Opinion ID: 383736
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: NLRB v. Gissel

Text: 40 Our analysis of the authority of the Board to issue a bargaining order must begin with the Supreme Court's decision in NLRB v. Gissel, 395 U.S. 575, 89 S.Ct. 1918, 23 L.Ed.2d 547 (1969). Since Gissel is factually distinguishable from this case we must determine whether these factual differences are sufficiently significant to make the precepts announced in Gissel inapplicable to the instant case. An additional problem we must consider is whether in Gissel the Supreme Court was impliedly approving the rationale that the Board could issue a bargaining order in cases where the union neither won the election nor had a card majority. 41 First, as to the factual differences, in each of the four cases consolidated in Gissel, union authorization cards had been obtained from a majority of the employees; 10 in contrast here there is no finding that the Union ever had authorization cards from a majority of the employees. Does the fact that the Union in this case does not have a majority of Union authorization cards make Gissel inapplicable? Of course one might argue that a case approving bargaining orders where the union had a majority of the authorization cards is not a viable precedent for a bargaining order when the union has never had a majority. However, in justifying the issuance of bargaining orders in those cases where less than egregious unfair labor practices had been committed, the Court in Gissel noted with seeming approval a decision of the Fourth Circuit approving the issuance of a bargaining order when egregious unfair practices had been committed, even though there might be no objective evidence from an election or card majority of the union's majority support. The Gissel court stated in full: 42 Before considering whether the bargaining orders were appropriately entered in these cases, we should summarize the factors that go into such a determination. Despite our reversal of the Fourth Circuit below in Nos. 573 and 691 on all major issues, the actual area of disagreement between our position here and that of the Fourth Circuit is not large as a practical matter. While refusing to validate the general use of a bargaining order in reliance on cards, the Fourth Circuit nevertheless left open the possibility of imposing a bargaining order, without need of inquiry into majority status on the basis of cards or otherwise, in exceptional cases marked by outrageous and pervasive unfair labor practices. Such an order would be an appropriate remedy for those practices, the court noted, if they are of such a nature that their coercive effects cannot be eliminated by the application of traditional remedies, with the result that a fair and reliable election cannot be had. NLRB v. S.S. Logan Packing Co., 386 F.2d 562, 570 (C.A. 4th Cir. 1967); see also NLRB v. Heck's, Inc., 398 F.2d 337, 338. The Board itself, we should add, has long had a similar policy of issuing a bargaining order, in the absence of a § 8(a)(5) violation or even a bargaining demand, when that was the only available, effective remedy for substantial unfair labor practices. See, e. g., United Steelworkers of America v. NLRB, 126 U.S.App.D.C. 215, 376 F.2d 770 (1967); J.C. Penney Co., Inc. v. NLRB, 384 F.2d 479, 485-486 (C.A. 10th Cir. 1967). 43 395 U.S. at 613-14, 89 S.Ct. at 1939-1940. By the above discussion, was the Supreme Court advising lower courts of their views as to the Board's power to issue bargaining orders in exceptional cases without need of inquiring into majority status, or was the Court's decision an intellectual excursion not intended as a sign post giving directions which lower courts should follow in the future? Although several commentators have observed that the Court did not specifically endorse the issuance of bargaining orders in the absence of a card majority, 11 virtually every court that has discussed the issue has stated that a bargaining order may be issued in the absence of a card majority. In NLRB v. Armcor Industries Inc., 535 F.2d 239, 244 (3d Cir. 1976), Judge Rosenn, writing for this court, said: 44 It is by now a familiar refrain that the Gissel court posited a tripartite categorization of unfair labor practices for considering the issuance of bargaining orders without requiring elections. First, in exceptional cases marked by outrageous and pervasive unfair labor practices which eliminate the possibility of holding a fair election, a bargaining order may issue even without showing that the union at one point had a card majority. 45 We agree with Judge Rosenn's analysis of Gissel that the Board in exceptional cases has the right to issue bargaining orders even where there is no showing that the union at one point had a card majority. Judge Rosenn's analysis has been repeated almost verbatim in a series of cases in this court, 12 and other courts have agreed with his view. 13 We are mindful, however, that in Armcor the union had signed authorization cards from a majority of the employees and in all of the recent cases in our circuit the Board had found that the union had a majority of signed authorization cards. Because in these cases the courts have not been confronted precisely with the factual situation of this case, we will review the reasoning underlying Gissel in more detail.