National Labor Relations Board v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 340

The NLRB has petitioned for enforcement of its order holding the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 340 (“the Union”) in violation of Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act (“the Act”) 29 U.S.C. § 158 (b)(1)(B) (1982). The Union had fined three of its members for violating a union bylaw prohibiting union members from working for nonunion employers. The Board held that two of the members were supervisors under Section 2(11) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 152 (11) (1982) and/or representatives of their employers for collective bargaining and grievance adjustment purposes within the meaning of Section 8(b)(1)(B) and that the Union discipline was thus an unfair labor practice (“ULP”). Although the Union had disclaimed interest in representing the employees of these employers, the Board held that it still had an intent to represent the employees, thus distinguishing the present case from NLRB v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 73, 714 F.2d 870 (9th Cir.1980) (

BACKGROUND

Royal Electric (“Royal”) and Nutter Electric (“Nutter”) are electrical contractors who belong to National Electrical…