One Step Forward and Two Steps Back: The <i>Shopping Kart - General Knit</i> Dance

In the space of less than two years, the National Labor Relation Board's Shopping Kart Food Market, Inc. experiment was born and laid to rest in a drama of zealous forensics worthy of the union representation campaigns that Shopping Kart sought to deregulate. Shopping Kart, which would have radically curtailed Board review of the truthfulness of union and employer representation campaign propaganda, was disavowed by a new Board majority in General Knit, Inc., with the result that the Board's pre-Shopping Kart policy of scrutiny of campaign propaganda was substantially, if not completely, restored. Although Shopping Kart may be of no further value as precedent, the conflict exposed by the Shopping Kart experience may significantly affect the future of Board regulation of union and employer propaganda. In this article the authors will explore the development of Board review of representation campaign propaganda, the possible future of Board review under General Knit, and the policy questions and complications surrounding such review.