NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

66 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
This view was expressed in Matter of Pennsybmtnia Greyhound
Lines 67 the very first case decided by the Board. The complaint
alleged the discharge of nine employees for union activity. The
Board concluded that in regard to five of the employees the company
had committed an unfair labor practice, within section 8 (3), and
stated:
If the motivating cause of the discriminatory change in the tenure of employment
was interference with the employees in the exercise of their guaranteed
rights or discouragement of membership in a labor organization, a violation
is established * * *
In dismissing the complaint as to two of the employees, the Board •
stated:
The record does not support the allegations in the complaint that these two
discharges were for union membership or activity. In so finding, however,
the Board is not unmindful of the fact that these discharges represent the
severest discipline that can be meted out to employees * * * However, on
the whole record the Board is of the opinion that union membership or activity
was not the effective cause for the two discharges.°
The Board has applied section 8 (3) in many cases. A number of
its orders in these cases have been passed upon by the Supreme Court,
and in each that Court has upheld the Board."
In the typical case the employer violates the section by discriminatory
action against an employee because the employee is a member
of, or active in, a• labor organization to which the employer is
Matter of Pennsylvania Greyhound Dines, Inc., etc. and Local Division No. 1063
of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electrical, and Motor Coach Employees of
America, 1 N. L. R. B. 1, order enforced in National Labor Relations Board v. Pen nsyl -vania Greyhound Lines, Inc.,
303 U. S. 261 (1938).
In Matter of Botany Worsted Mills and Textile Workers Organizing Committee,
4 N. L. R. B. 292, the Board stated : "we interpret the intent of Congress as embodied
in the Act to be this, that inasmuch as by Section 8 (3) it is made an unfair labor
practice to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization by discrimination
in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of
employment, it is therefore an unfair labor practice so to discriminate whether or not
the discharge is attributed to a violation of known company rules or 'conditions of * * *
employment." Discrimination involves an intent to distinguish in the treatment of
employees on the basis of union affiliations or activities, thereby encouraging or discouraging
membership in a labor organization * • *" See cases cited below, p. 85.
go National Labor Relations Board v. Jones d Laughlin steel Corporation, 301 U. S. 1
(1937), reversing 83 F. (2d) 198 (C. C. A. 5th, 1936) ; and enforcing Matter of Jones
Laughlin Steel Corporation and Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin -Workers
of North America, Beaver Valley Lodge No. 200, 1 N. L. R. B. 503; National Labor Relations
Board v. Fruehauf Trailer Co., 301 U. S. 49 (1937), reversing 85 F. (2d) 391 (C. C.
A. 6th, 1936) ; and enforcing Matter of Fruehauf Trailer Company and United Automobile
Workers Federal Labor Union No, 19375, 1 N. L. R. B. 08; National Labor Relations Board v.
Friedman-Harry Marks Clothing CO., Inc., 301 U. S. 58 (1937), reversing 85 F. (2d) 1
(C. C. A. 2d, 1936), and enforcing Matter of Friedman-Harry Marks Clothing Co., Inc., and
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, 1 N. L. R. B. 411, 432; Washington, Virginia
4 Maryland Coach. Company V. National Labor Relations Board, 301 U. S. 142 (1937)
affirming 85 F. (2d) 990 (C. C. A. 4th, 1936), and enforcing Matter of Washington, Virginia
d Maryland Coach Company, etc., and Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway
and Motor Coach Employees of America, etc. 1 N. L. R. B. 769; Associated Press V.
National Labor Relations Board, 301 U. S. 103 (1937), affirming 85 F. (2d) 56 (C. C. A.
2d. 1936), and enforcing Matter of The Associated Press and American Newspaper Guild,
1 N. L. R. B. 788; Santa Ortiz Fruit Packin g Company V. National Labor Relations Board,
303 U. S. 453 (1937), affirming 91 F. (2d) 790 (C. C. A. 9th, 1937), and enforcing Matter
of Santa Cruz Fruit Packing Company, etc., and Weighers, Warehousemen and Cereal Workers,
etc.. 1 N. L. It. B. 454; National Labor Relations Board V. Mackay Radio d Telegraph
Company. 304 U. S. 333 (1938), reversing 92 F. (2d) 761 (C. C. A. 9th, 19371. 87 F. (2d)
611 (C. C. A. 9th, 1937). and enforcing Matter of Mackay Radio it Telegraph Company, etc.,
and American Radio Telegraphists' Association. etc., 1 N. L. R. B. 201. In the Associated
Press Case, the Supreme Court stated : "The act permits a discharge for any reason other
than union activity or agitation for collective bargaining with employers . * * The
petitioner is at liberty, whenever occasion may arise, to exercise his Undoubted right to
sever his relationship for any cause that seems to it proper save only as a punishment
for, or discouragement of, such activities as the act declares permissible."