Court Opinion

ID: 9427559
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:21:11.504391+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:08.035365
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Powell,
concurring.
The Court today holds that prices for in-plant cafeteria and vending machine food and beverages are “terms and conditions of employment” subject to mandatory collective bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act. Although this view of the Act has been taken consistently by the National Labor Relations Board, none of the courts of appeals *504has agreed with the absolute approach of the Board. Rather, these courts in general have taken the position that whether bargaining with respect to in-plant food service was required depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. Although the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit enforced the Board’s order in this case, it did so on a “facts and circumstances” basis.
I had thought that the case-by-case approach was more likely to be fair to both employer and union than is the mandatory bargaining rule adopted today. The conditions and circumstances under which in-plant food service is provided can and do vary widely among the thousands of enterprises subject to the Act. Yet, curiously enough, neither petitioner nor respondent union in this case supports the “facts and circumstances” approach of the Court of Appeals. On balance, I suppose there is merit in having a “bright line” with respect to this issue. This does put the parties to all collective bargaining on prior notice, with a reasonable expectation that the issue usually will be resolved in advance at the bargaining table. I am, therefore, persuaded to join the Court’s opinion.