Labor Law: Federal v. State Jurisdiction to Enjoin Unfair Labor Practices

United Automobile Workers, CIO v. W.E.R.B, 351 U. S. 266 (1956)

Re United Automobile Workers and Kelvinator of Canada Ltd

The collective agreement provided that only such time as is neces­sary will be consumed by [union committeemen] during working hours in order to attend to the processing of grievances . The grievor, a union committeeman, received the necessary permission to leave his work in order to assist in the formation of an employee\u27s grievance, but was informed by management that it was not permitted actually to write up the grievance on company time. Held, by the sole arbitrator, processing of grievances included getting a grievance into writing where necessary. If a committeeman were to abuse his right, then the company had adequate remedy under the collective agreement. If an unreasonable amount of time was being spent in dealing with grievances the company could withhold pay; if there were abuses, the company could refuse permission for the committeeman to leave work. Ultimately, an arbitrator would decide whether the company had acted reasonably. The company, then, should have taken advan­tage of the terms of the agreement rather than denying the grievor the right to write out another employee\u27s grievance as a matter of principle

Re United Automobile Workers, Local 195, and Bendix-Eclipse of Canada Ltd

While the grievor received sickness and accident benefits during an absence from work due to injury, the company terminated his Green Shield coverage. The collective agreement provided that In the event of a lay-off, strike, leave of absence, or any interruption of employment for reasons other than sickness and accident, all insur­ances shall be continued in force for one month following the last day of the month... .The same article also provided that in the event of absence due to sickness, certain listed benefits would be continued for a specified period. Green Shield coverage was not listed. In a separate provision the collective agreement provided that the company would provide Green Shield... plan for employees... covered by this agreement . The company alleged the existence of a parol agreement with the union whereby the parties agreed that an employee\u27s Green Shield coverage during an absence due to illness would be limited to a specified period. Held, the grievance was allowed. The grievor remained an employee while absent due to in-jury. The term all insurances referred to above probably does not include the Green Shield plan and there is no reason to extend the scope of this clause beyond the article in which it occurs. The only evidence of any parol agreement was a memorandum signed by the company and not sent to the union. Such an agreement cannot form part of the collective agreement. A parol agreement, as to the settle­ment of a grievance, being a form of res judicata, may create an estoppel. However, if the settlement of the grievance is to govern future conduct, it must be made very clear that such was the common intention

Re United Automobile Workers, Local 195, and Bendix-Eclipse of Canada Ltd

Union Grievance alleging failure by the company to provide medical insurance coverage in accordance with collective agreement. Award: Union grievance, pursuant to the collective agreement be­tween the parties dated August 7, 1968, alleging failure by the company to provide medical insurance coverage in accordance with art. 34:02 of the collective agreement

Re United Automobile Workers, Local 673, and Douglas Aircraft Co of Canada Ltd

Union Grievance alleging that the company had violated the collective agreement by promoting certain employees outside the bargaining unit. The Facts: In art. 1 of the collective agreement the company recognizes the union as sole bargaining agent on behalf of its office and clerical employees, subject to a long list of exclusions which includes secretaries to department managers and above . This arbitration arises from the fact that the company effected a reorganization at the start of 1970 by which, in company terms, the procurement department became the sub-division of procurement and material headed by a director who ad­ministers five different and separate departments each headed by a manager. The company has since assumed that the secretary assigned to each of these managers is excluded from the bargaining unit. The union\u27s position is that, whatever reorganization the company may have made for its own purposes, the company cannot unilaterally affect the rights of the union under the collective agreement by a change in job titles

Re United Automobile Workers of America, Local 195, and Bendix-Eclipse of Canada Ltd

The company\u27s policy was to not post job vacancies occurring in a certain group of jobs. In addition, the company did not in certain instances post job descriptions. The collective agreement provided that When a job vacancy occurs in the bargaining unit, the company will post a notice on the bulletin board setting forth a description of the job . The collective agreement then went on to provide for a job bidding system. The union grieved. Held, the grievance was allowed. The company alleged that the relevant provision of the collective agreement was ambiguous and that it must be interpreted in the light of past practice. The provision in question was found to be clear and unambiguous. Therefore, neither evidence of past practice nor evi­dence of what passed between the parties during negotiations was admissible to contradict the product of agreement between the two parties . The company therefore cannot continue to post occupational group and preferential zone jobs. All job vacancies occurring in the bargaining unit must be posted. A job vacancy occurs whenever there is an existing job required to be filled. The practice of posting a job vacancy by the name of the job alone is adequate only where the name is sufficiently descriptive

Dispute Resolution Between the General Motors Corporation and the United Automobile Workers, 1970-1982

At the end of 1982 the active membership of the United Automobile Workers stood at 1.25 million workers, belonging to about 1,600 local unions in the United States and Canada. There were 1.14 million Americans and 115,000 Canadians. Women accounted for 170,000 memberships in the two countries. A fifth or more of the total may have been retired members. The UAW ranks as the largest manufacturing union, ahead of the United Steelworkers, but behind three unions representing truckers, school teachers, and retail employees. Substantially all the blue-collar workers in the domestic auto industry have been organized, the vast majority by the UAW. In early 1983 the UAW represented approximately 300 000 employees currently on the job with General Motors in the United States. Another 25,000 were at work for GM in Canada. One-ninth or more of these would be classified as skilled workers. In addition, about 140,000 employees were on layoff. Of these about 80,000 had been out of work for more than one year and thus were considered as laid off indefinitely. This study will concentrate on the 300,000 hourly workers in about 150 major bargaining units in the United States who are covered by the parties\u27 principal National Agreement

She Was One Of Us: Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Worker

{Excerpt} For Eleanor Roosevelt, helping people achieve better lives by taking individual responsibility and then acting collectively to remedy problems was a cornerstone of democracy, in good and bad economic times, during war and peace. She saw these convictions embodied in the labor movement. Labor leaders, including Walter Reuther, the visionary young president of the emerging United Automobile Workers, earned her praise and became her close friends. She criticized leaders who abused their power, but never wavered in her support for the rank and file. One of her adversaries, however, the influential journalist Westbrook Pegler, attacked ER as a dilettante and her labor allies as thugs. ER\u27s core principles of workplace democracy, however, remained her model for democracy in the country and around the world. In 1961 ER told the AFL-CIO convention, The labor movement—and perhaps I can say my movement, too, because I think sometimes I work as hard as any of you do—I feel that it is part of our job to keep alive the ideals that you started with, the ideals of really helping the people to better conditions, to a better way of life which is part of the basis of democracy. The story of how Eleanor Roosevelt became a union member, what it meant then, and why it matters now begins with a most unusual gathering on the shores of the Hudson River