Reference no: EM132875447
CASE STUDY UPPER RUBBER BOOT NEWS COMPANY
The URB News Company carries on business as a newspaper publisher and general print shop. The firm was founded in 1923 as a general printing business by Martha Wilson, and later merged with the Upper Rubber Boot Press which was established as a weekly newspaper in 1925. The latter was only a marginally successful operation, due to the lack of interest in business management on the part of its founder, James Miller. The merger brought together the management skills of Wilson and the newspaper expertise of Miller, and the business flourished. Over time, the company moved through the hands of succeeding generations of the two families, with the Wilson family maintaining responsibility for the general management of the firm, and the Miller family the newspaper editorial and publishing aspects of the business.
At the present time, the company publishes a daily newspaper and employs a staff of twenty-four people, exclusive of the members of the two families, who occupy most of the senior management positions in the firm. The employees are not currently represented by a trade union, but a labour union recently began organizing the employees with a view to making an application for certification as the bargaining agent for the newsroom employees. The employees in the printing plant are not organized, but receive wages and benefits in line with those received by unionized printers in the area.
The union organizing campaign in the newsroom began under most unusual circumstances. A young male member of the Wilson family, aged 23, on the completion of his community college journalism and photography program was placed in a position of news photographer, a position in the business traditionally occupied by a member of the Miller family. All went well for the first few months, but unfortunately, an incident took place that triggered his demotion and the organization of the firm by the union.
Wilson Jr. had returned from an assignment on September 8, and in an effort to get a number of pictures into the newspaper that morning had left his camera and equipment in the unlocked company car which he had parked in front of the company offices. On his return to the car, he discovered that his camera and equipment had been stolen. He reported that theft to the managing editor, who informed him the contents stolen from a company car were only insured if they belonged to the company and that since the camera and equipment belonged to Wilson Jr. personally, he would have to suffer the loss for his own carelessness.
The attitude of the managing editor, who was a member of the Miller family, annoyed Wilson Jr., and he immediately responded with an angry tirade of words which rather bluntly questioned the sanity and legitimacy of all members of the Miller family in general, and the managing editor in particular. He then marched from the office and slammed the door. Later that day, Wilson Jr. was relieved of his duties in the newsroom, and his employment left with his father, Wilson Sr., who was the business manager, to determine. Wilson Jr. was eventually assigned to an unskilled position in the printing area of the plant.
Shortly after his demotion, Wilson Jr. contacted a representative of the Newspaper Worker's Union, and offered to help him organize the newsroom. The union representative was wary of the offer initially, but after listening to the story, agreed to organize the employees, provided that Wilson would give him a list of employee's names and home addresses. Wilson Jr. agreed. He also joined the union at his meeting with the representative.
During the week that followed, the union representative contacted most of the newsroom employees in an effort to convince them that they should be represented by a union. Many were interested and signed cards, and the representative was optimistic that a majority of newsroom employees would favor collective bargaining. When he had almost exhausted the list of names, he determined over two thirds of the employees had joined the union. At this point, however, his campaign ran into difficulty.
One of the last few names on the list was Denise Smith, a married daughter of the managing editor, and a name that Wilson Jr. had forgotten to delete from the list of employees he had given to the union Representative. Denise had said nothing about her relationship in the firm to the union representative when he contacted her and urged her to join the union, but immediately after he had left her home, she telephoned her father and informed him of the organizing campaign and that Wilson Jr. had apparently instigated the unionization of the firm.
On September 19, the next day, at an emergency meeting of the management, members of both families agreed that Wilson Jr. (who was absent from the meeting), should be terminated for his actions in the newsroom on September 8. It was also agreed that the newsroom employees should be called together and the whole story behind the unionization told to them.
At 4:30 that afternoon, the managing editor called together the newsroom employees and at the commencement of the meeting explained that he wished to talk to them about the fact that a union was trying to organize the newspaper part of the business, and that any employee who did not wish to hear what he was about to say could leave. He also stated that he wished to make it very clear to all present that they had the right to organize if they wished to do so, and the company would not interfere in any way with the exercise of their rights. When no one left the room, he explained the incident that took place between Wilson Jr. and himself, and how his daughter had been informed by the union representative that the union had been called by Wilson Jr. to organize the newsroom. He then explained that the company had tried to treat all employees fairly in the past, and had attempted to pay the best wages and benefits that it could afford, yet remain competitive with a large city newspaper that sold in the area. He concluded his remarks by saying that he did not personally think that the employees needed a union, but if they decided to have one, the company would respect their wishes. At that point he began to leave the room, but before doing so, told the employees that they were free to leave work for the day since quitting time was only twenty minutes away.
A number of events took place after the editor's talk with the employees. The next day, many of the employees approached Denise Smith and told her that they had reconsidered their intention to be represented by a union, and it was their intention to vote against the union if it applied for certification. Denise said nothing in response to each of these voluntary statements, but thanked each employee for their support for her father. On the same day, the union filed its application for certification as the bargaining agent of the newsroom employees, and Wilson Jr. filed a complaint with the labour relations board on the basis that he had been dismissed because he was a member of the union and exercising his rights under the Trade Union Act.
Other events took place as a result of the unionization. The next day, September 20, while Wilson Jr. entertained a lady friend at dinner, persons unknown apparently coated the black leather seats of his open sports car with printer's ink. Wilson Jr. and his female friend failed to notice the ink on the seat when they returned to the company parking lot to pick up the car after dinner, and with predictable results, the ink ruined their clothing and their friendship.
Thereafter, the time passed quietly and without incident.
Case Study Questions:
- Using your knowledge of unfair labour practices and of legal employer tactics, evaluate the use of "free speech" by the employer in this case.
- Identify three (3) unfair labour practices that occurred during the organizing campaign, on the part of the employer or union. Explain how the labour relations board might deal with them. Fully explain why each action could be considered an unfair labour practice, by an arbitrator.
- Using the four (4) Labour Relations Board Determinations, explain fully whether or not certification would be granted to the Newspaper Worker's Union.