National Labor Relations Board v. Local Union No. 1229, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (346 U.S. 464)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 7, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 346 U.S. 464 · 74 S. Ct. 172
- Decided
- December 7, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1953
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Burton
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Burton delivered the opinion of the Court. The issue before us is whether the discharge of certain employees by their employer constituted an unfair labor practice, within the meaning of §§8 (a)(1) and 7 of the Taft-Hartley Act, justifying their reinstatement by the National Labor Relations Board. For the reason that their discharge was “for cause” within the meaning of § 10 (c) of that Act, we sustain the Board in not requiring their reinstatement. In 1949, the Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Company (here called the company) was a North Carolina corporation engaged in interstate commerce. Under a license from the Federal Communications Commission, it operated, at Charlotte, North Carolina, a 50,000-watt radio station, with call letters WBT. It broadcast 10 to 12 hours daily by radio and television. The television service, which it started July 14, 1949, representing an investment of about $500,000, was the only such service in the area. Less than 50% of the station’s programs originated in Charlotte. The others were piped in over leased wires, generally from New York, California or Illinois from several different networks. Its annual gross revenue from broadcasting operations exceeded $100,000 but its television enterprise caused it a monthly loss of about $10,000 during the first four months of that operation, including the period here involved. Its rates for…
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