Montgomery Ward & Co., Incorporated And United Mail Order, Warehouse & Retail Employees Union, Local 131, Affiliated With United Retail, Wholesale And Department Store Employees Of America, C. I. O., 432 (1945)

In the Matter of MONTGOMERY WARD & CO., INCORPORATED and UNITED MAIL ORDER, WAREHOUSE & RETAIL EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL 131,

AFFILIATED WITH UNITED RETAIL, WHOLESALE AND DEPARTMENT STORE EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA, C. I. O.

In the Matter of MONTGOMERY WARD & CO., INCORPORATED and UNITED MAIL ORDER, WAREHOUSE & RETAIL EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL 131,

AFFILIATED WITH UNITED RETAIL, WHOLESALE AND DEPARTMENT STORE EMPLOYEES OF AMERICA, C. I. O.

Cases Nos. 17-C-1054 and 17-C-1172, respectively.-Decided October 24, 1945 DECISION AND ORDER On January 27, 1945, the Trial Examiner issued his Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor practices, and recommending that it cease and desist from the unfair labor practices found and take certain affirmative action, as set out in the copy of the Intermediate Report attached hereto. Thereafter, the respondent filed exceptions to the Intermediate Report and a supporting brief.

On September 18, 1945, the Board at Washington, D. C., heard oral argument in which the respondent and the Union participated.

The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Intermediate Report, the respondent's brief and exceptions, and the entire record in the case, and hereby adopts the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Trial Examiner, with the additions noted below.

We concur in the Trial Examiner's finding that by the speech of Labor Relations Manager John A. Barr, delivered to the employees at the respondent's plant on January 4 and 5, 1944, the respondent interfered with, restrained, and coerced its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act. In arriving at this conclusion we have viewed the speech as part of the respondent's entire course of conduct, set forth in the Intermediate Report. The discriminatory 432 discharge~ of Medlin, Skinner, and Smith, several months before the speech, served as a warning to the employees that the respondent was prepared to use its economic power to defeat the Union. In the face of these concrete examples of economic reprisals, the employees could reasonably regard as meaningless the, statement in- Barr's talk that the respondent would respect the right of any employee to join or not to join a union. That the statement was in fact meaningless, is dlemonstrated by the respondent's subsequent discrimination against Slanko, Sullivan, and Gaylord. Under these circumstances the speech constitutes an inseparable part of the respondent's. coercive course of conduct and transgressed upon the exercise by the employees of their right to choose a bargaining representative without restraint or coercion by the respondent. 1 ORDER Upon the entire record in the case, and pursuant to Section 10 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the respondent, Montgomery Ward & Company, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, and its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall:

1. Cease and desist from:

   (

   1. Discouraging membership in United Mail Order, Warehouse &

   Retail Employees Union, Local 131, affiliated with United Retail,

   Wholesale and Department Store Employees of America, C. 1. 0., or any other labor organization, by discharging, or refusing to reinstate any of its employees, or by discriminating in any other manner in regard to their hi'ire or tenure of employment, or any term or condition of their employment;

   (b) In any other manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of the right to self -organization, to form labor organizations, to join or assist United Mail Order, Warehouse &

   Retail Employees Union, Local 131, affiliated with United Retail,

   Wholesale and Department Store Employees of America, C. 1. 0., or any other labor organization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection as guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act.

2. Take the followhing affirmative action which the Board finds will effectuate the policies of the Act:

   (

   1. Offer Henry Medlin, Roy F. Skinner, Walter L. Smith, Helen Slanko, Ramona Sullivan, and Marvel Gaylord, immediate and full reinstatement to their former or substantially equivalent positions, without prejudice to their seniority or other rights and privileges;

   ' Matter of Republic Aviation Corporation, (b) Make whole Henry Medlin, Roy F. Skinner, Walter L. Smith,

   Helen Slanko, Ramona Sullivan, and Marvel Gaylord for any loss of pay they have suffered by reason of the respondent's discrimination against them, by payment to each of them a sum of money equal to the amount which each normally would have earned as wages from the date of the discrimination against each to the date of the respondent's offer of reinstatement, less his or her net earnings during said period;

   (c) Post at its Kansas City, Missouri, plant, including its retail store, copies of the notice attached hereto, marked 'Appendix A.' Copies of said notice to be furnished by the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region, shall, after being duly signed by the respondent's representative, be posted by the respondent immediately upon receipt thereof, and maintained by it for sixty (60) consecutive days thereafter, in conspicuous places, including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by the respondent to insure that said notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material;

   (d) Notify the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region in writing, within ten (10) days from the date of this Order, what steps the respondent has taken to comply herewith.

   MR. GERAID D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order.

   NOTIcE TO ALL EMPLOYEES Pursuant to a Decision and Order of the National Labor Relations Board, and in order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor Relations Act, we hereby notify our employees that:

   We will not in any manner interfere with, restrain, or coerce our employees in the exercise of their right to self-organization, to form labor organizations, to join or assist United Mail Order,

   Warehouse & Retail Employees Union, Local 131, affiliated with United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Employees of America, C. I. O., or any other labor organization, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

   We will offer to the employees named below immediate and full reinstatement to their former or substantially equivalent positions without prejudice to any seniority or other rights and privileges previously enjoyed, and make them whole for any loss of pay suffered as a result of the discrimination.

   Henry Medlin Roy F. Skinner Walter L. Smith Helen Slanko Ramona Sullivan Marvel Gaylord All our employees are free to become or remain members of the above-named union or any other labor organization. We will not discriminate in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment against any employeee because of membership in or activity on behalf of any such labor organization.

   MONTGOMERY WARD & CO., INCORPORATED.

   (Employer) By (Representative) (Title) Dated ____-_____ NOTE: Any of the above-named employees presently serving in the armed forces of the United States will be offered full reinstatement upon application in accordance with the Selective Service Act after discharge from the armed forces.

   This notice must remain posted for 60 days from the date hereof, and must not be altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.

   INTERMEDIATE REPORT Mr. John A. Weiss and Mr. Robert S. Fousek, for the Board.

   Mr. John A. Barr, Mr. Brooks Wynne and Mr. Dana Norton, of Chicago, Ill., for the respondent.

   Mr. Edward Chevlin, of Kansas City, Mo., for the Union.

   STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a fifth amended charge in Case No. 17-C-1054, filed September 26, 1944, and an amended charge in Case No. 17-C-1172, filed September 26, 1944, both by United Mail Order, Warehouse & Retail Employees Union, Local 131, affiliated with United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Employees of America,

   C. I. O., herein called the Union, and pursuant to an order of the National Labor Relations Board dated September 19, 1944, consolidating Cases Nos. 17-C-1054 and 17-C-1172, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, by the Regional Director for the Seventeenth Region (Kansas City, Missouri), issued its complaint dated October 4, 1944, against Montgomery Ward & Co.,

   Incorporated, Kansas City, Missouri, herein called the respondent, alleging that the respondent had engaged in and was engaging in unfair labor practices, within the meaning of Section 8 (1) and (3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. Copies of the complaint together with notice of hearing thereon, were duly served upon the respondent and the Union.

   With respect to the unfair labor practices, the complaint alleged in substance that the respondent: (1) discharged Henry Medlin on June 16, Roy F. Skinner on July 8, and Walter L. Smith on July 19, 1943, and Helen Slanko, Ramona Sullivan, and Marvel Gaylord on April 20, 1944, and thereafter refused to reinstate them, because of their union membership and activities; (2) on and after January 1, 1943, sought to dissuade its employees from affiliating with or remaining members of the Union; caused its employees to be quizzed concerning their membership and activity in the Union; made statements, speeches, and remarks and circulated various types of writings...