1. EMPORIUM CAPWELL Key Points
NLRA procedures and status exclusive
Unit determination
Designation of bargaining representative
Employees not protected by NLRA when going outside those procedures
Allegations of racial discrimination not entitled to special NLRA status
Union the exclusive representative; must perform its function fairly and within legal constraints
Section 9(a) protects employers from charges of refusal to bargain if approached by employees outside of union representative.

2. Why were employees discharged?
Were employees discharged for disloyalty to their employer by picketing, thereby potentially costing the employer sales?
Were employees discharged for engaging in concerted activity to protest alleged racial discrimination by the employer?
Were employees discharged for attempting to negotiate with employer over terms and conditions of employment for minority employees, as the Board ruled?

3. Dissent
“The law should facilitate the involvement of unions in the quest for racial equality in employment, but it should not make the individual a prisoner of the union. While employees may reasonably be required to approach the union first, as a kind of "exhaustion" requirement before resorting to economic protest, they should not be under continued inhibition when it becomes apparent that the union response is inadequate. The Court of Appeals held that the employees should be protected from discharge unless the Board found on remand that the Union had been prosecuting their complaints ‘to the fullest extent possible, by the most expedient and efficacious means.’ I would not disturb this standard. Union conduct can be oppressive even if not made in bad faith. The inertia of weak-kneed, docile union leadership can be as devastating to the cause of racial equality as aggressive subversion. Continued submission by employees to such a regime should not be demanded.”
Are the minority employees “prisoner(s) of the union.”
Is the Union “weak-kneed” and “docile?”