A Banner Day for Union Boycotts

On August 27, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in a trio of unfair labor practice cases involving the question of whether a union may lawfully display large, stationary banners publicizing a labor dispute outside the premises of a neutral or secondary employer – one with which the union has no dispute. In United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local Union No. 1506, 355 NLRB No. 159 (2010), the Board, by a 3-2 margin, held that, so long as it is done in a non-coercive manner, a union may display such banners without running afoul of the prohibition against secondary boycotts contained in the National Labor Relations Act ("Act"). The Board's long-awaited decision promises to result in more bannering activity and to ensnare more neutral employers in labor disputes not of their own making.