National Labor Relations Board V. Vemco Inc‪.‬

MAX ROSENN, Senior Circuit Judge. This petition for enforcement of an order of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) raises two principal issues. The first has its genesis in a mass layoff by the employer in this case. Although an uncommon phenomenon in labor relations in this country during the period of industrial growth preceding World War II, mass layoffs have not been an infrequent occurrence in the intervening years. The issue is whether the employer, Vemco, Inc., violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) by permanently laying off 60 employees allegedly in retaliation for their union activities. The second issue is whether the employer's conduct during the organizing campaign by the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) so disrupted the election process as to justify a bargaining order.*fn2 The Board concluded that the layoff constituted an unfair labor practice and that the employer's conduct during the organizing campaign justified the harsh remedy of a bargaining order. The Board has petitioned this court for enforcement of its order.*fn3 We deny enforcement of those portions of the Board's order relating to the layoff and the bargaining order and order the enforcement of the remaining provisions as modified.