W. B. Mason ordered to rehire, at least temporarily, two workers it fired during a union-organizing drive last year

A federal judge in Boston today issued a temporary restraining order against W.B. Mason that requires it to rehire two drivers who claimed they were fired last year during a successful organizing effort by Teamsters Local 25 at the company's warehouse on Summer Street in South Boston.

Judge Nathaniel Gorton's order also requires the company to admit that the Teamsters won a union vote and to deal with them as the bargaining agent for drivers at the facility - at least until an administrative-law judge at the National Labor Relations Board issues his or her own final ruling on complaints from the workers and the union.

Workers had complained to the NLRB that the company used a carrot-and-stick approach to besting the union: It allegedly voted to find out who was behind the union drive and punish them and promised workers better wages and working conditions if they rejected the union. Then, workers said, once they chose the union, company managers refused to meet with union representatives.

The NLRB said the company fired six workers because of their possible union activities. Gorton said only two had cases that showed "a strong likelihood of success" on their claims. Three of the other four, he wrote, were terminated either because they were seasonal workers to begin with; the fourth was fired because he'd gotten into a fight with another worker.

Although Gorton sided with the NLRB and workers on the basics of the case, he rejected some of their arguments, including one that W.B. Mason tried to sway them with fancier food at company meetings during the organizing drive than it normally supplied:

Here, the record indicates that respondent provided bagels at morning meetings more often than it had in the past. Because bagels are of minimal value, petitioner has not shown a strong likelihood of success on the
merits that respondent violated (labor laws).