Opinion ID: 186950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Curious Case of the Rat and the Placard at the Hospital

Text: 13 In January and February of 2003 the Union distributed leaflets outside the Hospital protesting the presence of non-union workers employed either by Workers Temporary Staffing, Inc. (WTS) or by Massey Metals, Inc., which was using workers supplied by WTS. The handbills stated, There's a `Rat' at Brandon Regional Hospital and showed a cartoon of a rat near the bed of a sick patient. The Union also inflated a balloon, some 16-feet tall and 12-feet wide, in the shape of the cartoon rat, about 100 feet from the main entrance to the hospital. The ALJ concluded the leafleting, one union member's holding the leaflet chest-high as a placard, and the inflation of the rat each violated § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B). 14 The Board reversed the ALJ as to the leafleting because the General Counsel had disavowed that finding. The Board found it unnecessary to pass on whether the inflation of the rat or using the leaflet as a placard violated § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) the Act because, in view of the unfair labor practices found in connection with the mock funeral described below, [a] finding of such a violation as to these matters would be cumulative and would not affect the order.