Sacramento Car Dealer Agrees to Bargain with Machinists in NLRB Settlement

Sacramento car dealer Kuni Hubacher Motors, LLC, d/b/a Kuni Hubacher, has agreed to recognize and bargain with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Machinists Automotive Trades District Lodge 190, Machinists and Mechanics Lodge 2182, under a settlement approved today by the San Francisco Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The months-long dispute (NLRB Case 20-CA-35228) arose when Kuni withdrew recognition from the Machinists, which represents about 38 sales and car lot employees, following the relocation of Kuni’s dealership in Sacramento, California. Before the move, Kuni and the Machinists had a collective-bargaining relationship for nearly 30 years.
The NLRB Regional Office, in consultation with the NLRB’s Office of the General Counsel in Washington, DC, had concluded that Kuni’s relocation and hiring of a number of nonunion employees, did not justify its decision to discontinue bargaining with the Machinists. The Regional Office was preparing to sue Kuni in federal district court to require it to resume bargaining with the Machinists, but the parties’ agreement to settle the case made that step unnecessary.
Under the settlement, Kuni has committed to recognize and bargain with the Machinists as the exclusive-bargaining representative of its employees, to restore the terms and conditions of employment that existed prior to the relocation, and to make employees whole for any monetary losses they may have suffered as a result of changes made after the Employer withdrew recognition. Kuni has also committed not to engage in any conduct that violates rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act.  Kuni does not admit having violated the National Labor Relations Act.
Commenting on the settlement, NLRB Regional Director Joseph Frankl said, “I am pleased that the Employer and the Union were able to reach an agreement that restored the status quo and avoided costly, time-consuming litigation.  The NLRB is committed to enforcing the Act vigorously and even-handedly.”
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency vested with the authority to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have a union as their collective bargaining representative, and to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.
 
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