The bottom line is this: workers` rights to free choice are sacrificed and lost under the so-called “neutrality agreements”. Instead of being free to decide for themselves whether they want union representation through secret ballots, management and union officials are working together to force workers to unionize from the top down. With neutrality agreements, employees “are likely to believe that because the company offers this help to the union, they could get into trouble if they don`t support the union,” Wilson said. “It doesn`t create an environment in which employees are free to choose whether they want to be represented or not.” To see exactly what Dana Corp.`s decision is. is difficult because the board limited its opinion: “We leave for another day the adoption of a general standard for the regulation of preliminary negotiations between unions and employers.” NLRB 356 to 259. No subsequent decision by the Commission has issued this “standard”. However, Dana Corp. also noted that the terms of the framework agreement in this case were “general provisions” whose scope was “limited” and which were not sufficient to prevent a choice under the Commission`s “non-contractual doctrine” because they were not “significant terms and conditions of employment”. sufficient to stabilize the negotiating relationship[…] Id. at 262 and fn.
18. Dana Corp.`s framework agreement was lawful because it “required significant negotiations” in order to achieve a full CBA after its recognition. Id. at p. 262. In summary, it seems that a legal framework agreement should not include all the terms, i.e. wages, benefits, hours of work, management rights and other terms commonly found in a “comprehensive” CBA. The board has long believed that an agreement that waives workers` right to strike is a condition and condition of employment.
So does the Lord. Robb, “any agreement that waives workers` right to strike before the union receives majority support is illegal, even if the agreement expires with recognition.” On the other hand, Robb said, “if a union has not obtained legal recognition, it may agree that the union itself does not call or cause a strike under a neutrality agreement.” Neutrality agreements that are truly neutral and do not affect workers` rights, e.B. if an employer agrees to remain neutral during a organizing campaign in exchange for the union abstaining from a corporate campaign, the strictest standard will remain legal. Lyon explained that a corporate campaign occurs when a union targets an employer using legal action, media attention, a community organization, pickets and political influence to pressure the employer to recognize the union as an exclusive representative of collective bargaining. Robb told NLRB regional staff in a September memo that he wanted to open cases that the GOC office could take to court to amend the Commission`s Neutrality Agreements Act. He said these contracts could go beyond establishing neutrality and cross the line to unduly support unions by employers. However, it is not clear whether the Advocate General`s Office negotiates other cases of neutrality agreements. Under Dana Corp.
and a subsequent consultation note issued by the NLRB`s Office of the General Counsel, which implements Dana Corp.`s decision to unite here, Local 355 (Magic City Casino), 2011 WL 345272 (January 21, 2011), it appears that an employer and a union are entering into a neutrality agreement leading to eventual union recognition, So far, there has been no clear line separating legal neutrality agreements/provisions from those that interfere with workers` rights and are therefore prohibited by federal labor law. However, this is likely to change, because out of 4. In September, Peter Robb, general counsel for the NLRB, issued a policy memorandum on helping employers in unionization (neutrality note), which sets out the parameters for legal and illegal “neutrality.” This is an important development that indicates a new direction that the NLRB will take when faced with such problems. Pryzbylski said: “Many companies want to remain without a union for a variety of reasons, so reaching a neutrality agreement may seem counterintuitive to many people.” But companies have various reasons for doing so, he added. Most neutrality agreements go even further and include other provisions, including an employer agreement to voluntarily recognize the union as a workers` representative once a majority of workers have signed union authorization cards, or a petition supporting the union as its representative, Kisicki said. lawyer at Ogletree Deakins in Phoenix. Many also contain the types of provisions identified in the NLRB`s advocate general`s note, he noted. “At other times, a company may be under pressure from a unionized customer to enter into a neutrality agreement,” he said. “Sometimes unions conduct corporate campaigns and engage in picket lines and similar tactics to get a company to accept a company.” The NLRB`s new attorney general has ended a case launched by his predecessor in the Trump administration in hopes of limiting unions` use of neutrality agreements with employers. The repeal of GC 20-13 (including union neutrality agreements) was particularly noteworthy, as these agreements were more frequently used by unions to strengthen their ranks.
As described in our previous blog, former NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb targeted neutrality agreements in a September 4, 2020 policy brief. The note available here called for a stricter examination of these agreements, citing their lack of true neutrality, and advocated a clear line to separate agreements/provisions of legal neutrality from those that interfere with workers` rights. As a reminder, Dana Corp.`s decision mentions both that it is illegal under the NLRA for a “full collective agreement to be negotiated” prior to recognition, NLRB 356 to 261, and that any agreement containing “essential terms and conditions of employment” would be illegal, id. to 262 fn. 18. There is no guarantee that Biden`s board of directors will be more lenient than Obama`s board of directors in Dana Corp. (in particular, Dana Corp. a 2:1 decision in which a board member was rejected.) The closer a framework agreement gets to a CBA, the more likely it is to violate the NLRA.
The fewer clauses contained in a framework agreement, the more likely it is that conflicts of unfair labour practices will be avoided in the NLRB. These legal issues can affect the legality of neutrality agreements. In February 2021, the new acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Peter Sung Ohr, repealed many of the Trump-era attorney general`s memoranda. This included the repeal of former GC 20-13 (Guidance Memorandum on Assisting Employers in Organizing) on imposing stricter restrictions on neutrality agreements and employer support for unions. The purpose of this memorandum was to adopt a stricter standard “more than ministerial assistance” for neutrality agreements, rather than the “totality of circumstances” standard. The difference between the two standards is when an employer`s support for a union becomes inadmissible and illegal. According to Mr. Robb, “an employer who engages in a neutrality agreement to provide a union with the use of its private facilities before and after work, as well as during workers` meals and break hours to ask workers to sign union authorization cards, would generally reach the level of more than ministerial assistance.” Lord. Robb went on to say that “while it is quite clear that the scope of a bargaining unit is a permissive subject of negotiations, a premature agreement on the scope of unity between the parties deprives the board of its power to determine unity, while giving the union “a misleading cover of authority with which it can convincingly obtain additional support from workers.” The employee is negatively affected. As a result, “such a provision, which was agreed before a trade union reached majority status, is premature and illegal.” Employers are often pushed towards neutrality agreements by union pickets, threats or radical “corporate campaigns”. Some employers are under pressure on neutrality agreements from other companies acting at the request of union officials. .