Labor Board Adds Charge to Nordstrom Complaint

The Nordstrom department store chain, already embroiled in a heated workplace dispute, will be hit with an expanded unfair labor practices complaint by the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency said Tuesday.

In the expanded complaint, the NLRB will charge that the company has tried to sidestep the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents nearly 2,000 Nordstrom workers in the Seattle area, by illegally encouraging employees to negotiate directly with the company to resolve disputes over back pay.

The union and many individual Nordstrom workers have alleged that managers coerced employees into not charging the company for many of their work hours.

The new NLRB charge stems from an investigation by the agency that found that Nordstrom sent employees two memos urging them to talk to company managers about their claims regarding unpaid off-the-clock work. Under federal labor law, unionized companies must negotiate wages, hours and working conditions with their unions.

Previously, the NLRB accused Nordstrom of two other unfair labor practices: negotiating directly with workers on a new labor agreement and withholding documents requested by union officials concerning the back-pay dispute.

The NLRB is seeking only to force Nordstrom to halt the alleged practices, which the company disputes. If a hearing officer rules in the agency’s favor, there would be no financial damages.

In a separate action, however, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries on Thursday found Nordstrom in violation of the state’s minimum-wage act and ordered it to pay an undetermined amount in back wages. The union has estimated that the back-pay claims could total more than $30 million in that state alone.

Bruce Nordstrom, company co-chairman, countered in a prepared statement that the nature of the ruling made it “difficult to assess the extent of any financial obligations.” But he added that the company believes any financial impact would “not be material” and that it is evaluating an appeal.

Nordstrom’s stock was off $1.75 on Tuesday, closing at $27.75, but analysts attributed the fall mainly to the general decline in the market and to an announcement by the company Thursday that it expected lower earnings.