## Facts

- American Seating Company had a three-year collective-bargaining agreement (1950–1953) with UAW-CIO Local 135 covering a broad production-and-maintenance unit that included patternmakers.
- In 1952, the Pattern Makers’ Association (AFL) petitioned for a separate patternmakers craft unit.
- The Board declined to apply the contract-bar rule because the agreement had already been effective for about two years and the employer and incumbent union did not show that three-year agreements were customary in the industry.
- An election was conducted, and the Pattern Makers’ Association won and was certified on October 6, 1952, as the exclusive representative of the patternmakers.
- After certification, the Pattern Makers’ Association sought bargaining and submitted a proposed agreement.
- American Seating refused to negotiate a separate agreement, asserting the patternmakers remained covered by the unexpired 1950–1953 UAW-CIO contract and that the UAW-CIO had acted as their agent in executing it.
- The General Counsel issued a complaint alleging violations of NLRA §§ 8(a)(5) and 8(a)(1) based on the refusal to bargain.

## Issues

1. Whether an employer violates NLRA §§ 8(a)(5) and 8(a)(1) by refusing to bargain with a newly certified union for a subgroup of employees because an earlier unexpired contract negotiated by a different union covered those employees.
2. Whether, after the Board declines to apply the contract-bar rule and certifies a new representative, the employer may rely on the prior contract to justify refusal to bargain or to treat the prior agreement as binding on the newly certified union.

## Decision

- The Board found American Seating violated §§ 8(a)(5) and 8(a)(1) by refusing to bargain with the Pattern Makers’ Association after its certification.
- The Board held the unexpired UAW-CIO agreement did not excuse the refusal to bargain and did not bind the newly certified craft representative as a matter of Board law.
- The Board ordered the employer to cease and desist from refusing to bargain, to recognize and bargain on request with the Pattern Makers’ Association, and to post appropriate notices.

## Legal Principles

- A Board certification under NLRA § 9(a) establishes the certified union as the exclusive bargaining representative for the unit, triggering the employer’s § 8(a)(5) duty to bargain in good faith.
- The contract-bar doctrine governs when the Board will process representation petitions; if the Board declines to apply the bar and certifies a new representative, the employer cannot use the prior contract as a defense to bargaining with the new union.
- When a new union is certified for employees previously included in a broader unit contract, the new union is not automatically bound by the predecessor agreement for purposes of the employer’s statutory bargaining duty.
- An employer may not rely on prior “agency” theories about a former representative to deny the legal effect of a subsequent Board certification.

## Conclusion

The Board held that once a craft union is certified after the Board declines to apply the contract-bar rule, the employer must bargain with the newly certified representative and cannot justify a refusal to bargain by invoking an unexpired agreement negotiated by a different union covering a broader unit.


Am. Seating Co., 106 N.L.R.B. 250 (1953)