Duty to Bargain With Union Before Disciplining Workers

The National Labor Relations Board has once again held an employer must provide notice and an opportunity to bargain before imposing serious discipline on workers represented by a newly certified or recognized union that hasn’t yet negotiated a labor contract (Total Sec. Mgmt. Ill. 1, LLC, 2016 BL 284444, 364 N.L.R.B. No. 106, 8/26/16 [released 8/31/16]).

Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Members Kent Y. Hirozawa and Lauren McFerran agreed with the board’s reasoning in Alan Ritchey, Inc., a 2012 decision that was later invalidated when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that several recess appointments to the board were ...