Assignment Instructions:

Please respond to each of the mini case studies with a 2-3 page explanation for each mini case study. You should use at least 4-5 resources in each case to support your position.   Please make sure to review the associated rubric before you begin this assignment to be used also as a checklist as you develop this submission.

Mini Case Study 1

The employees of the Giant 78 Foods chain elect the Food Workers Union as their exclusive bargaining agent. Negotiations for an initial collective bargaining agreement begin, but after six months, no agreement has been reached. The company finds excess damage to merchandise in its warehouse and believes that this was intentional sabotage by dissident employees. The company notifies the union representative that any employees doing such acts will be terminated, and the union, in turn, notifies the employees. Soon thereafter, a manager notices an employee in the bakery section—where he has no right to be—making quick motions with his hands. The manager then finds several racks of bakery goods that have been cut. The employee is fired, whereupon a fellow employee and union member leads more than two dozen employees in an immediate walkout. The company discharges these employees and refuses to rehire them. The employees file a grievance with the NLRB. Are they entitled to get their jobs back? Why or why not?

Mini Case Study 2

The Dutchboy Shipbuilding Company has a shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. During winter months, it repairs ships operating in both here and Norfolk, Virginia, and the workers at the shipyard are represented by several different unions. In 1961, the unions notified the company of their intention to seek a modification of the current collective bargaining agreement. On five previous occasions, agreements had been preceded by strikes (including illegal strikes) that were called just after ships arrived in the shipyard for repairs. In this way, the unions had greatly increased their leverage in bargaining with the company. Because of this history, the company was anxious about the unions’ strike plans. In August 1961, after extended negotiations, the company and the unions reached an impasse. The company then decided to lay off most of the workers and sent the following notice: “Because of the labor dispute which has been unresolved since August of 1961, you are laid off until further notice.” The unions filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. Did the company engage in an unfair labor practice? Why or why not?