Opinion ID: 457900
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Remedy Order

Text: 27 The Union alleged in its complaint that the Employer violated the Act by granting wage increases to newly hired employees on or about January 1, 1981. The Employer admitted that it granted wage increases on January 1 to the minimum wage but not for reasons violative of the Act. In August 1981, the Employer granted a 30 cent wage increase to those hired before January 1, 1981 and a 5 cent increase to new employees. These increases had the effect of reducing the pay differential between the two groups. The Board found the August increases to be unilateral and violative of the Act, but that they were intended to make up for the failure to grant wage increases in January 1981. 28 The Union argues that the intent of the unilateral wage increases was to divide the senior and new employees and create conflicts. The Union maintains that the only appropriate remedy to these violations is an order requiring the Employer make employees whole by granting to employees all the wage increases given unilaterally to some employees to discourage protected activities. 29 The Board's order directed the Employer to make whole the employees who were unlawfully denied increases in January 1981, but does not order the Employer to restore the wage differential. The Board contends that the fact that in some situations some employees may no longer be earning the same percent more than their fellow employees does not compel the Board to order restoration of the wage differential. According to the Board, in terms of real earnings, the order places the employees in the same position they would have been in but for the Employer's unlawful conduct. 30 It is for the Board, not courts, to determine how the effect of prior unfair labor practices may be expunged, and where findings of unfair labor practices by an employer are supported by substantial evidence on the whole record, the Board must be given broad authority to restore the status quo ante and to make whole any losses suffered by employees because of unfair labor practices. Hinson v. NLRB, 428 F.2d 133, 136 (8th Cir.1970). 31 The National Labor Relations Board's power to fashion remedies places a premium upon agency expertise and experience, and broad discretion involved is for the agency and not the reviewing court to exercise. Amalgamated Clothing Workers v. NLRB, 371 F.2d 740, 746 (D.C.Cir.1966). We cannot say that the traditional relief provided here will be so ineffective to enforce the policies of the Act as to be insufficient as a matter of law. 32 The National Labor Relations Board draws on a fund of knowledge and expertise all its own, and its choice of remedy must therefore be given special respect by reviewing courts. DeQueen, supra, 744 F.2d at 619, quoting NLRB v. Gissel, 395 U.S. 575, 612 n. 32, 89 S.Ct. 1918, 1939 n. 32, 23 L.Ed.2d 547 (1969). The Board possesses broad discretion to fashion appropriate remedies once the unfair labor practice is established, and the authority of the court of appeals to review remedial provisions of the Board's order is limited. NLRB v. J.S. Alberici Construction Co., 591 F.2d 463, 468 (8th Cir.1979). A court may not ordinarily modify a remedy ordered by the Board, because Congress has invested the Board, not the courts, with    discretion to    [fashion remedies that] 'will effectuate the policies of [the Act].'  NLRB v. Food Store Employees Union, Local 347, 417 U.S. 1, 8, 94 S.Ct. 2074, 2079, 40 L.Ed.2d 612 (1974), (quoting 29 U.S.C. Sec. 160(c)). We conclude the Board did not abuse its discretion in the selection of the remedy. 33 Because we find substantial evidence on the record as a whole supporting the Board's order, that order is hereby affirmed.