On Thursday, the Supreme Court reportedly decided 8-1 against union leaders who wanted to avoid being held accountable in state court for intentionally causing property damage as part of a strike.
In Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the Teamsters unions’ request for protection from a case brought by the Washington-based concrete business Glacier Northwest under the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA).
The court’s opinion was given by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, with Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson serving as the lone dissenter.
The ruling is a triumph for proponents of the right to work, who claim that employees should not be subject to forced union dues or other coercive measures.
A brief in favor of Glacier Northwest was submitted by the National Right to Work Foundation.
Glacier filed a lawsuit against the Teamsters for alleged $100,000 in property damage that was mandated by union representatives during a 2017 strike.
The union sought a work stoppage during the strike while the business mixed concrete and loaded it into trucks for distribution.
The union told the employees to defy Glacier’s demands and carry out the deliveries, which led 16 drivers to return with fully filled trucks.
The firm was in a crisis since it couldn’t dump the hardening concrete at a random spot or leave it in the trucks, so Glacier had non-striking workers construct special bunkers to discharge the concrete safely.
Because of the emergency directions, the already-mixed concrete was rendered worthless and further truck damage was prevented.
The NLRA’s provisions allowed the Washington Supreme Court to overrule an appellate court’s ruling and find in favor of the workers.
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