Kolkka

This appeal presents the question of whether an employer may refuse to bargain with certified representatives of its employees because some of the voting employees were undocumented aliens. We hold that an employer may not do so, and grant the National Labor Relations Board’s petition for enforcement of its cease and desist order.

I

John Kolkka is the sole proprietor of a sauna and furniture manufacturing business known as Kolkka Tables and Finnish-Ameri *939 can Saunas (“Kolkka”). He employs approximately fifty persons in his factory. In May 1996, the Carpenters Union Local 2236 (“the Union”) filed a petition requesting the right to hold an election among Kolkka’s employees. Shortly after receipt of the petition, Kolkka suspended several employees on the suspicion that they were undocumented alien workers, but notified the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) that the employees would be granted a short period to demonstrate proper documentation. The Union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB, which is not at issue in this appeal, alleging that Kolkka was using the threat of deportation to discourage support for the Union. The employees submitted additional…