Matter of Glenn L. Martin Co.

The United Auto Workers of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (union) (plaintiff) became the first collective-bargaining agency of the Glenn L. Martin Company (company) (defendant) and proposed four seniority provisions to be included in the collective-bargaining agreement. Provisions (a), (b), and (c) mandated that union officers, committeemen, and stewards had more seniority than all other plant employees in their respective departments for the duration of their terms. Provision (d) prohibited union stewards and committeemen from being transferred to a lower-paid job before employees with less seniority were transferred. The union argued that the proposals were necessary to create stable union leadership and prevent discriminatory treatment, alleging that the company had transferred employees to other departments based on their union membership. The company denied discriminatory treatment of union employees and opposed each of the union’s four proposals. The company asserted that imposing preferential status for union employees had no economic justification and, because the union represented less than half of the 25,000 employees in the bargaining unit, would result in dissatisfaction among nonunion employees. The provisions and respective arguments were presented to a panel of the National War Labor Board for review.