Section 16 Picketing 8(b)(4) and (b)(7)

• Library: Emp-Emp Law 2000

NLRA § 8(b)(4), 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4), imposes restrictions on a union’s right to picket for certain purposes. Injunctive relief is available exclusively through the NLRB, and any claim must be initiated by filing a charge. In certain cases, separate private damage actions may be pursued under § 303 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, commonly referred to as the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S.C. § 187.

The most common issues arise under NLRA § 8(b)(4)(B) and (D). Subsection (B) prohibits “secondary boycotts.” This provision prohibits picketing and certain other conduct aimed at enmeshing a neutral employer in a dispute between another employer and its employees. NLRB v. Servette, Inc., 377 U.S. 46 (1964). Exceptions to this prohibition include picketing designed to boycott a particular product, NLRB v. Fruit & Vegetable Packers & Warehousemen, Local 760, 377 U.S. 58 (1964), and picketing at a neutral employer’s premises when struck work is being performed there, In reSailors’ Union of the Pacific, 92 N.L.R.B. 547, 27 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 1108 (1950). In re Sailors’ Union is essential reading in the common situation of pickets that follow trucks making deliveries. It is also under subsection (B) that the reserved gate doctrine has become a vehicle for separating union and nonunion construction work...