For almost 75 years, one of the inviolable tools available to companies contesting a union-organizing campaign has been the captive audience meeting. However, the general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board has taken dead aim at this tool and asked the Board to call such meetings unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act.
Such a result would have far-reaching implications for private sector employers throughout the US and, during the interim, creates considerable uncertainty for those companies.
Captive audience meetings are compulsory meetings conducted by the company. Employees are paid for their time attending the meeting and are required to attend or face discipline.
They are typically conducted on-site and may include the entire workforce or a segment of it. In the context of a union-organizing campaign, the company will typically use the meetings to explain its position and its concerns regarding unionization.
In 1948, the Board decided the Babcock & Wilcox case. Prior precedent had held that an employer violated the Act when it held compulsory meetings concerning union representation. The Board, however, took the opportunity to chart a new course, rejecting existing doctrine and holding that compulsory...
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