What Is an Appropriate Bargaining Unit in Labor Law

In standard negotiations, a union will negotiate with a first employer to reach an agreement, which will then become the model for subsequent agreements with other employers in the industry. The industry that has the most common practice of negotiating with multiple employers is the construction industry. Due to a long-standing practice and tradition, trade unions in the construction sector negotiate multi-employer framework agreements with employers` associations in their trades, and employers, including newly organised employers, often adopt the framework agreement by signing letters of authorisation in which they undertake to be bound by the framework agreement. Most of these agreements are negotiated locally or regionally by the various construction unions with their respective employers` associations. For example, locals of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) negotiate framework agreements with locals of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Collective bargaining will be streamlined by the National IBEW and NECA through the development of standard contractual language approved by both national organizations.30 8. See 29 USC 159(b): “The board of directors shall in any event decide whether . The appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining is the employer unit, the craft unit, the business unit or a subdivision thereof. The majority disagreed with the Regional Director`s decision, noting that the community of interest analysis requires not only consideration of the common interests of the workers of the requested agency, but also whether those common interests are sufficiently separate from the interests of the workers excluded from the proposed entity. To facilitate the agency`s future decisions, the Commission announced a three-step process to analyze the challenges related to the scope of the bargaining units proposed under PCC`s Structural Community of Interest Standard. The case was brought before the board of directors after the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Engineers (the “IAM”) filed a representative motion to represent a bargaining unit that included some of Boeing`s aircraft engineers, but excluded workers from the production and maintenance of the company`s South Carolina plant. a non-unionized facility.

The NLRB Regional Director determined that the proposed bargaining unit was appropriate, conducted an election, and then confirmed the union after its election victory. In a split decision of 9 September 2019, the Council revoked the entity`s approval requested by the Regional Director, revoked the Union`s certification and rejected the petition. The majority of the Board, appointed by Republicans, said the regional director incorrectly applied the PCC Structurals standard to assess the suitability of a requested entity and adopted a three-part test to analyze the scope of bargaining units proposed under the traditional community of interest standard. For decades, a coalition of unions has been negotiating with General Electric for a coordinated collective bargaining council. In the 1980s, these negotiations involved 40,000 to 201250,000 GE workers, and the collective agreement established a model that would apply to other manufacturers of electrical appliances, appliances and component suppliers. Due to company changes, downsizing and job losses due to outsourcing and trade, only about 6,600 GE employees are currently covered by collective agreements. If another group of employees of the employer is already represented by a union, the main concern of the board is to ensure industrial stability. If there is more than one bargaining unit of workers, it can increase the prospect of industrial instability. When the union applies for the first bargaining session of the employer`s employees, the board`s main concern is access to collective bargaining. Not only is the current law biased in favour of single-facility collective bargaining units, but it also puts obstacles in the way of workers and unions trying to coordinate collective bargaining across multiple institutions.

For example, the current law limits the ability of workers and unions to coordinate the expiry dates of contracts that cover different collective bargaining units in several institutions, although common expiry dates would bring rationality and order to the bargaining process. Nor can workers picket or attempt to exert economic pressure on a “neutral” employer other than their own to promote their goals at the bargaining table – such activities will most likely be declared illegal as an illegal “secondary boycott”. Finally, workers and unions are limited in their ability to negotiate the labour practices of the suppliers and contractors their employers commission to perform the work. Unless these practices directly affect the work and workers covered by the collective agreement, they are likely to be considered “permissive” bargaining grounds, meaning that the employer is not legally required to bargain about them if it decides not to do so. Employers can, if they wish, accept employees` request to bargain on the basis of multiple employers, and this practice has a long history. This is voluntary on the part of employers, but if employers have agreed to negotiate with multiple employers, the NLRB will apply this practice. When negotiating with multiple employers, each participating employer agrees to appoint a representative – usually an association – for the purposes of collective bargaining, and each employer is then bound by the terms of the negotiated agreement. In the 1970s, it was estimated that 10% of private sector employees were covered by collective agreements with multiple employers.18 In Philadelphia, SEIU Local 32BJ advocated for regulations establishing minimum wage and paid sick leave for employees of Philadelphia International Airport contractors. The union was later recognized as a representative of 1,400 employees of Prospect Airport Services and PrimeFlight Aviation Services, who work as baggage handlers, wheelchair users, cabin cleaners and more. The union was able to build on the minimum standards set out in the regulation and apply provisions of its first collective agreement that go beyond the requirements of the Paid Sick Leave Regulation.38 Unions in several sectors have collective bargaining relationships with employer groups or associations – an agreement that allows them to negotiate wage and benefits standards in an industry or geographic area. In addition to the Teamsters Freight Master Agreement described above, examples from other industries are described below. A leading expert observed the “narrowness” of the “one workplace and one employer” approach, explaining: “The NLRA, which emphasizes company-based organization and negotiation, is not compatible with the globalized economy and its various contractual layers.

19 The new three-part test is the most recent development of the Commission`s method for determining whether a requested unit is appropriate ….