ULPs Ensure Company Complies With NLRA

The NLRB does not solve grievances, but makes sure everyone — companies & unions — complies with law

Once upon a time . . . Goldilocks formed a union. Instead of just hoping she'd get what she wanted from the three bears, she entered into a collective bargaining agreement with Three Bears, Inc.

The agreement requires Three Bears to supply three bowls of porridge, three chairs, and three beds. It goes on to say that at least one bowl of porridge, one chair, and one bed must be "just right."

One day Goldilocks shows up for work, finds the just-right porridge, sits in the just-right chair, and goes to lie down. When she does, she discovers that all three beds are too hard.

Immediately she knows that Three Bears, Inc., is in violation of their collective bargaining agreement, and she tells Mama Bear that she wants the just-right bed she is entitled to.

Mama Bear tells Goldilocks that all beds are the same, so she's just going to have to pick one and call it "just right."

That's when Goldilocks decides to file a grievance.

But first, she needs to know more about the beds, so she writes a letter to Three Bears, Inc., requesting information on all beds in stock, particularly information as to whether they have been tested for just-rightness.

Papa Bear reads the letter and calls Goldilocks into his office. He says he isn't going to give her any information about what beds are in stock or how close they are to just right.

"That's company business," he says. "We run this company, not you, and we don't have to tell you anything."

Goldilocks does not give up easily, so she writes a second letter. In the second letter, she reminds Papa Bear that there are two parties to the collective bargaining agreement. She says she is entitled to a just-right bed and the only way she can determine whether there is, in fact, a just-right bed available is to examine the records. Papa Bear tells her to eat her porridge and go to bed.

So Goldilocks takes her problem to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for help.