386
Opinion of Rehnquist, C. J.
unilateral withdrawals of recognition having the same standard as well. The Board thus irrationally equates the standard for polling with the standards for both unilateral withdrawals of recognition and RM elections.
The conclusion that the Board's standard is both irrational and without support in the Act is reinforced by longstanding decisions from this Court. In NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U. S. 575, 616-617 (1969), an employer challenged the Board's determination that the employer's communications to its employees attempting to dissuade them from supporting the union violated § 8(a)(5). While upholding the finding of a violation on the facts presented, the Court noted that an employer's free speech right to communicate his views to his employees is firmly established and cannot be infringed by a union or the Board. Thus, § 8(c), 29 U. S. C. § 158(c), merely implements the First Amendment by requiring that the expression of "any views, argument, or opinion" shall not be "evidence of an unfair labor practice," so long as such expression contains "no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit" in violation of § 8(a)(1). 395 U. S., at 617. See also Thomas v. Collins, 323 U. S. 516, 537 (1945) (union solicitation of employees is protected by First Amendment); NLRB v. Virginia Elec. & Power Co., 314 U. S. 469, 477-478 (1941) (employer's attempts to persuade employees with respect to joining or not joining union are protected by First Amendment). The Court thus concluded that First Amendment rights, codified in § 8(c), limited the Board's regulatory authority to cases where the employer's speech contained a threat of reprisal or coercion.
Under Gissel's reasoning, employer solicitation of employee views is protected speech, although such solicitation can constitutionally be prohibited where it amounts to coercion or threats of reprisal. There is no logical basis for a distinction between soliciting views, as in the instant case, and communicating views. Our decisions have concluded that First Amendment protection extends equally to the
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