The decertification contract bar doctrine will remain in place. Last summer the NLRB invited parties to the Mountaire Farms case, along with other interested organizations, to comment on whether the board should eliminate or modify the contract bar. The board decided to do neither.
The board also determined it has no jurisdiction in the realm of presidential appointments, and will stay out of the deliberation of whether or not former NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb’s removal by President Biden was legal.
The board is continuing to default to online meetings for hearings, citing covid-19 as the cause. It is unclear how far the U.S. will have to pull out of the pandemic before in-person meetings will resume.
In one bit of good news from the board, it determined that company proposals seeking significant concessions don’t in themselves violate a duty to bargain in good faith. In Universal Health Services, Inc., the union profanely disparaged the companies proposals and often failed to present any counter-proposals. When the company withdrew recognition of the union due to an employee petition from the bargaining unit and implemented its proposals, the union filed an unfair labor practice which an administrative law judge upheld. The company then appealed to the NLRB, and the board found for the company.
The board may be planning to jigger the procedures in backpay determination cases. Anyone wishing to file briefs expressing views on these issues can do so by June 7, 2021, via the NLRB’s e-filing system.
In attempting to prove himself “America’s most pro-union president ever,” Biden has announced a White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The Task Force is required to make recommendations within 180 days on two key issues:
- How can existing policies, programs, and practices be used to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining
- What statutory, regulatory or other changes are needed to achieve the administration’s pro-labor goals?
The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee tied 11-11 in advancing Jennifer Abruzzo as General Counsel at the NLRB. The appointment will now face a full senate vote just to discharge the nomination to a confirmation vote.
For your viewing pleasure (if you’re having a hard time falling asleep tonight), here is a recording of a webinar from Cornell University featuring former Labor Secretary Tom Perez on the PRO Act.
