Opinion ID: 769851
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bargaining from scratch

Text: 44 The Board found that the Company violated § 8(a)(1) by stating that any negotiations would begin at zero. In his testimony before the ALJ, Boraski alleges that he said that employees could obtain more or less in wages and benefits than they currently had. While he does indicate that he put out a memo to this effect, he also testified that, in meetings with employees: 45 I said that collective bargaining, whenever you bargain with the Union, you start - you start at zero, you don't start where you're at right now, you don't start with you existing wages, you don'tstart with you existing benefits, you start at zero. 46 J.A. at 495. 47 An employer's statement that after unionization bargaining will begin from scratch can be coercive, and therefore a violation of § 8(a)(1), depending on the context of the statement. See TRW-United Greenfield Div. v. NLRB, 637 F.2d 410, 420 (5th Cir. 1981). Coercive statements are those which indicate that the employer will adopt a regressive bargaining stance or lowered benefits to penalize workers for unionization, and are viewed in the context of other statements or actions by the employer. See id. at 421. Given the statements that Boraski himself admits to making and the atmosphere of anti-union animus at the Company, the Board's finding is clearly supported by substantial evidence.