705 WINS, WINS, WINS AND WINS and Wins Again
Equipment Depot Challenges Local 705 in Four Arenas and Loses Each Time
Chicagoland Material Handling Service purchased Wisconsin Lift Trucks and Illinois Lift Trucks in early 2006. A new corporation was formed; Equipment Depot of Illinois, Inc. (Equipment Depot) and the operation was relocated from Des Plaines to Elgin.
When the move from Des Plaines to Elgin was finalized, Equipment Depot used a non bargaining unit employee to perform bargaining unit work (Shipping/Receiving) and in the process un-contractually laid off Local 705 Member, Howard Lind who was a driver. 705 Representative Gary Russell immediately responded to the lay off with a grievance which demanded that Howard Lind be put back to work with full back pay and benefits
. Equipment Depot argued that the Shipping/Receiving position was not part of the bargaining unit and therefore they felt that they were justified by using a non bargaining unit employee in that position and forced the bargaining unit employee back to a truck driver position. 705 responded that a 705 member had been performing the Shipping/Receiving duties for the past eighteen years and therefore the job duties had been incorporated into the bargaining unit through a past practice.The grievance went through the lower steps and was slated for the Joint Area Grievance Committee (JAGC). Equipment Depot foolishly stated that they would not appear before the JAGC. The JAGC ruled in favor of 705 and ordered Equipment Depot to place the Shipping/Receiving position up for bid and bring Howard Lind back to work and make him whole in all ways. Local 705 wins one, Equipment Depot loses one
.During this time frame Equipment Depot chose to lay off another Local 705 member, truck driver John Reidy, while they continued to use a non bargaining unit employee to do the Shipping/Receiving duties. 705 filed a second grievance under the same conditions and insisted that John Reidy be made whole and put back to work.
Equipment Depot refused to obey the JAGC decision, and filed an Unfair Labor Practice with Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against 705 and Gary Russell. Equipment Depot’s charge stated that 705 was attempting to illegally accrete the Shipping/Receiving job through the grievance procedure. 705 stood its ground and claimed that the position belonged to us through a past practice. NLRB Region 13 ruled in favor of 705. Local 705 wins two, Equipment Depot loses two.
Equipment Depot then refused to comply with the JAGC and the NLRB Region 13 rulings. The employer filed an appeal of the Region 13 ruling to the NLRB Board of Appeals in Washington D.C. The NLRB Board of Appeals upheld the Region 13 ruling in favor of 705. Local 705 wins three, Equipment Depot loses three.
Equipment Depot chose to ignore every edict ruling in favor of 705 and filed a suit in U.S. District Court
, Northern District of Illinois, against 705. The same arguments were presented to the Honorable Ronald A. Guzman. Justice Guzman also ruled in favor of 705. Local 705 wins four, Equipment Depot loses four.In a matter of months Equipment Depot laboriously took on 705 four times and lost each time. From the Joint Area Grievance Committee, to the NLRB, to the NLRB Board of Appeals and then the U.S. District Court
, 705 stood strong and won the fight at each level. Through the efforts of 705 and Gary Russell, 705 members Howard Lind and John Reidy, collected a combined amount of forty five thousand fifty-seven dollars and four cents ($45,057.04) in back pay and benefits.