Legal Definitions - hot cargo

Hot cargo is a term used in labor law to describe goods, products, or materials that originate from, or are handled by, an employer currently involved in a labor dispute with a union. The term often implies that other workers or unions might refuse to transport, process, or otherwise deal with these goods as a show of solidarity or to support the union involved in the dispute.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Manufacturing and Transportation: Imagine a shoe factory where workers are on strike due to a dispute over wages and working conditions with their employer. The factory has a contract with an independent trucking company to deliver its finished shoes to various retail stores. The shoes produced by the striking factory would be considered hot cargo. If the truck drivers for the independent trucking company are unionized, they might refuse to load or transport these shoes, even though their own employer (the trucking company) is not directly involved in the dispute. This refusal would be a show of solidarity with the striking factory workers.

• Retail and Supply Chain: Consider a large grocery store chain that is experiencing a lockout with its unionized warehouse employees. This chain also regularly purchases fresh produce from a regional farm. The produce from that farm, when destined for the lockout-affected grocery chain, could be labeled hot cargo. Unionized delivery drivers from the farm might refuse to deliver these goods to the grocery chain's distribution centers or stores, or unionized employees at the grocery chain's own facilities might refuse to handle them, due to the ongoing labor dispute.

• Construction and Materials: Suppose a company that supplies lumber to construction sites is involved in a heated negotiation with its unionized mill workers, leading to a work stoppage. A construction company has ordered a large shipment of lumber from this supplier for a new housing development. The lumber from the dispute-affected supplier would be considered hot cargo. Unionized carpenters or other tradespeople at the construction site might refuse to unload, cut, or install this lumber, signaling their support for the mill workers and putting pressure on the lumber supplier to resolve the dispute.