Court Opinion

ID: 9444450
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 21:01:28.04033+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:52.672918
License: Public Domain

L. HAND, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
The Board’s order directed Heide to stop (a) refusing to bargain with Local 50; (b) recognizing Local 452; (c) performing its agreement of January 1953 with Local 452, until the Board had certified it; (d) and (e) assisting or encouraging Local 452 or discouraging Local 50; and (f) interfering with its employees in their right to bargain collectively. The “Grounds” for these three directions were, (a) that Heide had refused to bargain with Local 50 during a period in 1952 when Local 452 and itself had filed petitions to disestablish Local 50; (b) that after these petitions had been dismissed as premature, in its dealings with Local 50 Heide in bad faith had refused to make any contract beyond the end of the certified year (Oct. 9, 1952); and (c) that it had refused to recognize Local 50 after that time. I am not satisfied with the reasons given by the Board for finding that Heide’s refusal was in bad faith. The first reason is that it had refused to bargain with Local 50 during the pendency of its petition and Local 452’s to revoke Local 50’s certification. I can see no connection between that and its good faith in supposing that after Oct. 9, 1952, Local 50’s right to bargain might have ended. Besides, it was a natural enough mistake to think that the pendency of the petitions tolled Local 50’s authority. The second reason is even less plausible: i. e. that Heide conditioned “any further bargaining on Local 50’s acceptance of that provision.” It was no evidence of Heide’s belief that Local 50 might have already ceased to represent the employees that it “adamantly” refused to make a contract which would go beyond the year. It is not bad faith to be inflexible in asserting your doubts. “Grounds” (a) and (c) of the Board’s decision support all the provisions of its order; and I would enforce it in toto because of them, but of them alone.