NLRB supports bribery judgement against Overnite

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has affirmed an April 2001 judicial decision against less-than-truckload carrier Overnite Transportation Co. of Richmond, VA, that it engaged in soliciting and bribing employees to circulate petitions to decertify the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The NLRB also found that Overnite violated federal law by threatening an employee with disciplinary action if he refused to cross a picket line.

NLRB’s decision marks yet another chapter in the two-year strike the Teamsters are waging against Overnite, one of the largest non-union LTL carriers in the U.S. The Teamsters launched the strike against Overnight – a subsidiary of railroad giant Union Pacific – on October 24, 1999. The strike, which involves some 45% of Overnite’s drivers and dockworkers, centers on wages, benefits and pensions.