In Quickway Transportation v. National Labor Relations Board, Teamsters Union Local 89 (Intervenor), Sixth Circuit, Nos. 23-1780/1820 (Sept. 11, 2024), the Union had successfully organized the employees at Quickway’s Louisville, Kentucky distribution facility. Quickway’s parent, The Quickway Group, operates seventeen trucking terminals throughout the country, thirteen of which belong to Quickway, and three of which are located in Kentucky. The Louisville facility exclusively services The Kroger Company, delivering bulk grocery items from Kroger’s Louisville distribution facility to Kroger retail stores. After bargaining with the union, Quickway closed and laid off all employees at the Louisville location. The NLRB held this was an unfair labor practice and ordered Quickway to reopen and restore its business operations at that location. The Board further ordered reinstatement of all discharged employees, with back pay and any other pecuniary losses (including compensation for any adverse tax consequences from lump sum payments). The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals fully enforced the Board’s order. The court held there was substantial evidence that Quickway was motivated by anti-union animus and a desire to chill unionism at other Quickway locations, and there was also an unfair labor practice to refuse to bargain over the closure and its effects.
Employer Must Re-Open Union Facility Due to Unfair Labor Practice – Sixth Circuit
