Opinion ID: 381257
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Union's Misconduct

Text: 12 From late April, when the Union was first confronted with Grede's unfair labor practices, the Union countered by appeals to the remedial processes of the Board and without recourse to its ultimate economic weapon. But on July 21, the Union struck. From its first moments the strike was marked by myriad instances of Union misconduct. 13 On the basis of the misconduct of the Union during the course of its strike, the Board found a violation of section 8(b)(1)(A) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(1)(A) (1976). Because the Union's petition for review has been dismissed on joint motion of the parties, we have no occasion to pass on the correctness of that determination. The Union's strike misconduct does, however, set the background for the second major issue in this case: whether the Board abused its discretion in ordering Grede to take certain affirmative actions as a remedy for the employer's conduct.II. THE REMEDY 14 Ordinarily, the remedy for a company's refusal to bargain with an already authorized employee representative is an order directing the company to meet with the union and bargain in good faith. See Glomac Plastics, Inc. v. NLRB, 592 F.2d 94, 101-02 (2d Cir.), supplemental opinion, 600 F.2d 3 (2d Cir. 1979); NLRB v. Key Motors Corp., 579 F.2d 1388, 1390 (7th Cir. 1978); Ex-Cell-O Corp. v. NLRB, 449 F.2d 1058, 1063 (D.C. Cir. 1971); NLRB v. Patent Trader, Inc., 426 F.2d 791, 792 (2d Cir. 1970) (en banc). 3 Such a bargaining order is, accordingly, the customary remedy when the employer's refusal to bargain is incident to its decertification campaign. See NLRB v. Triumph Curing Center, supra, 571 F.2d at 478; NLRB v. A. W. Thompson, Inc., supra, 449 F.2d at 1336-37. However, there have been a few cases in which a bargaining order was withheld and a remedial election ordered instead because the union had responded to the employer's unfair labor practices by its own misconduct of the most brazen and egregious sort. Relying on those case, the Administrative Law Judge in the case under review proposed withholding the bargaining order and requiring a remedial election in its place. On appeal, the Board rejected that recommendation and required Grede to bargain with the Union on the Union's request. In explaining its decision, the Board said that the misconduct attributable to the Union in light of the serious provocation by the Company which preceded it . . . (is) an insufficient basis for withholding what would otherwise be the ordinary and necessary remedy for the Company's unfair labor practices. 235 N.L.R.B. at 366. 15 The function of this court in reviewing a remedial order of the Board is limited. Because the relation of remedy to policy is so singularly connected to the Labor Board's special competence and enlightenment gained from its experience, the board is afforded broad discretion to fashion remedies that will effectuate the policies of the Act. Fibreboard Corp. v. NLRB, 379 U.S. 203, 215-16, 85 S.Ct. 398, 405, 13 L.Ed.2d 233 (1964). (I)ts choice of remedy must therefore be given special respect by reviewing courts. NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. 575, 612 n. 32, 89 S.Ct. 1918, 1939, n. 32, 23 L.Ed.2d 547 (1969). See also United Steelworkers v. NLRB, 430 F.2d 519, 520 (D.C. Cir. 1970). Its remedies will be enforced  'unless it can be shown that the order is a patent attempt to achieve ends other than those which can fairly be said to effectuate the policies of the Act,'  Fibreboard Corp. v. NLRB, supra, 379 U.S. at 216, 85 S.Ct. at 406. 4 Due to changed circumstances in the facts of this case, we now find it unnecessary to decide whether the bargaining order issued by the Board was appropriate in this case. 16 To remedy Grede's unfair labor practices at the Maywood plant, the Board ordered that Grede cease and desist from that and similar conduct, and that Grede take specified affirmative action to offset the effects of its prior violations. The bargaining order was one, but only one, part of the affirmative action which the Board required Grede to take. Since the time the Board issued its final order, however, the facts as they relate to the propriety of its remedy have materially changed; the thrust of that order must also be changed. 17 After the Board rendered its decision in this case, Grede sold the Maywood plant to an unrelated company. That successor employer has reinstated those striking employees eligible for reinstatement, has recognized the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative, and has entered into a collective bargaining agreement. In these circumstances, to enforce the Board's order as originally issued would be to require Grede to do both what has already been done by another and what Grede no longer has authority to do. 18 At oral argument, counsel for the Board explained the Board's practice in such cases. An order issued by the Board is forwarded to a compliance officer in the appropriate regional office. That officer is authorized to accept as compliance with the Board's order something other than what the order specifically directs if doing so is made necessary by changed circumstances. In effect, this practice gives the regional compliance officer de facto authority to modify a Board order to adjust to changing circumstances. 19 Whatever the wisdom and propriety of such a practice for the Board, it is neither wise nor proper for the Board to petition this court to enforce an order which has become unenforceable or senseless at the time enforcement is sought. Nor will this court enforce a Board order with the tacit understanding that it is subject to de facto modification by some agent of the Board. If a change in circumstances materially affecting the Board's order occurs between the time that order becomes fixed, see NLRA § 10(d), 29 U.S.C. § 160(d) (1976), and the time it is enforced by this court, it is expected that the Board will take appropriate action, either to withdraw its petition for enforcement or to recommend to this court how the Board's order might be modified to comport with the changed reality. 20 This does not imply that changed circumstances like those in this case will make a Board order moot. Generally, they will not. See NLRB v. Raytheon Co., 398 U.S. 25, 90 S.Ct. 1547, 26 L.Ed.2d 21 (1970); NLRB v. Family Heritage Homes-Beaver Dam, Inc., 491 F.2d 347, 350-51 (7th Cir. 1974); NLRB v. West Coast Casket Co., 469 F.2d 871, 873 (1972); Cap Santa Vue, Inc. v. NLRB, 424 F.2d 883, 886 (D.C. Cir. 1970). Moreover, the Board may in a proper case order a successor company which has not violated the Act to remedy the unfair labor practices of its predecessor. Golden State Bottling Co. v. NLRB, 414 U.S. 168, 94 S.Ct. 414, 38 L.Ed.2d 388 (1973). Nevertheless, a court in its supervisory role may decline to enforce portions of a Board order that require affirmative action when that particular action has become futile at the time enforcement is sought. See Cagle's Inc. v. NLRB, 588 F.2d 943, 951 (5th Cir. 1979); Brockway Motor Trucks v. NLRB, 582 F.2d 720, 740 (3rd Cir. 1978). 21 In the case under review, the Board, at the request of the court, has provided a modified version of its order; that is the order the Board now requests to have enforced. The Board's recommended order does not require that Grede bargain with the Union but only that it cease and desist from its unlawful interference with its employees' statutory rights and that it mail a notice to its former employees that it will not again violate their rights as it had done during the recent dispute. We will accept the Board's recommendation with some slight adjustments to correct what appear to be oversights in drafting. 5 The order, as thus modified, is set forth in the appendix to this opinion. That order is, in our view, an appropriate means by which the unfair labor practices found to be committed by Grede might be remedied. 22 For the foregoing reasons, the company's petition for review is denied, and the Board's order, as modified by this court, is enforced. 23 It is so ordered.