Ralphs-UFCW Labor Contract Contains Unlawful Clause, NLRB Rules

The labor contract between Ralphs Grocery Co. and a group of United Food and Commercial Workers affiliates violates federal labor law by attempting to control the employment practices of the grocer’s subcontractors, the National Labor Relations Board ruled.

A three-member NLRB panel on Friday summarily upheld an administrative law judge’s decision that the work-preservation clause at issue was unlawful under the board’s case law, including its 1984 decision in Food & Commercial Workers Local 1442 (Ralphs Grocery).

The panel rejected the UFCW affiliates’ argument for overturning that precedent, which holds that a clause can be unlawful based on its ...