Case 9-4 The Right to Strike. Seven of the employer’s 11 concrete truck drivers

Question

Case 9-4 The Right to Strike. Seven of the employer’s 11 concrete truck drivers met several times during the week of September 16 to discuss their current wage rates, the lack of a medical insurance plan, and whether they should consider joining a union. After meeting with a representative of the national truck drivers’ union, four of the seven drivers signed union authorization cards. Employee Santos, one of the card signers, wrote a letter that the seven employees presented to the company’s plant manager on Friday, September 20. The letter stated, in part, “Today all employees wish to express a silent strike in pursuance of the right that our salaries be increased to $15.75 per hour. We will not work today ... until an accord is reached.” Later that Friday morning, the company president met with seven employees and told them that the company was in no position to give any wage increase; however, steps were already underway to establish a medical insurance plan by the end of the year. The seven employees met outside the plant and decided the company’s position was unacceptable. The company president stated that the board of directors would be meeting the following day (Saturday) to consider the matter. The seven employees continued their walkout during the rest of Friday. The board of directors met on Saturday and calculated the annual cost of the employees’ wage demand to be $308,000. The board of directors found this unacceptable and decided to replace the seven drivers rather than agree to increase wages. Later on Saturday, the plant manager offered driver positions to three individuals who already had job applications on file with the company. All three applicants accepted the job offer and were scheduled to begin work the following week. On Monday, the seven drivers who had walked out on Friday returned to the company but remained outside the plant entrance. Upon learning that the seven drivers had not reported for work at 8 A.M. on Monday morning but were instead congregating in front of the plant, the company president prepared a letter that was given to each of the seven drivers outside the company’s entrance at 9:30 on Monday morning. The letter referred to the walkout on the previous Friday and stated in relevant part: “The circumstances of having abandoned your work without first holding a dialogue, then bringing later on some demands which we cannot face economically at this time, in addition to your refusal to work if your conditions are not met exactly the way [you] stated them, we have to interpret it as a resignation from your job, leaving us without alternatives and unfortunately we have to accept your decision effective today, Monday, September 23.” The letter went on to state that the Friday work stoppage forced the company to fill some vacancies and curtail its operations in order to recover in part from the losses it had suffered. After receiving the letters, the seven employees left the plant to attend a meeting with a union representative. Sometime later on that Monday, three of the employees returned to the plant and requested reinstatement. The company reinstated the three drivers to their former jobs. The Union filed an unfair labor practice on behalf of the remaining four truck drivers, alleging that each had been unlawfully discharged in violation of the LMRA, as amended. Questions (I need one full paragraph for each question, please) 1. Does the work stoppage by the truck drivers in this case represent an economic strike or an unfair labor practice strike? 2. What is the difference between the reinstatement rights of an unfair labor practice striker and an economic striker? 3. Did the employer unlawfully discharge the four truck drivers who never returned to work? Explain your reasoning.

Explanation / Answer

1. Does the work stoppage by the truck drivers in this case represent an economic strike or an unfair labor practice strike?

The work stoppage by the truck drivers in this case represents an economic strike as the strike is conducted to increase the salaries to $15.75 per hour. Economic strikes are the work stoppages to force the employer to increase the wages or other benefits. Unfair labor practice strikes are designed to protest the commission of an employer unfair labor practice. Here there is no unfair labor practice involved.

2. What is the difference between the reinstatement rights of an unfair labor practice striker and an economic striker?

Employee engaged in unfair labor practice strike cannot be permanently replaced but may be temporarily replaced by an employer for continuing the business operations. Economic strikers may be either temporarily or permanently replaced by an employer for continuing the normal business operations. Participating in unfair labor practice entails less risk for the employees as they can return to work once the dispute ends. But there is higher risk in engaging in economic strike due to the threat of permanent striker replacement.

3. Did the employer unlawfully discharge the four truck drivers who never returned to work? Explain your reasoning.

The employer did not unlawfully discharge the four truck drivers because economic strikers can be replaced by the permanent workers for continuing the business operations. The truck drivers have involved in economic strike and continued their walkout even after the company has offered their plan to establish a medical insurance plan and also informed about the board of directors meeting to consider the matter on Saturday. The walkout made the business in trouble without alternatives on Friday and hence the company had to search for replacement. Economic strikers has the right to be reinstated to his or her job at any time during a labor dispute after making an unconditional request for reinstatement to the employer. The employer has reinstated the employees who requested for reinstatement and allowed them to return to the former jobs. Other employees did not request for reinstatement and hence the employer has no liability to reinstate them.

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