National Labor Relations Board v. District Council of Painters, No. 52, Afl-Cio, Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America

The National Labor Relations Board, having found the Respondent Union guilty of unfair labor practices in that the Union caused Maynard C. Belvoir, a painting contractor, to discharge one Cecil C. Johnson because he was not a member of the Union, has petitioned this Court for a decree enforcing the final order of the Board. The Respondent has informed the Court that it here contests “only so much of the petition for enforcement as requires it to inform the Company that it has no objection to the employment of [Johnson], and to make payments to [Johnson].” (Br. 3). The Respondent does not contest the finding of unfair labor practices, and indeed, the entire thrust of Respondent’s brief and oral argument is aimed solely at showing that portions of the final order of the Board should not be enforced because of “patent inequity.”

The facts are fairly simple. Belvoir and the Union had entered into a collective bargaining agreement which required Belvoir to hire only applicants referred through the dispatch procedures of the Union hiring hall. The Union, in turn, was required not to discriminate between Union members and non-members in making referrals. Johnson, a non-member, was hired…