National Labor Relations Board v. Local Union 497, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Afl-Cio

Local 497 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers appeals a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that the local’s refusal to disclose to employers the names and addresses of all persons subject to a union hiring hall referral procedure is an unfair labor practice. We affirm.

Local 497, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, maintained a hiring hall that by collective bargaining agreement was the exclusive source of electrical workers in the contract area. During negotiations over a new contract, the multiple employer association expressed dissatisfaction with the hiring hall provision, claiming that those referred to the employers were often incompetent. As part of these negotiations, the employers demanded the names and addresses of all union members using the hiring hall, claiming that this would aid in determining the competence of workers. The union agreed to permit the employers to examine the records, but refused to allow the employers to copy them. It claimed that the employers’ motive for seeking the records was not to determine competence, but to collect names and addresses for antiunion purposes, including the hiring of union members…