EMPORIUM CAPWELL Key Points

1
EMPORIUM CAPWELLKey Points

• NLRA procedures and status exclusive
• Unit determination
• Designation of bargaining representative
• Employees not protected by NLRA when going
  outside those procedures
• Allegations of racial discrimination not
  entitled to special NLRA status
• Union the exclusive representative must perform
  its function fairly and within legal constraints
• Section 9(a) protects employers from charges of
  refusal to bargain if approached by employees
  outside of union representative.

2
Why were employees discharged?

• Were employees discharged for disloyalty to their
  employer by picketing, thereby potentially
  costing the employer sales?
• Were employees discharged for engaging in
  concerted activity to protest alleged racial
  discrimination by the employer?
• Were employees discharged for attempting to
  negotiate with employer over terms and conditions
  of employment for minority employees, as the
  Board ruled?

3
Dissent

• The law should facilitate the involvement of
  unions in the quest for racial equality in
  employment, but it should not make the individual
  a prisoner of the union. While employees may
  reasonably be required to approach the union
  first, as a kind of "exhaustion" requirement
  before resorting to economic protest, . . . they
  should not be under continued inhibition when it
  becomes apparent that the union response is
  inadequate. The Court of Appeals held that the
  employees should be protected from discharge
  unless the Board found on remand that the Union
  had been prosecuting their complaints to the
  fullest extent possible, by the most expedient
  and efficacious means. . . .. I would not
  disturb this standard. Union conduct can be
  oppressive even if not made in bad faith. The
  inertia of weak-kneed, docile union leadership
  can be as devastating to the cause of racial
  equality as aggressive subversion. Continued
  submission by employees to such a regime should
  not be demanded.
• Are the minority employees prisoner(s) of the
  union.
• Is the Union weak-kneed and docile?