Allied Industries Employees, Teamsters, Local 481, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. National Labor Relations Board

MEMORANDUM *

We affirm the decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in all respects except the NLRB’s conclusion that Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (BFS) engaged in solicitation in the three-store unit, which we reverse. We grant in part the NLRB’s petition for enforcement.

1. THE COMPLAINT AMENDMENTS

A. Section 10(b)

Section 10(b)’s six-month statute of limitations applies to the period between the occurrence of the alleged unfair labor practice and the filing of the charge, not the filing of the complaint. 1 Thus, amending the complaint did not violate the limitations period. 2 However, Section 10(b) circumscribes the NLRB’s ability to amend complaints in a different respect: the statute authorizes the NLRB to “issue[ ] complaints only when charges have been filed and not on its own initiative.” 3 Thus, “[t]he instant case does not involve an untimely charge but merely whether the [Union’s] chargefs] ... [are] sufficient” 4 to support the complaint amendments.

In this circuit, the original charge and the complaint amendments “need be close enough only to negate the possibility that the Board is proceeding on its own initiative rather than pursuant to a charge .”…