Maritime Union District 1 (Mormac Marine Transport), 944 (1993)

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Maritime Union District 1 (Mormac Marine Transport), 944 (1993)

Unlicensed Division, District No. 1-MEBA/NMU,

AFL-CIO (Mormac Marine Transport, Inc.) and Francis J. Wojcik. Case 34-CB-1495

September 30, 1993

DECISION AND ORDER

BY CHAIRMAN STEPHENS AND MEMBERS DEVANEY AND RAUDABAUGH

On April 2, 1993, Administrative Law Judge Joel P. Biblowitz issued the attached decision. The Respondent filed exceptions and a supporting brief.

The National Labor Relations Board has considered the decision and record in light of the exceptions and brief and has decided to affirm the judge's rulings,1

findings,2 and conclusions and to modify the remedy for the reasons stated below.

We agree with the judge for the reasons stated in his decision, that the Respondent breached its duty of fair representation by handling Wojcik's grievance in a perfunctory manner. Our finding is based on the unique combination of facts in this case. Thus, the credited evidence shows that the Respondent assured Wojcik in March 1991, and again in May, that his grievance would be looked into and handled.3 Yet, the Respondent took absolutely no action on the grievance until December 1991, when the Respondent finally began its investigation. On these facts, we find that the Respondent's inaction amounted to more than mere negligence.

The Respondent's contention that many grievances in the maritime industry take a year to resolve is not germane to this case because here it took 9 months for the Respondent to begin even to investigate Wojcik's

claim. In addition, we note that if the Respondent had found that Wojcik's grievance had merit, the Respond-ent's failure to act for 9 months may have foreclosed the opportunity to present Wojcik's grievance to the Company becaus...

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