Leggett & Platt Must Bargain, Can’t Ax Union After Half-Century

Manufacturer Leggett & Platt Inc. must recognize and bargain with a union that has represented workers at the company’s Kentucky-based mattress-making operation since 1965, the National Labor Relations Board ruled.

Leggett & Platt’s violations of federal labor law, which undermined worker support for an International Association of Machinists affiliate, were serious enough to justify imposing the bargaining order, the NLRB said in its Dec. 17 decision. The company illegally stopped recognizing the union as the workers’ bargaining representative, made unilateral changes to several workers’ employment terms, and helped a bid by some workers to get rid of the union, the ...