R. Sabee Co. LLC, (2007)

R. Sabee Company, LLC, Draper Products, Inc., Circle Machinery & Supply Co., Sabee Products, Inc., Stanford Professional Products, Sabee Realty, Inc. and JMS Converters, Inc. d/b/a JMS Converting, a single employer and/or continuing enterprise; and/or R. Sabee Company, LLC, Draper Products, Inc., Circle Machinery & Supply Co., Stanford Professional Products Corporation, Sabee Realty, Inc., and Its Successors Sabee Products, Inc., and JMS Converters, Inc. d/b/a JMS Converting [1] and United Steel Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, Local 2-932. Case 30–CA–16482–1

December 28, 2007

DECISION AND ORDER

By Members Liebman, Kirsanow, and Walsh

On February 6, 2007, Administrative Law Judge Jane Vandeventer issued the attached decision. The Respondents jointly filed exceptions, a supporting brief, and a reply brief. The General Counsel filed an answering brief and the Charging Party filed a brief in opposition to the Respondents’ exceptions.

The National Labor Relations Board has delegated 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[2] and has decided to affirm the judge's rulings,[3] findings,[4] and conclusions as modified[5] and to adopt the judge’s recommended Order as modified[6] and set forth in full below.[7]

ORDER

The National Labor Relations Board orders that the Respondents Sabee Products, Inc. and JMS Converters, Inc. d/b/a JMS Converting, Appleton, Wisconsin, their officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall jointly and severally

1. Cease and desist from

   (a) Laying off, refusing to hire or rehire, or refusing to retain in employment employees because they were represented by the United Steel Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, Local 2-932 (the Union).

   (b) Intentionally limiting the retention and rehiring of bargaining unit employees in order to avoid employing unit employees as a majority of the workforce, and discriminatorily requiring an additional level of review for bargaining unit employees who sought continued employment or re-employment.

   (c) Failing and refusing to provide the Union with information requested for the purpose of carrying out its representational duties.

   (d) Withdrawing recognition from the Union and failing and refusing to bargain with the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of unit employees.

   (e) Repudiating the collective-bargaining agreement and refusing to continue applying the terms and conditions of employment established by the agreement.

   (f) Unilaterally, and without affording the Union notice or an opportunity to bargain, making changes to unit employees’ terms and conditions of employment, laying off unit employees, and refusing to continue their employment.

   (g) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act.

2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act.

   (a) Within 14 days from the date of this Order, offer to reinstate all unit employees who were laid off and not hired, rehired, or retained in employment by the Respondents to their former jobs or, if those jobs no longer exist, to substantially equivalent positions, at the restored terms and conditions of employment applicable under the unlawfully repudiated collective-bargaining agreement, without prejudice to their seniority or any other rights or privileges previously enjoyed.

   (b) Make whole all unit employees who were laid off and not hired, rehired, or retained in employment by the Respondents in 2003 for any loss of earnings and other benefits suffered as a result of the discrimination against them, in the manner set forth in the remedy section of the judge’s decision.

   (c) Within 14 days from the date of this Order, remove from their files any reference to the unlawful layoffs, and/or refusals to retain in employment or hire the bargaining unit employees referred to in paragraphs 2(a) and (b) above, and within 3 days thereafter notify these employees in writing that this has been done and that the actions will not be used against them in any way.

   (d) Recognize and, upon request, bargain collectively with the Union over terms and conditions of employment of employees in the following appropriate unit:

   All employees engaged in production and maintenance; excluding professional employees, office employees, clerical employees, guards and supervisors.

   (e) Restore the terms and conditions of employment applicable under the unlawfully repudiated collective-bargaining agreement, and continue those terms and conditions in effect unless and until changed through collective bargaining with the Union.

   (f) Make whole all unit employees hired or retained in employment for any loss of earnings and other benefits suffered as a result of the Respondents’ refusal to continue the terms and conditions applicable under the unlawfully repudiated collective-bargaining agreement, in the manner set forth in our amended remedy.

   (g) Provide the Union with the information it requested in its letters, e-mail letters, and grievance attachments dated from February 7 through September 8, 2003.

   (h) Preserve and, within 14 days of a request, or such additional time as the Regional Director may allow for good cause shown, provide at a reasonable place designated by the Board or its agents, all payroll records, social security payment records, timecards, personnel records and reports, and all other records, including an electronic copy of such records if stored in electronic form, necessary to analyze the amount of backpay due under the terms of this Order.

   (i) Within 14 days after service by the Region, post at their Appleton, Wisconsin, locations copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix.”[8] Copies of the notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 30, after being signed by the Respondents’ authorized representatives, shall be posted by the Respondents and maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the Respondents to ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material. In the event that, during the pendency of these proceedings, the Respondents have gone out of business or closed the facilities involved in these proceedings, the Respondents shall duplicate and mail, at their own expense, a copy of the notice to all current employees and former employees employed by the Respondents at any time since February 1, 2003.

   (j) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file with the Regional Director a sworn certification of responsible officials on a form provided by the Region attesting to the steps that the Respondents have taken to comply.

   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the complaint is dismissed insofar as it alleges violations of the Act not specifically found.

   Dated, Washington, D.C. December 28, 2007

   Wilma B. Liebman, Member

   Peter N. Kirsanow, Member

   Dennis P. Walsh, Member

   (seal) National Labor Relations Board

   APPENDIX

   Notice To Employees

   Posted by Order of the

   National Labor Relations Board

   An Agency of the United States Government

   The National Labor Relations Board has found that we violated Federal labor law and has ordered us to post and obey this Notice.

   FEDERAL LAW GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO

   Form, join, or assist a union

   Choose representatives to bargain with us on your behalf

   Act together with other employees for your benefit and protection

   Choose not to engage in any of these protected activities.

   We will not lay you off or refuse to hire, rehire, or retain you because you are represented by the United Steel Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, Local 2-932 (the Union).

   We will not intentionally limit our retention and rehiring of bargaining unit employees in order to avoid employing unit employees as a majority of our workforce, or discriminatorily require an additional level of review for bargaining unit employees who sought continued employment or re-employment.

   We will not fail or refuse to provide relevant information requested by the Union for the purpose of carrying out its representational duties.

   We will not withdraw recognition from the Union or fail or refuse to bargain collectively with the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of bargaining unit employees.

   We will not repudiate the collective-bargaining agreement or fail or refuse to continue applying the terms of employment set out in the agreement.

   We will not refuse to bargain collectively with the Union by making changes in your terms and conditions of employment without first giving the Union notice of the proposed changes and an opportunity to bargain about them.

   We will not in any like or related manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce you in the exercise of your rights guaranteed above.

   We will, within 14 days of the Board’s Order, offer to reinstate all bargaining unit employees whom we laid off or refused to hire, rehire, or retain in employment in 2003 to their former jobs or, if those jobs no longer exist, to substantially equivalent positions, without prejudice to their seniority or any other rights or privileges previously enjoyed.

   We will make whole, with interest, all unit employees whom we laid off or did not hire, rehire, or retain in employment in 2003 for any loss of earnings and other benefits suffered as a result of our discrimination against them.

   We will, within 14 days from the date of the Boards Order, remove from our files any reference to the unlawful layoffs and/or refusals to hire, rehire, or retain in employment the bargaining unit employees referred to above, and we will...