Collective Agreements and Covid
In practice, the scope of the bargaining obligation is determined in part by the terms of collective agreements and the scope and conditions of existing COVID-19 guidelines. Other considerations that may enter into the development of COVID-19 policies related to the ETS include operational and staffing needs, the resources needed to maintain a screening and/or vaccination program, and the individual employer`s employment relationship climate. The guidelines do not specify whether regions should apply the “contractual coverage” standard or the “clear and unambiguous waiver” standard preferred by the General Counsel when determining whether the parties` collective agreement gives management the right to unilaterally implement “shooting or testing” conditions. An email from the advisory service discussed the obligation to bargain on the union`s COVID-19 proposals. The advisory service concluded that a ready-mixed concrete employer could legitimately refuse to negotiate a union proposal for paid sick leave and pay at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The consulting service noted that a party to a collective agreement does not have to negotiate the issues covered by the contract during the term of the contract. An employer with a unionized workforce may act unilaterally to make “a substantial, substantial and material change” to the terms and conditions of employment if such action is taken in accordance with the express terms and conditions of a CBA. See Mv Transportation, 368 NLRB No. 66, Slip op. cit. to *5 (September 10, 2019).
Similarly, an employer does not have to negotiate union demands on matters that have already been negotiated and provided for in an existing collective agreement. Local Union No. 47, Int`l Bhd. d`Elec. Workers, AFL-CIO, CLC v. N.L.R.B., 927 F.2d 635, 640 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (stating that a union may exercise its right to bargain on a particular matter by negotiating a provision of the collective agreement that defines the rights of the parties and excludes any further mandatory bargaining on the subject”); Connecticut Power Co., 271 NLRB 766, 766-67 (1984).
As additional COVID-19 sick leave provisions expire at the federal and state levels, unions may seek to include similar terms in collective agreements (CBAs). You can suggest additional paid sick leave in general, additional paid sick leave in the event of an emergency, or, in the area of health care, additional paid sick leave for those who are exposed to a contagious disease at work. Litigation advice for employers subject to collective agreements Health and safety is repeatedly cited as one of the most important issues for workers, and the COVID-19 crisis has only increased its importance. Unions regularly negotiate health and safety with employers, and collective bargaining gives workers a stronger voice to address these critical issues than they would have done individually. However, inexplicably, Trump`s NLRB found that health and safety is not an “essential” concept of employment, so it is not automatically considered when verifying whether two employers are joint employers with control over “substantial” terms and conditions of employment (NLRB 2020). This artificially restricts the joint survey of employers and excludes a topic of the utmost importance to workers (Becker and Berner 2020). Legislation should specify that health and safety is an essential concept of employment. What we can do about this is that policymakers need to implement reforms that promote the collective power of workers. While a set of necessary reforms – the Law on the Protection of the Right to Organize (PRO) – already enjoys broad political support and that the United States has adopted.
In the House of Representatives, there are a number of other practical policy reforms that are expected to be a priority for the first 100 days of the government in charge in 2021. These reforms build on existing legal frameworks and structures of workers` power and could be introduced as we take on the greater task of envisioning new structures that promote workers` collective power. Leaders interested in using their power to stop and reverse the four-decade-old trend of growing inequality and near-stagnation of wages for most workers cannot afford to wait. .