Comments on: NLRB ALJ: restaurant can’t fire workers over false posters claiming its food is unsafe

By: DensityDuck

DensityDuck — Tue, 29 May 2012 17:34:55 +0000

@Chris: I've always thought of a union as being like an army. If winning the battle means that some of the soldiers die, well, the rest of them will be happier afterwards.

By: gitarcarver

gitarcarver — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:08:53 +0000

The posters erroneously stated that employees were not allowed to call in sick,……

The arbitrator in this case found that this was in fact true. The handbook the company gives out and has employees sign says that if you can’t make work because you are ill, you have to find a replacement or be subject to immediate termination.

To me, that says “you can’t call in sick.”

By: Chris Hoey

Chris Hoey — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:57:16 +0000

To understand this tactic of this union, you have to realize the motivation of some unions (usually the ones on the far left, the original CIO unions.) One union official explained to me, during my stint as a trial attorney at the Newark, NJ, NLRB in the 60’s, “You don’t understand. We establish what we see are the minimum acceptable conditions in an area for [industry employers]. If a company is unwilling or unable to accept those conditions, we would rather see them close down than have its employees work for unacceptable conditions.”
When I asked about the people who lose their jobs, he said they’d be better off in the long run.
That philosophy motivates many unionists, and leads to situations such as Hostess Cupcakes’ dilemma, the demise of all but the big three in the auto industry, Eastern Airlines’ closure at the hand of theMachinists’, etc.. The closing of one restaurant doesn’t faze them; they feel another will open willing to accept their terms.

By: NILRR News Clips – May 25, 2012

NILRR News Clips – May 25, 2012 — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:47:00 +0000

[…] NLRB Allows Wobblies To Get Away With Posting Falsehoods […]

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:18:15 +0000

Definition: “Extortion (also called blackmail, shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person(s), entity, or institution, through coercion”. Libel is more to just making false statements. I think it’s more extortion because they are doing it to force the company to accept the union even though they lost the election.

By: Weekend Roundup, May 25th | Online Library of Law and Liberty

Weekend Roundup, May 25th | Online Library of Law and Liberty — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:55:38 +0000

[…] reports on an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board ruling that a restaurant can’t fire workers over false posters claiming its food is unsafe. Note the subplot of a failed union certification attempt at the company’s Minneapolis […]

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:14:31 +0000

It’s surprising, but this tactic has a long history. I recall seeing similar pickets, complete with rat, back in the late 60s in DC.

By: peter

peter — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:20:50 +0000

These workers are going to feel like real winners when they find that this restaurant has closed down and they get turned down for every service job they apply for in the local area.

By: J.T. Wenting

J.T. Wenting — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:46:53 +0000

it’s all handy dandy as long as the union doing it pays its protection money to the Obama campaign…

By: DensityDuck

DensityDuck — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:52 +0000

Wouldn’t this be an example of libel?