On August 30, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released two decisions that will make it more difficult for employers to implement past practices during a break in bargaining or at an impasse, opening the door for unions to hold employers hostage by dragging out collective bargaining.
Articles Discussing Collective Bargaining.
NLRB follows the General Counsel’s Lead: Enhanced Remedies May Now Apply to Bad-Faith Bargaining
In Noah’s Ark, the Board combined remedies it can impose on an employer that engaged in repeated unfair labor practices. The decision may predict the expansion of remedies for bad-faith bargaining. The decision follows the trend of increasingly punitive and extraordinary remedies being implemented by the Board.
What Labor Board’s Return to Allowing Micro-Units for Bargaining Means for Construction Employers
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a decision that could be of significant aid to organized labor in reorganizing the construction industry. American Steel Construction Inc. and Iron Workers Local 25, 372 NLRB 23 (2022).
NLRB Says Dues Must Be Collected Post CBA, Reverses Course Once Again
In a decision dated September 30, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that employers must continue to collect voluntarily authorized union dues from the paychecks of employees after the expiration of the agreement.
NLRB Rules Employers Cannot Unilaterally Cease Dues Checkoff After CBA Expiration
Executive Summary: On October 3, 2022, in a 3-2 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) reversed its previous ruling from 2019 and held that a union dues checkoff provision should be treated as part of the status quo that the employer cannot unilaterally change following contract expiration. See 28-CA-213783, 371 NLRB No. 160 (2022).
Aggressive vs. Bad Faith Bargaining: Where is the Line?
The National Labor Relations Board, by a vote of 2-1, recently reversed an administrative law judge (ALJ) in finding that a hospital did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) by failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the union. District Hospital Partners, L.P., 370
Labor Board: Successor Required to Bargain With Union Over Unilateral Layoffs
More than five years and a pandemic later, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has clarified a successor employer’s union bargaining obligations regarding layoffs under the National Labor Relations Act. Tramont Manufacturing, LLC, 369 NLRB No. 136 (July 27, 2020).
NLRB Rules Notice and Opportunity to Bargain Over Discipline No Longer Required in New Bargaining Relationships
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently overturned a 2016 decision holding that an employer violates Sections 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by failing to provide notice and an opportunity to bargain to a newly elected union prior to disciplining unit members.
Reversing Course, NLRB Holds Employers Have No Pre-disciplinary Bargaining Obligation
On June 23, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in 800 River Road Operating Company, LLC d/b/a Care One at New Milford, 369 NLRB No. 109 (2020), holding that employers have no duty to bargain over serious employee discipline imposed before the negotiation of a collective
NLRB: Union Had Responsibility to Bargain About Employer Information Confidentiality Claim
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled an employer does not have a duty to provide a union with relevant information that contains confidential material if the union has refused the employer’s offer to bargain over ways to protect its legitimate confidentiality interests. Oncor Electric Delivery, LLC, 369 NLRB
Labor Board: Unions Waived Right to Bargain Over Changes to Retiree Medical Benefits
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that an employer did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it unilaterally changed retirees’ medical benefits without first negotiating with the unions that represented its employees. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., 368 NLRB No. 48 (Sept. 4, 2019).
E-Verify Subject to Collective Bargaining
While I-9 compliance is important, companies cannot forget about other labor and employment laws. In May 2018, a meatpacking company in Illinois was caught between ICE and the National Labor Relations Board.
NLRB GC: Employer Can Unilaterally Implement Decisions Made Before Union Election Victory
An employer lawfully unilaterally implemented a stricter tardiness and absentee policy even though a union had recently won an election to represent its workers, according to a memorandum released by the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s Division of Advice. Cott Beverages, Inc., No. 16-CA-206068 (Div. of Advice, Apr. 26, 2018, released May 15, 2018).
Federal Court: NLRB Correct That Successor Employer Must Bargain with Existing Union under Labor Law
In the first test of the National Labor Relations Board’s 2011 “successor bar” rule, the federal appeals court in Boston has upheld the NLRB’s decision that the union is protected from decertification after a change of ownership at the unionized company for at least six months. National Labor Relations Board v. Lily Transp. Corp., No. 15-2398 (1st Cir. Mar. 31, 2017).
Newly Organized Employer Must Bargain Over Discretionary Employee Discipline Pre-First Contract, NLRB Rules
Prior to entering into a first contract, an employer has a statutory obligation to bargain with the union that represents its employees before imposing discretionary “serious discipline” (such as suspension, demotion, or discharge) on any of those employees, the National Labor Relations Board again has held. Total Security Management Illinois 1, LLC, 364 NLRB No. 106 (Aug. 26, 2016).