Hot Topics Eye on the NLRB NLRB OKs Retaliation Against Workers Who Seek Community Support | NLRB OKs Retaliation Against Workers Who Seek Community Support |
| Written by Erin Johansson | |||||||||||||||
| May 18, 2006 | |||||||||||||||
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On May 15, 2006, the Republican majority of the Board ruled that a treatment center for children and adolescents did not retaliate against its employees when it terminated its funding from the United Way after the organization supported employees' bargaining efforts.1 The loss of funding meant fewer hours and less pay for several employees. The majority of the Board concluded that the employer merely acted in response to an "intrusion" by a third party, reversing a 2004 decision of an administrative law judge who determined that this tactic was indeed retaliation.2
The case dates back to 2003, when the Children's Center for Behavioral Development of Centreville, IL, engaged in bad faith bargaining with the employees' union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). In order to pressure the Center to negotiate a fair contract, the union turned to the United Way, an organization which provided funding support for family therapy services offered by the Center. Shortly after the United Way contacted the Center on behalf of the employees, the Center severed its relationship with the United Way. The result was an end to the funding, cancellation of the family therapy, and a cutback in the hours and pay for the employees providing those services. It then sent employees a memo blaming the union for the loss of the United Way funding. In her dissent, NLRB Member Liebman wrote that the memo "served no purpose other than making sure that employees got the message that they were being punished." Additional Reading
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| December 2002 | Contract between the Center and AFT expired |
| June 2003 | United Way contacts the Center on behalf of employees |
| August 2003 | Center terminates funding from United Way and eliminates family therapy services |
| October 2003 | Center sends memo to employees, blaming union for loss of United Way funding |
| April 2004 | NLRB issues complaint based on multiple unfair labor practice charges filed in 2003 and 2004 |
| June 2004 | ALJ decision issued |
| May 2006 | Board decision issued |
2. Children's Center for Behavorial Development, JD-61-04 (2004).
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a federal agency responsible for protecting workers' rights to form unions and promoting collective bargaining.
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Erin Johansson writes our Eye on the NLRB blog. Erin has worked as a Research Associate at American Rights at Work since 2004 and is the author of some of our reports.
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