Region 22-Newark Wins Injunction Ordering IBN Construction to Bargain with Union

On October 26, 2022, United States District Court Judge Kevin McNulty issued an order granting NLRB Region 22’s petition for a temporary injunction pursuant to Section 10(j) against the Employer, IBN Construction Corp., a building demolition contractor in Newark, New Jersey. The order, which requires IBN Construction to bargain with the New Jersey Building Laborers District Council (Union), will stay in effect pending final disposition of the case now before an Administrative Law Judge of the Board.  

In his order granting the injunction, Judge McNulty determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that IBN Construction had violated the Act through a vast and unlawful campaign, including: threatening employees with discharge, unspecified reprisals because of their immigration status and lawsuits to discourage them from supporting the Union; creating the impression that employees’ Union activities were being watched and engaging in actual surveillance of those activities; interrogating employees about their Union activities; promising employees decreased pay if they supported the Union and increased pay if they opposed the Union; and discharging employees because of their activities on behalf of the Union.

In addition to ordering the Employer to cease-and-desist from engaging in these hallmark violations of the National Labor Relations Act, Judge McNulty took the further step of directing the Employer to recognize the Union as the exclusive collective bargaining agent of its employees based on the Union’s demonstrated showing of majority support and, upon request by the Union, engage in good faith bargaining with the Union over the terms and conditions of employment of its bargaining unit employees. The order also requires the Employer to conduct meetings where it will read the district court’s injunction order explaining these remedies, to the employees and to provide access to the Union to communicate with the employees.

As the court recognized, the Employer’s egregious actions require this extraordinary relief. The Region’s staff brought about this important order by working through the many obstacles presented by unsophisticated witness who have been repeatedly coerced and an uncooperative employer. Notably, this exceptional outcome is the result of teamwork, including Lead Attorney Joanna Pagones, Attorney Robert Mulligan, Acting Supervisory Attorney Michael Silverstein, and Regional Attorney Julie Kaufman.

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees, employers, and unions from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year. Region 22 serves areas in New Jersey from its Regional Office in Newark.