Case 25 Essay

1430 Words6 Pages
225Case 25 1) The facts of the case: a) Who – The Company in this case is North Star Steel Company. The Union is United Steelworkers of America. The National Labor Relations Board is primarily involved with this case as well as the conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). b) Where / When – St. Paul, Minnesota on July 30, 1987 c) What / Why – The United Steelworkers of America was certified by the NLRB as the bargaining agent for 24 North Star employees on July 30, 1987. However, the company refused to acknowledge the certification and would not bargain and filed an exception with the Board on the union certificate. After the board found the certificate valid, North Star had officially violated section 8(a) (5) and 8(a) (1) of the LMRA since they refused to recognize and bargain with the union. Before the union certification, North Star had maintained a health care plan for its employees and historically had this plan for some time. The plan required employees to contribute to the payment of premiums. North Star was also allowed to make unilateral changes in the amount of money the employees needed to contribute depending on costs of health care coverage. Even though the firm refused to bargain, this system still continued after the union was certified to represent the employees. The union and company began bargaining in early 1990. They did not come to any conclusions on non-economic issues but were able to come to an agreement that was a union proposal. The proposal was for continuation of the employer health care plan in its current form, still allowing the company to make changes in contribution amounts. The agreement had one condition; that a final collective bargaining agreement had to be reached. However, no final agreement was made. At this point, the union filed a complaint with the NLRB stating that North Star violated
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