Section 15.86 Double Breasting

• Library: Construction Law 2016 Supp

H. (§15.86) Double Breasting

The practice referred to as “double breasting” involves the establishment of a second company to operate on a non-union basis by a company that is already operating on a union basis. Double breasting can be done legally but only when the second business is established and operated within specific guidelines. A leading case on doubling breasting, South Prairie Construction Co. v. Local No. 627, International Union of Operating Engineers, 425 U.S. 800 (1976), involved allegations by the union that separate companies, which were subsidiaries of the same company, had refused to bargain in violation of NLRA § 8(a)(5), 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(5), by refusing to apply provisions of the collective bargaining agreement executed by one subsidiary to the other subsidiary’s operation. The...