schwendener and Albin and threatened to picket their jobsite to preserve the Laborers' work jurisdiction if the forklift was reassigned to the Engineers. These letters triggered the filing of the instant charges against the Laborers.
Counsel for the Engineers wrote a letter on May 21, which was received in the Regional Office on the morning before the scheduled hearing. The letter advises, inter alia, that the Engineers "disclaims any interest in having its members perform forklift truck work as employees of Albin Masonry [sic] at the construction site located at Remington Drive, Bolingbrook, Illinois." It further states that the Engineers specifically reserves its right to pursue its subcontracting grievance against Schwendener.
The Regional Director for Region 13 apparently notified the parties that the hearing would proceed as scheduled. The Engineers did not appear at the hearing and has not participated further in this proceeding.
B. Work in Dispute
The work in dispute involves the operation of the mason-tending forklift on the nursing home construction project on Remington Drive in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
C. Contentions of the Parties
As noted earlier, the Engineers did not participate in the hearing or submit a brief. The Laborers alone has filed a brief before the Board, contending that the Engineers has successfully applied secondary pressure on Schwendener to change the way it does business with subcontractor Albin, and that the Engineers' eleventh hour statement disclaiming interest in the disputed work, while simultaneously pursuing its grievance, is not an unqualified disclaimer. On the merits, the Laborers asserts that its claim to the work is supported by Albin's preference and past practice, collective-bargaining agreement, the economy and efficiency of its operation, and the area and industry practice of mason contractors. In addition, the Laborers contends that an areawide award is warranted because of the long history of this work dispute and the substantial likelihood of recurrence throughout the overlapping jurisdictions of the Laborers and Engineers.
D. Applicability of the Statute
Before the Board may proceed with a determination of the dispute pursuant to Section 10(k) of the Act, it must be satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that Section 8(b)(4)(D) has been violated and that the parties have not agreed on a method for the voluntary adjustment of the dispute. Section 8(b)(4)(D) makes it an unfair labor practice to take coercive action with the object to "for[ce] or requir[e] any employer to assign particular work to employees in a particular labor organization or in a particular trade, craft, or class rather than to employees in another labor organization or in another trade, craft, or class...." In order to find reasonable cause to believe that Section 8(b)(4)(D) has been violated, "there must be evidence that one group of employees has exerted improper pressure upon the Employer to compel it to assign certain work to that group of employees rather than to another group which also seeks the work." Auto Workers (General Motors), 239 NLRB 365, 366 (1978)
At the beginning of this dispute, employees represented by the Laborers had been assigned to operate the forklift truck. The Engineers insisted that the work belongs to employees whom it represents and informed both Albin and Schwendener that its members would picket the jobsite for "area standards" or file a formal grievance against Schwendener for not requiring assignment of the work to its members. In response to the Engineers' claim, the Laborers sent letters to Albin and Schwendener which threatened picketing at the jobsite to preserve its work jurisdiction if the forklift work was reassigned to the Engineers. There is no evidence that this threat to picket was not genuine. Accordingly, we find that there were competing claims to the disputed work be-
It points to Keith Albin's testimony showing that Schwendener has ceased to award future projects to Albin.
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