Midland Broadcasting Co.

Midland Broadcasting Company (Midland) (defendant) entered into a collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) with the American Federation of Radio Artists (union) regarding its employment of actors and singers (artists). The CBA established the union as the artists’ exclusive bargaining agent but expressly allowed Midland to negotiate direct contracts with artists so long as such individual contracts were more favorable to the artists than was the CBA. Nevertheless, the General Counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) initiated a complaint against Midland, arguing that Midland violated the National Labor Relations Act by signing individual contracts with certain artists. Per the GC, such individual contracts were less favorable to the artists than the CBA because the individual contracts (1) potentially provided for lower compensation than the CBA and (2) restricted the artists’ abilities to work for other employers during and for a period after the expiration of their Midland contracts, which the CBA did not do. Midland responded that the individual contracts included potential bonuses that would allow the artists to earn more money than they would under the CBA and that no artist had, in fact, been paid less than the CBA’s minimum compensation. Moreover, neither the union nor any artist had ever filed a grievance—as permitted by the CBA—claiming that the individual contracts were improper. An NLRB trial examiner issued a report concluding that Midland did not commit any unfair labor practices and recommending the dismissal of the complaint. The GC and the union appealed.