Employer May Not Unilaterally Cease Dues Checkoff at Union Contract Expiration

October 13, 2011 by Beeson Tayer & Bodine

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this September concluded that employers may no longer unilaterally discontinue dues checkoff upon the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement. In the Court’s third visit to the same case, the Court in Local Joint Executive Bd. of Las Vegas v. N.L.R.B. not only disagreed with longstanding Board doctrine holding otherwise, but after 15 years of waiting for the Board to articulate a comprehensible rationale supporting its doctrine, the Court found the employer guilty of an unfair labor practice, and remanded the case to the Board to calculate damages.

The Court’s decision is only effective in the Western States within the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction, and does not prevent employers, even within those states, from appealing adverse NLRB decisions to the D.C. Court of Appeals. But last March, the NLRB General Counsel issued a memo directing all Regional Offices to contact the Division of Advice when they receive ULP charges alleging the unilateral cessation of dues-checkoff arrangements following contract expiration. This process has already resulted in the issuance of several NLRB complaints on the issue.

The goal is to get one such case before the NLRB in Washington and have the Board issue a majority decision adopting the Ninth Circuit’s analysis of the issue. In the meantime, if you have dues checkoff in your contract, and the employer unilaterally ceases dues deduction upon contract expiration, make sure you contact our office to get a ULP charge on file.

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