| The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA) prescribes the rules for the collective bargaining process. Collective bargaining occurs when employees select a bargaining representative (usually a union) to negotiate with their employer on their behalf. The union and the employer work out the details of the employees' pay, benefits, working conditions, discipline, and other work-related issues. The resulting agreement, called a collective bargaining agreement, governs the relationship among the employees, the union, and the employer.
Pursuant to the NLRA, employers and employee representatives are required to bargain in "good faith." Initially, the NLRA imposed a good faith duty only upon employers. The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, however, amended the NLRA to impose the good faith requirement upon unions as well. This means that the parties must meet together at reasonable times and confer in good faith. The Supreme Court has stated that the collective bargaining process is not simply a time for formal meetings while each party maintains an attitude of "take it or leave it." Instead, both parties must demonstrate a desire to reach an ultimate agreement. It is an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for either party to refuse to bargain in good faith with the other.
Courts judge a party's good faith by whether, under all of the circumstances, the party "desired" to execute an ultimate contract and enter into a collective bargaining agreement. Parties are not required, however, to agree to the other parties' proposals or to make unwanted concessions. Congress did not intend for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency that oversees the implementation of the NLRA, to become involved in the substance of the parties' negotiations. Therefore, the NLRB gives much latitude in the bargaining process.
If the NLRB finds, pursuant to a petition filed by the other party, that an employer or union has failed to bargain in good faith, it will likely order the offending party to stop the unfair labor practice. The NLRB may not, however, impose substantive agreement terms upon the parties. It may only order them to go back to the bargaining table.
The following fact patterns are examples of where parties committed an unfair labor practice by failing to bargain in good faith:
- The employer verbally agreed to all proposed terms in a collective bargaining agreement, but refused to sign the actual agreement.
- The employer delayed meetings with the union, ignored issues, and postponed discussions. Employer then increased employees' wages without informing the union.
- The employer stated that it could not afford to pay employees higher wages, but refused to produce documentation to support its claim.
- The union refused to discuss any collective bargaining agreement terms with an employer except those of its own choosing.
Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |