E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
National Labor Relations Board
311 N.L.R.B. 893 (1993)
- Written by Patricia Peters, JD
Facts
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (DuPont) (defendant) formed seven employee-participation programs (EPPs) consisting of one fitness committee and six safety committees. Each EPP included management representatives as fully participating members, and each EPP had made proposals to management representatives at EPP meetings. DuPont required that the EPPs make decisions on a consensus basis; thus, management representatives could veto any proposal brought up at an EPP meeting. Separately, in 1989, DuPont began holding quarterly safety conferences at which employees broke into small groups and made suggestions concerning workplace safety. Conference participants were told not to discuss issues reserved for union bargaining. The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the union representing DuPont’s employees (plaintiffs) brought suit before an administrative judge. The general counsel and the union alleged that the EPPs were company-dominated labor organizations in violation of § 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that DuPont had bypassed the union in dealing with the EPPs, violating § 8(a)(5) of the act. They also alleged that the safety conferences bypassed the union on an issue reserved for bargaining, again in violation of § 8(a)(5) of the act. The judge found that the EPPs were company- dominated labor organizations and that DuPont had bypassed the union by dealing with the EPPs. He found that the safety conferences did not violate the act. The NLRB issued a decision to address the lawfulness of cooperative programs between employees and management.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (1)
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