One frustrated employee, two petitions, and a pay raise that sank the Board's case
Workers at an Illinois truck dealership voted their union out twice - and a federal appeals court said the NLRB cannot undo it.
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on September 18 affirmed the denial of a Section 10(j) preliminary injunction that would have compelled Laborforce LLC - a staffing firm leasing employees to M&K Truck Centers dealerships - to reinstate Automobile Mechanics' Local 701, which had represented the facility's workforce since the 1950s.
It started with one frustrated employee. In 2022, a parts department worker at the Summit, Illinois dealership began collecting signatures to decertify the union, citing its "improper representation." By July 2023, 19 of 31 parts department employees had signed on. Not one of the 51 service department workers joined.
Laborforce did not wait around. It withdrew recognition for parts employees and rolled out new pay rates, a no-co-pay health plan, and a 401(k) with a 3% company match. The NLRB had denied the company's petition to split the parts department into its own bargaining unit - but Laborforce went ahead anyway.
Then came round two. A second petition in June 2024 pulled a combined majority across both departments - 36 of 70. Laborforce withdrew recognition entirely.
The NLRB's regional director sought a Section 10(j) injunction - the rarely used provision that lets the Board ask a federal court to step in while its...
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