Building & Construction Trades Council (Markwell & Hartz, Inc.)

Markwell & Hartz (M&H) was the general contractor on a project to expand a filtration plant (the plant). M&H subcontracted a portion of the project work—piledriving to Binnings and electrical to Barnes. During the construction project, a workers’ union (the union) had a labor dispute with M&H, but not with Binnings or Barnes. Vehicle access to the plant occurred through three gates: main, warehouse, and rear. The union picketed at the plant, holding signs directed against M&H. Binnings and Barnes’s employees never crossed the picket line. One day, M&H marked the main and warehouse gates as reserved for use by subcontractors and project delivery persons, and M&H’s employees were required to use the rear gate. The union’s picket briefly moved to the rear gate but soon returned to the main gate. Binnings’s employees entered the main gate and worked on the project when the union’s picketers left but respected the line once the picket recommenced at the main gate. Thereafter, M&H posted signs indicating that M&H employees and all project delivery persons were barred from using the main and warehouse gates and could only use the rear gate. The union continued to picket at these gates reserved for exclusive use by the neutral subcontractors. The National Labor Relations Board was called on the decide whether the union could lawfully engage in picketing at the reserved gates.