Local Joint Executive Board of Hotel and Restaurant Employees (Crown Cafeteria)

The hotel and restaurant employees’ union (the union) (defendant) picketed Crown Cafeteria (Crown) after Crown refused to hire employees through the union and did not sign a standard contract with the union. The union’s signs were addressed to “members of organized labor and friends” and stated that Crown was a nonunion employer. The union picketed without filing a grievance petition for longer than the 30-day period provided by § 8(b)(7)(C) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), but the picketing did not induce any stoppages of goods or services. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded that the union’s picketing violated § 8(b)(7)(C) and found that the picketing was not protected under the so-called publicity proviso, which protected union picketing done for publicity purposes (i.e., to advise the public about the lack of a union contract or union organization). The NLRB’s majority reasoned that the publicity proviso applied only when the union’s sole objective was to disseminate information, with no present goal of employer recognition. The majority concluded that because the union was demanding present recognition from Crown, the publicity proviso did not apply. Two members dissented, asserting that the publicity proviso protected even picketing that sought recognition or organization as long as the picketing met two conditions: (1) the picketing had to truthfully advise the public that the employer did not employ union members or have a contract with the union; and (2) the picketing could not induce any individual employed by any other person not to pick up, deliver, or transport any goods or not to perform any services. The union filed a motion for reconsideration of the NLRB’s decision.