Would either the “convert” or the “overt salts, in this case, satisfy the NLRB ruling that applicants for employment must be genuinely interested in seeking employment before claiming protection under the NLRA? CASE STUDY 4.1 SALTING Company is engaged in the business of removing or cleaning hazardous waste. Most of its fall into three categories; (1) field technicians who are unskilled laborers; (2) drivers operators of trucks; and (3) field supervisors who go out into the field and are in charge of The. driver and equipment operator positions require commercial driving licenses (CDL). Parties agree that the people who are called field supervisors are employees and not supervisors within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the act. • The Collective Bargaining Process The Union was engaged in organizing companies in the area handling hazardous materials. The Union sent a letter dated March 9 to the Company indicating (a) that it was commencing an organizing drive; (b) that the NLRA precluded the employer from restraining or coercing its employees; and (c) that it would be distributing literature to its employees at various projects. Subsequently, the Union began leafleting to the Company's employees on their way into and out of the workplace. On March 21, the Company placed a help-wanted ad, seeking to hire operators who had CDL licenses and H&T (hazardous material handling endorsements). The Union sent two members, Castillo and Rivera, to apply for a job. And even though neither had the required commercial driver's license, they were allowed to fill out applications and were interviewed. They both were told that they could have jobs as field technicians, and at Tangents were made for them to get a drug test. Neither informed the Company that they were members of a union or that they intended to organize employees on behalf of the Union. They were "covert" salts and were instructed to keep their union membership secret until the appropriate time. Castillo and Rivera were told by the Union that if they obtained jobs, the Union would make up the difference in the wage rate paid by the Employer and the wage rate that they had been getting from being employed as shop stewards at union employers. Also, the Union agreed to provide them with any benefits not provided by the Company. They started as field techs on April 16 or 17. On the morning of April 13, the Union sent teams of union agents into the Company's office to apply for work at the Company as "overt" salts. The overt salts went to the Company's facility in pairs, wearing union clothing and carrying recording devices to record what was said during the application process. When the overt salts entered the facility, they asked the Company's receptionist for employment applications and advised her that it was their intention to organize the Company. She responded that the Company was not interested in becoming a union shop, but informed the applicants that they could apply for one of the available driver positions but that, in order to apply for such positions, they would have to produce driver's licenses with CDLs and HAZMAT endorsements. Although some of the applicants indicated to the Receptionist that they possessed those licenses, it is undisputed that, in fact, none of them did. When none of the individuals were able to produce the required licenses, she advised them that they could come back and fill out applications when they had obtained them. One of the applicants then inquired whether he could fill out an application for a field technician position. She told him that the Company did not have openings for field technicians at that time, but that he could complete an application and she would keep it on file. He did not, however, complete an application. None of the applicants returned to the Company after April 13, nor did they make any further attempt to apply for, employment with the Company. The Union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Company for refusing to hire or consider for hiring the union members in violation of the NLRA. In order to establish a refusal-to-hire violation the Union must establish the following elements: (1) that the Company was hiring, or had concrete plans to hire, at the time of the alleged unlawful conduct; (2) that the applicants had experience or training relevant to the announced or generally known requirements of the positions for hire, or in the alternative , that the employer has not adhered uniformly to such requirements, or that the requirements were themselves pretextual or were applied as a pretext for discrimination; and (3) that antiunion animus contributed to the decision not to hire the applicants. In order to establish a refusal­ to-consider violation the Union has to show (1) that the Company excluded applicants from a hiring process; and (2) that antiunion animus contributed to the decision not to consider the applicants for employment. The Company argued that none of these applicants had the qualifications necessary to be hired as drivers. Nor were these "overt salts" actually looking for employment. All of them had full-time jobs at the Union, as business agents, organizers, or dispatchers. When they were invited by the office person to submit applications for non-driver jobs, accompanied by their social security cards and driver licenses, they never followed up on this invitation and not

What Is “Salting”?

“Salting” refers to construction unions attempting to get their members and/or organizers hired onto a non-union construction project

Two types of “salts”

Covert Salts

Overt Salts

Covert Salting

Unions send their members to apply at no union construction sites

Members are instructed to fill out an application so that their union membership is NOT revealed

This is done by listing non-union contractors, avoiding reference to apprenticeship programs, etc.

Overt Salting

Unions send 1 or more members and organizers to the job site to apply for jobs

Organizers and members will wear T-shirts, hats, and buttons which clearly identify them as union members

Applications will be completed in a manner which clearly identifies applica as a union member

Overt Salting (con’t)

The applicant will list union apprenticeship programs

The applicant will list union contractors he/she has worked for

The applicant may write on the application that he/she is a “voluntary union organizer”

Why Do Unions Use Salts?