NLRB v. BROWN SPECIALTY COMPANY, 18278.
| Decision Date | 22 February 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 18278.,18278. |
| Citation | 436 F.2d 372 |
| Parties | NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. BROWN SPECIALTY COMPANY, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Marcel Mallet Prevost, Asst. General Counsel, Corina Metcalf, Atty., N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C., Arnold Ordman, Gen. Counsel, Dominick L. Manoli, Associate Gen. Counsel, Abigail Cooley Baskir, Angelo V. Arcadipane, Attys., N.L.R.B., for petitioner.
Burrel Barash, Barash & Stoerzbach, Galesburg, Ill., for Brown Specialty Co.
Before DUFFY, Senior Circuit Judge, FAIRCHILD and PELL, Circuit Judges.
The Labor Board petitions for enforcement of its order and its supplemental order issued on February 14, 1969 and January 27, 1970, respectively, against Brown Specialty Company (Company). The Board's decision and order and its supplementary decision and order are reported at 174 N.L.R.B. No. 77 and 180 N.L.R.B. No. 149, respectively.
The Board found the Company violated Section 8(a) (1) of the Act in opposing the organizational drive of the Union,1 by systematically and coercively interrogating its employees concerning their union membership and activities; creating the impression of surveillance; soliciting employees to withdraw union authorization cards; threatening to make working conditions more onerous; threatening to eliminate employees if the union succeeded in organizing the plant; and warning employees that they were jeopardizing their jobs by signing union cards.
The Board also found the Company violated Section 8(a) (5) and (1) of the Act by refusing to recognize and bargain with the union as the designated bargaining representative of a majority of its employees in a concededly appropriate unit.
The Board ordered the Company to cease and desist from all unfair labor practices found, and further issued a bargaining order directing the Company to bargain with the union as the lawfully designated representative of a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit.
On February 3, 1968, Walter Bruner, President of the union, addressed a meeting of five of the Company's fourteen office and clerical employees, which was held at the home of employee Michele Swanson. Bruner explained that by the signing of a union application card, the employees were designating the union as their exclusive collective-bargaining representative. He also stated that should the Company deny recognition, one of the purposes of the cards was to secure an election.
Thereafter, employee Michele Swanson solicited and obtained five additional signed authorization cards from her fellow employees. There was testimony that in each case, the representation was made that the employees would have an election.
On February 12, 1968, Bruner sent a letter to Company President Golofsky asserting that the union possessed signed cards from a majority of the Company's employees in the appropriate unit and requested a date for a meeting to negotiate a contract. The Company made no response to this demand and the union filed a petition for an election on February 19th. The union claims that management responded with an anti-union campaign.
Several days after receiving the union demand for recognition, Supervisor Olson asked employee Martha Dahl whether she was in favor of the union. On February 19, Olson asked employee Rossie Sargeant if she knew anything about the union activities and why she wanted a union. She told Olson she wanted better wages and he then told her if the union prevailed "things would be different."
Also, on February 19, Olson asked employee Linda Jackson if she had signed a union card and if she knew about a meeting that was held to sign cards. Olson told her that President Golofsky would shortly summon the employees to his office and ask them to give reasons for signing the union cards. Olson stated that by going behind the President's back in an underhanded and backward manner, the employees were forcing the President to take "drastic measures", and that the President could eliminate all the employees and still conduct the business. Later, on February 19, Olson told employee Jackson he knew who started the "union business" and where the meeting was held. He also recommended that "things were definitely going to get rougher if the union went through."
On February 20, President Golofsky call Fred Newman, the father of employee Susan Newman, asking him to talk to his daughter about getting back her union authorization card.
The next day, President Golofsky asked employees Virginia Fall and Marion Witherbee whether they had signed union cards. When neither responded to his question, he told them that if the union came in, he would discontinue his present lenient practices and dock...
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