## Facts

- Gamble Enterprises, Inc., operated an interstate theater chain that included the Palace Theater in Akron, Ohio.
- Before about 1940, the Palace Theater employed a local union orchestra to perform music for stage acts; the work ended as vaudeville declined.
- Local 24 of the American Federation of Musicians pressed the theater to employ a local orchestra for certain programs, with musicians to perform overtures, accompany acts, and play during intermissions.
- Gamble resisted and filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging the union’s demand required payment “in the nature of an exaction” for services “not performed or not to be performed” in violation of NLRA § 8(b)(6).
- After a hearing, the NLRB found the union sought actual employment and real performance of relevant services, not “standby” pay, and dismissed the § 8(b)(6) charge.
- The Sixth Circuit set aside the Board’s dismissal and remanded, concluding the union’s conduct fell within § 8(b)(6).

## Issues

1. Whether a union violates NLRA § 8(b)(6) by insisting an employer hire union musicians when the employer does not want or believe it needs the orchestra.
2. Whether the union’s conduct constituted an “exaction” for services “not performed or not to be performed” when the union offered competent performance of relevant musical services.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit and remanded.
- Accepting the NLRB’s finding on the full record, the Court held the union sought actual employment and performance, not standby or sham labor.
- The Court concluded § 8(b)(6) did not prohibit the union’s insistence on hiring where it involved a bona fide offer to perform relevant services.

## Legal Principles

- NLRA § 8(b)(6) targets featherbedding: causing or attempting to cause employer payments “in the nature of an exaction” for services not performed or not to be performed.
- Demands for “standing-by,” or the substantial equivalent of standing-by, are not payments for services performed and may fall within § 8(b)(6).
- Where a union makes a bona fide offer of competent performance of relevant services, § 8(b)(6) does not bar bargaining; the employer may decide through negotiation whether to accept the services and what compensation to pay.
- The NLRB’s supported factual determination that the union sought real work (rather than non-work) is central to applying § 8(b)(6).

## Conclusion

The Court held that § 8(b)(6) does not forbid a union from pressing an employer to hire workers to perform actual, relevant services, even if the employer does not desire the services; the provision is aimed at forced payments for non-work such as standby or sham arrangements.


NLRB v. Gamble Enters., Inc., 345 U.S. 117 (1953)