NLRB Orders Johnson Technology to Rehire Fired IUE-CWA Organizer

Johnson Technology illegally fired a Michigan worker who supported an IUE-CWA organizing drive, an administrative law judge ruled in August, acting on a National Labor Relations Board complaint.

The judge ordered the General Electric-owned company, which manufactures aircraft engine parts, to rehire Michael Crane with back pay. The order bars the company from interfering with workers' right to organize and requires management to post the NLRB order where employees will see it.

"The NLRB has vindicated this brave young man and his right to join a union," IUE-CWA President Mike Bindas said. "Mike Crane has stood with his union and his union has stood by him."

In firing Crane in September 2002, the company alleged it was progressive discipline for poor work. Judge Richard Miserendino found that other employees were not disciplined for similar mistakes.

Crane, a technician in Muskegon, Mich., began working at Johnson in July 1996. He avidly supported IUE's organizing committee in the plant, wore union buttons and T-shirts to work and passed out literature to employees.

In mid-2001, he became one of the first dues-paying members of Working@GE, or WAGE, a pro-union employee group. He became WAGE's financial secretary/safety coordinator in 2002.

The company has appealed the judge's decision to the NLRB in Washington, D.C. IUE-CWA and NLRB Region 7 are filing responses on Crane's behalf.