The following article first appeared in the Insights section of Littler Mendelson’s website. It is reposted here with permission.
Employers and unions frequently exchange aggressive, controversial, and sometimes unpopular proposals during collective bargaining.
In a recent decision, Inland Waters Pollution Control, Inc., a divided National Labor Relations Board held that an employer did not violate Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act merely by proposing contract language that would permit discipline for employees who filed “baseless, malicious or harassing grievances.”
The board emphasized that placing a proposal on the bargaining table, standing alone, does not constitute an unlawful threat.
The decision reinforces the longstanding principle that collective bargaining should allow for robust debate and hard bargaining without automatically subjecting parties to unfair labor practice liability based solely on the content of a bargaining proposal.
During negotiations for a successor collective bargaining agreement, Inland Waters Pollution Control proposed language that would permit the employer, in its discretion, to discipline employees for filing “baseless, malicious or harassing grievances,” including termination for serious offenders.
Company representatives explained that the proposal was intended to address what they viewed as an excessive number of grievances being filed by the union steward and bargaining unit employees.
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