NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

64 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
v,../ 8. FAVORITISM BETWEEN RIVAL UNIONS AS A VIOLATION O' SECTION 8 (1)
One particular situation presented by some of the cases warrants
separate consideration—i. e., the instance of the employer infringing
the Act by campaigning for, or otherwise lending assistance to, one
union against a rival organization, neither of which, however, is •
company-dominated. In Matter of National Electric Products Corporation,59
the United Electrical and Radio Workers of America,
affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, commenced
organizational activities among the employees in March 1936,
and was immediately confronted by company hostility. Some time
in May 1937 the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, initiated a rival
organizing movement at the plant. From the outset, company officials,
foremen, and the plant superintendent actively assisted the
Brotherhood in securing members. Solicitation for that organization
was permitted throughout the plant during working hours. On May
22, 1937, the company agreed in writing to recognize the Brotherhood
as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees. A
local of the brotherhood, however, was first established at the plant
the following day, when its initial meeting was held. A closed-shop
contract between the company and the favored union was consummated
on May 27. 60 All during this period, the United claimed a
majority and attempted in vain to obtain a conference with the company
for collective bargaining purposes. The Brotherhood's claim
of majority representation was accepted by the company without
question. After the agreement was signed, a company official told a
group of employees that "if the A. F. of L. Union is good enough
for the company, it is good enough for * * * you fellows."
Thereafter employees were informed by the company that if they
failed to join the Brotherhood, the equivalent of membership dues
in that union would be deducted from their wages. The Board found
the above course of conduct by the employer to constitute interference,
restraint, and coercion of the employees in the exercise of their
right to self-organization, as guaranteed in section 7, and hence a
violation of section 8 (1).61
In Matter of The Grace Company," the United Garment Workers
of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, secured
a substantial membership among the employees. The company
favored a rival union, the international Ladies' Garment Work-
• 69 Matter or National Electric Products Corporation and United Electrical and Radio
Workers of America, 3 N. L. R. B. 475.
"Prior to the hearing before the Board, the United States District Court for the Western
District of Pennsylvania entered a decree in favor of the Brotherhood, as plaintiff, against
the company, as defendant, specifically enforcing the closed shop contract. However, no
qubstion of unfair practice under the Act was before that court. The Board pointed
out in its decision that section 10 (a) of the Act expressly vests in the Board exclusive
power to prevent unfair labor practices, and exclusive jurisdiction to review and enforce
the Board's orders, in the Circuit Court of Appeals. The Board stated : "This Act embodies
a public policy of national concern and is the supreme law of the land on the subject matter
covered by it. • * a We hold that the decree in question cannot foreclose the Board's
consideration of the validity of the May 27 contract under the Act. • • *"
el For similar cases, see Matter of Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., and
United Electrical and Radio -Workers of America, 4 N. L. R. B. 71, order enforced in
Consolidated Edison Co. V. National Labor Relations Board, 96 (2d) 390 (C. C. A. 2d,
1938) certiorari granted, 304 U. S. 555; Matter of Lenox Shoe Company, Inc. e and United
Shoe Workers of America, 4 N. L. R. B. 372; Matter of National Motor Bearing Company
and International Union United Automobile Workers of America, 5 N. L. R. B. 409; Matter
of Zenite Metal Corporation and United Automobile Workers of America, 5 N. L. R. B.
509; Matter of Missourt-Arkansas Coach Lines, Inc., and The Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen, 7 N. L. R. B. 186.
"Matter of The Grace Company and United Garment Workers of America, 7 N. L. R. B.
766.