Court Opinion

ID: 9444288
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 20:55:15.488543+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:47.863325
License: Public Domain

BONE, Circuit Judge
(dissenting),
j wou]d deny enforcement of the Board’s order as it was modified by the majority
_ unusual facts shown by the record *n this case clearly indicate that an abrupt demand for a wage increase was ®rst made by the inserters on certain minor employees of respondent then engaged in and about respondent’s plant. The demand was carefully timed to come at an hour on late Saturday evening when these minor employees faced the necessity of then getting out the Sunday edition of the paper to meet certain time schedules. The demand was in the form of an ultimatum — “grant us the demanded raise at onf or get the PaPers out any way you can‘
As the prevailing opinion points out, f e“PIoyef, (fdmonds) who ordinarily handled collective bargaining matters was then called from his home, arriving after the inserters had stopped work at 7:00 p. m. Some colloquy then ensued, but nothing in the record suggests that Edmonds possessed authority to summarily grant the demanded raise without any consultation with the owners of the newspaper. The fact that even the opportunity for such a consultation was completely foreclosed by the terms of the wage demand, is a circumstance which *712seems to have absolutely no significance in the eyes of the Board officials.
„ Much in the way of fulsome praise of the “collective bargaining” procedure has appeared in court comments and in articles by those friendly to organized labor. But the circumstances here presented clearly indicate that the time element made “bargaining” of any sort an utter impossibility. The inserters made abundantly plain that they wanted no palaver over the matter of compensation; that so far as they were concerned, the Sunday issue of the paper could remain in the plant. The action of the Board officials indicates that they thought this course was eminently proper. If the theory is sound, every railroad union in America could meet, formulate a general demand for higher compensation throughout the nation, and give the railroads five minutes notice to meet the demand or all trains would cease to move. Responsible labor groups do not “bargain” in that fashion.
It is not amiss to point out that a week (or even less) of “negotiations” through official channels might have been quite sufficient to bring about an amicable adjustment of the instant wage demand, and it cannot be doubted that any raise of pay which resulted could have been made retroactive to cover the Saturday work and future work. The action of the inserters, along with that of the Board, made impossible such a reasonable solution. The least that can be said about ... ,. ...... ,,, , this suggestion is that it would have end- ..... , . , , ed this tempest m a teapot.
The incontinent haste which characterizes every aspect of this very unusual proceeding is not calculated to add dignity to Board proceedings or encourage collective bargaining. It justifies application of the pointed and pertinent remarks of the Fifth Circuit appearing in the first two paragraphs of the opinion in N.L.R.B. v. Roscoe Skipper, Inc., 213 F. 2d 793.’