LABOR RELATIONS BOARD REJECTS CLAIM BY STRIKING KCP WORKERS

The National Labor Relations Board has rejected a claim by striking production workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City Plant that contractor Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies bargained in bad faith, but as the two sides prepare to return to the bargaining table later this week, the union responded by filing a second complaint with the NLRB and vowing to appeal the decision. The unfair labor practice charge alleged by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 stems from letters Honeywell management sent to bargaining unit employees before and during the strike, a move union officials say circumvented the bargaining process. In a statement, Honeywell said that the action was “a common tactic for unions to file charges with the NLRB in an attempt to convert an economic strike into an unfair labor practice strike so that their members get unemployment compensation benefits to which they might not otherwise be entitled.” In a statement, the union said, “We believe that the NLRB regional office does not have a total grasp of our evidence, and we do have substantial evidence against Honeywell.”