E-Alert Item: Court Says Employer Erred When It Unilaterally Discontinued Dues Check-Off Provision

When a collective bargaining agreement expires, and the union and management haven’t negotiated a new one, an employer must maintain the status quo. This means the employer can’t impose unilateral changes on issues that are considered “mandatory subjects of bargaining,” until a new contract is negotiated or the parties have bargained to impasse. Applying this principle, the federal Ninth Circuit appeals court, which covers California, has ruled that the National Labor Relations Board erred in finding that the Hacienda Resort Hotel and Casino and the Sahara Resort and Casino didn’t violate the National Labor Relations Act by unilaterally discontinuing a union dues check off provision. Under the provision the employers agreed to deduct union dues directly from employee paychecks and remit the dues to the union. According to the appeals court, dues check-off provisions are mandatory subjects of bargaining, and, therefore, an employer can’t make unilateral changes without bargaining. The only exception, said the court, is when the union contract also includes a union security clause–which makes union membership a condition of employment–but the contract in this case didn’t include such a clause.