Reference no: EM131292425

On August 6, the collective bargaining agreement between the company and the union expired. Two days later, the union called a strike at the company's facilities, including those at 3303 Express Lane, St. Louis, Missouri. The strike ended on August 28 with the signing of a new three-year agreement. The following day, employees began returning to work. During the strike, a substantial number of bargaining unit employees at the plant crossed the union's picket line and continued to work. On September 2, the union distributed materials to its union stewards for posting on bulletin boards maintained by the union at the company's facilities. One of the items posted was a commentary by author Jack London, entitled ‘‘Definition of a Scab'': After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a SCAB. A SCAB is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water-logged brain, and a combination backbone of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles. When a SCAB comes down the street men turn their backs and angels weep in Heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of Hell to keep him out. No man has the right to SCAB, so long as there is a pool of water deep enough to drown his body in or a rope long enough to hang his carcass with. Judas Iscariot was a gentleman ... compared with a SCAB; for betraying his master, he had the character to hang himself-a SCAB hasn't. Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Judas Iscariot sold his Savior for thirty pieces of silver. Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commission in the British Army. The modern strikebreaker sells his birthright, his country, his wife, his children, and his fellow man for an unfulfilled promise from his employer, trust or corporation. Esau was a traitor to himself. Judas Iscariot was a traitor to his God. Benedict Arnold was a traitor to his country. A strikebreaker is a traitor to himself, a traitor to his God, a traitor to his country, a traitor to his family, and a traitor to his class. THERE IS NOTHING LOWER THAN A SCAB. ... Union steward Cora Able immediately posted the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' along with another article, entitled ‘‘From Cora's Desk,'' praising the strikers and criticizing those who remained on the job, on a union bulletin board in the computer terminal room, adjacent to Room 102 at the company's plant. Able posted the items in response to a memo from chief union steward, employee Anita Cain, requesting that she do so. Able has been responsible for posting material on the union bulletin board in the computer terminal room since she became the union job steward three years ago. Able had previously posted campaign literature regarding candidates for union office, notices of union meetings, and articles from union newsletters on this bulletin board. Able had also removed comic strips from the bulletin board. Before September 2, no company supervisor had ever told Able what she could or could not post on the union's bulletin board, nor had any company supervisor ever removed anything from this board before this date. The company had no written rules concerning the posting of literature on the union's bulletin boards on the company's premises. Neither the current nor previous collective bargaining agreements covering bargaining unit employees contained any provision regarding the union's bulletin boards at the company's facilities. During the afternoon of September 2, company supervisor Joe Bay saw several employees near the bulletin board, apparently reading the posted articles. Supervisor Bay removed the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' and deposited it in a garbage can. Union steward Able noticed that the article had been removed and asked Bay where it was. Supervisor Bay told her he had removed it, balled it up, and thrown it into the garbage can. Union steward Able took the sheet from the can, then got another copy from her desk, and hung it on the union bulletin board. In the presence of several other employees, supervisor Bay promptly snatched this copy down, telling Able, ‘‘this mess [isn't] going to hang up here.'' Bay then specifically prohibited Able from posting another copy and warned her of disciplinary action if she did so. Able called the chief union steward who spoke to supervisor Bay, requesting that he leave the literature on the bulletin board. Bay then told the chief union steward that the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' had 408 no business on the board and was causing animosity among the clerks. A half-hour later, supervisor Linda Trevino informed union steward Able that another supervisor, Ralph Coe, wanted to see her. Coe had a copy of the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' in his hand, and he told Able, ‘‘We're not going to have this mess hanging in this office.'' In the presence of supervisors Trevino and Bay, Coe also warned Able that she could be disciplined ‘‘for insubordination.'' Union steward Able asked to be excused and on returning to her desk called chief union steward Miller again. Fifteen minutes later, supervisor Trevino told Able, ‘‘We would like to see you for five minutes.'' Able told Trevino that she did not want to go back to supervisor Coe's office. However, Able complied on Trevino's assurance that the return to Coe's office would take only five minutes, long enough to receive an apology. In Coe's office, Able was asked to tell her side of the incident. Supervisor Coe apologized, as did supervisor Bay, for the way they had treated Able in front of the other employees. Coe did not retract his support for supervisor Bay's action in removing the article and preventing its reposting. On September 1, union job steward Milton Musk posted a copy of the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' on a union bulletin board located in a break room next to Rooms 208 and 209, the Switching Control Center, at the company's plant. Musk had been responsible for posting material on this bulletin board for the past three years. As a matter of practice, Musk had posted on the board notices of union meetings, listings of job vacancies provided to the union, lists of union officers' names, announcements for an employee charitable organization, and the campaign material of candidates for union office. Occasionally, Musk removed cartoons from the board that had been posted by employees. Before September 1, no supervisor had ever told Musk what he could or could not post on the union bulletin board. The ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' remained on the union bulletin board in the Switching Control Center break room until about 4 P.M., September 1. About that time, supervisor Wesley Vie directed Musk to remove ‘‘Definition of a Scab.'' Union steward Musk said he did not wish to do so. Supervisor Vie removed the printed copy of the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' as Musk watched. The following day, before 7 A.M., the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' again appeared on the bulletin board. Supervisor Tom Davis summoned union steward Musk to his office at approximately 8 A.M. and told him to take down the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' from the union's bulletin board. Musk protested that he did not put it up, and he should not have to take it down. Supervisor Davis then warned Musk that he would suspend him if he continued to refuse to obey the order to take it down. Supervisor Davis asked for Musk's building pass and key, whereupon Musk requested permission to make a telephone call. After consulting a union district steward, Musk removed the ‘‘Definition of a Scab.'' Musk again told Davis that it was unfair that he had to remove the article when he had not posted it. Supervisor Davis told Musk that he ‘‘didn't want trash like that posted.'' The union filed an unfair labor practice charge contending that the company violated Section 8(a)(1) of the LMRA by removing the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' from union bulletin boards and by threatening employees with punishment if they posted or reposted the item on those bulletin boards. The company denied that it violated the LMRA on the grounds that the posting of Jack London's pejorative appraisal of non-striking employees had disrupted the discipline of its employees and thus was beyond the protection of Sections 7 and 8(a)(1) of the act. Questions

1. How does a union gain the right to use bulletin boards on a company's premises?

2. Why was the union so insistent on having the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' posted on the bulletin board?

3. Since the union is already recognized as the exclusive bargaining unit representative and the new contract terms have been settled, how or why does Section (8)(a)(1) apply to this case?

4. Did the supervisors' removal of the posted union material and threats to discipline union members for reposting the ‘‘Definition of a Scab'' constitute an unfair labor practice under the LMRA? Explain your reasoning.