LABOR LAW - CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT- RIGHT OF EMPLOYER TO DISPARAGE LABOR UNIONS AND TO ADVISE HIS EMPLOYEES AGAINST JOINING THEM

In the spring of 1937 the respondent distributed anti-union literature to its employees. Some of the material specifically denied any design on the part of the employer to prevent the employees from joining a union, and none of the literature pretended to be more than the advice and opinions of the employer. Nevertheless, the unions were thoroughly condemned as rackets, controlled by Communists, which deprive the workingman of his economic freedom and force him to pay for the privilege of working. The National Labor Relations Board found that the distribution of this literature interfered with, restrained, and coerced the employees in the exercise of their rights of self-organization. It thereupon issued a cease and desist order and applied to the court for its enforcement. Held, the order of the board was invalid because it violated the constitutional guarantee of free speech. National Labor Relations Board v. Ford Motor Co., (C. C. A. 6th, 1940) 7 L. R. R. 163