NLRB Issues Complaint Against Guess
The National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday issued a formal complaint against Guess Inc., accusing the Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer of illegally disrupting a union organizing campaign.
A hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 23 before an NLRB administrative law judge, said Peter Tovar, deputy regional attorney for NLRB Region 21, which encompasses part of Los Angeles and which issued the complaint after more than a year of investigation.
The NLRB is alleging that Guess has tried to illegally undermine the attempts by UNITE--the Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees--to organize workers at the company’s downtown Los Angeles factory.
Tactics allegedly used by Guess include wrongfully terminating employees because of their union activities; coercing employees to participate in anti-union demonstrations and retaliating against employees who refused to join the demonstrations; interrogating employees about union sympathies and organizing; threatening plant closure if employees voted for the union; threatening reprisals for union activities; and promising benefits to employees for withdrawing support for the union.
“This is the most outrageous anti-union campaign that I have ever encountered,” said Della Bahan, a lawyer for UNITE.
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A spokesman for Guess said company officials had not yet seen the complaint and therefore could not comment except to say: “Guess is confident that it will ultimately prevail in this matter.”
The union filed NLRB complaints against Guess in August 1996, contending that the company unlawfully fired 20 workers because of their union activities.
The NLRB and Guess had reached an informal settlement agreement in January, that, among other things, would reinstate the employees, guarantee them back wages, and prohibit the company from threatening to close its plant or relocate work.
A few days later, Guess announced plans to move production to Mexico. The NLRB is still investigating union charges that the production shift is in retaliation for union organizing.
The informal settlement has been abandoned, Tovar said, and the original allegations have been incorporated into the complaint issued Tuesday.
The NLRB is seeking reinstatement and back pay for all workers fired because of union activities and an order stating that the company will not violate workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
