NLRB makes it easier for employers to change work contracts without union permission

The National Labor Relations Commission, the main federal agency responsible for enforcing labor laws, issued a decision on Tuesday that will make it easier for employers to change the terms of a work contract without the company's labor law. 39, union authorization.

In a victory for employers, the board said in a case called MV Transport that even if the underlying contract does not explicitly authorize a change and the union opposes it, the employer can always adopt it.

The board had previously stated that an employer had to have a "clear and indisputable" authorization in a union contract to make a particular change. they could reasonably infer that they are eligible under the "simple terms" of the contract.

"[T]The Board will review the plain language of the parties' collective agreement to determine whether the change made by the employer was within the scope or scope of a contractual language that gives the employer the right to work. To act unilaterally, "said the NLRB, so the Commission will respect the clear terms of the parties' agreement and the employer will not have broken the law by making the changes without negotiating."

The case concerned a Las Vegas transit company that had attempted in 2016 to revise labor policies in a union contract. The union representing its workers accepted some changes but rejected others. The company finally adopted the revised policies despite the union's refusal to sign them. The majority of the NLRBs argued that the move was reasonable, as the company only made changes when the underlying contract was silent. "We reject any claim that the contractual hedge test removes any significant limitation on unilateral actions by the employer," said the majority. The majority consisted of the three Republican members of the council: President John Ring, Bill Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan.

The only Democratic member of the board, Lauren McFerran, said the decision cast 70 years of precedence. "[T]The majority allows employers to unilaterally change the terms and conditions of employment of employees – wages, hours of work, benefits, tasks, safety practices, discipline rules, etc. – so as to hinder the negotiation process and create uncertainty in management relations and, ultimately, increase the chances of labor disputes, "she said.