NLRB Empowers Employers to Cut Off Union Dues Collections (1)

Employers can unilaterally stop deducting union dues from workers’ paychecks once a collective bargaining agreement expires, a divided National Labor Relations Board ruled Dec. 16.

That 3-1 ruling overturns the Obama-era decision requiring employers to keep deducting dues—and transmitting them to the union—even after a labor deal ends. Most other terms and conditions of employment that must be bargained over continue after a union contract expires.

Contractual provisions governing automatic dues collection are in the limited category of mandatory bargaining subjects that only last for the life of the contract, the NLRB said. The ruling returns board precedent to the ...