## Facts

- Boeing and a machinists’ union were parties to collective-bargaining agreements containing maintenance-of-membership clauses requiring existing union members to remain members during the contract term.
- After the prior agreement expired, the union called a lawful economic strike at Boeing’s Michoud plant and other locations.
- During the 18-day strike, 143 of about 1,900 bargaining-unit employees crossed the picket line and worked.
- After a new agreement was reached and employees returned to work, the union charged the 143 members with violating a union rule against working during a strike.
- The union imposed $450 fines on each charged member, amounts that exceeded many employees’ earnings during the strike period.
- Boeing filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging that the fines and their enforcement violated NLRA § 8(b)(1)(A).
- The NLRB dismissed the complaint, concluding it lacked authority to regulate the size of internal union fines; the D.C. Circuit remanded for the Board to consider fine “reasonableness.”

## Issues

1. Whether NLRA § 8(b)(1)(A) requires the NLRB to assess the reasonableness of the amount of a union disciplinary fine when evaluating an alleged unfair labor practice based on that fine.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the D.C. Circuit.
- The Court held that the NLRB’s authority under § 8(b)(1)(A) does not include determining whether the amount of a union disciplinary fine is “reasonable.”
- The Court treated the size of the fines as a matter of internal union discipline, reserved to unions under the statute’s proviso, absent employment-related consequences.
- The Court reinstated the Board’s position that validity of such fines under the NLRA does not depend on their reasonableness in amount.

## Legal Principles

- Section 8(b)(1)(A) prohibits unions from restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of § 7 rights, but its proviso preserves a union’s right to make rules governing acquisition or retention of membership.
- Congress drew a boundary between internal membership discipline (generally outside Board supervision) and union conduct that affects employment status or otherwise directly implicates statutory rights (within Board authority).
- Union discipline enforced through internal union processes or civil collection, without employer involvement or employment consequences, is ordinarily treated as internal union affairs.
- The NLRB may determine whether union conduct in fact restrains or coerces employees within § 8(b)(1)(A), but it may not invalidate an otherwise lawful internal rule solely because it considers the fine amount excessive.

## Conclusion

The Supreme Court held that NLRA § 8(b)(1)(A) does not authorize the NLRB to police the reasonableness of internal union disciplinary fines; absent employment-related effects or other unlawful coercion, the amount of a fine is an internal union matter beyond the Board’s jurisdiction.


NLRB v. Boeing Co., 412 U.S. 67 (1973)