NLRB employee notice revision comments on NLRA rights

Federal Register/Vol. 76, No. 168/Tuesday, August 30, 2011/Rules and Regulations 54021 misleading and vague. The first comment, from COLLE, argues that the provision is misleading because it fails to acknowledge that an employer does not have an obligation under the NLRA to consent to the establishment of a collective-bargaining agreement, but instead only has the statutory duty to “meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.” 29 U.S.C. 158(d). The comment also argues that the failure to reach an agreement is not per se unlawful, and the finding of an unfair labor practice depends on whether the parties engaged in good-faith bargaining. This comment suggests that the notice should instead note that the NLRA requires parties to bargain in good faith but does not compel agreement or the making of concessions, and that, in some instances, a bargaining impasse will result, permitting the parties to exercise their economic weapons, such as strikes or lockouts. The second comment, made generally by more than a few organizations and individuals, suggests that the notice add a statement indicating that employers and unions have an obligation to bargain in good faith. The Board finds it unnecessary to add the suggested amplifications. For one thing, the notice does state that employers and unions have a duty to bargain in good faith, “in a genuine effort to reach a written, binding agreement setting your terms and conditions of employment.” In the Board’s view, the statement that the parties must make a ‘‘genuine effort” to reach agreement necessarily implies that they are not, in the end, required to reach one. The Board deems the notice language to be adequate on this point. Finally, for the reasons already discussed, the Board rejects the contention that the notice should discuss the implications or consequences of unsuccessful bargaining. iii. The Right To Discuss With Co- Workers or Union A comment from the National Immigration Law Center suggests that the use of the phrase “terms and conditions of employment” is unclear especially to employees who are unaware of their rights under the NLRA. The comment recommends that, in order to clarify, the Board add the phrase “including wages and benefits.” The suggested language would read, “you have the right to: discuss your terms and conditions of employment, including wages and benefits, or union organizing with your co-workers ora union.” The Board agrees that adding the suggested language would clarify the provision. The list of affirmative rights uses the terms ‘‘wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment” to describe what unions may negotiate. The notice then uses the terms “wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions” to describe the right to bargain collectively for a contract. Those statements make it clear that “terms and conditions of employment” includes wages and benefits. But then immediately following those two statements, the notice states that employees may discuss ‘“‘terms and conditions of employment,” but does not include any clarifying language. In order, to create a more uniform notice and clarify the extent to which employees may discuss their terms and conditions of employment the final notice will read, “Under the NLRA, you have a right to: Discuss your wages and benefits and other terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union.” iv. The Right To Strike and Picket The notice’s reference to the right to strike and picket received a few comments from law firms and other organizations representing employers’ interests. The comments suggest that the provision is flawed because of the absence of further limitations, exceptions, and distinctions.1°¢ Generally, the comments argue that not all strikes and pickets are protected. COLLE argues that the notice should inform employees of the limitations of strikes encompassed by “depending on the purpose or means of the strike or pickets’’—for example, whether the strike is for recognition or bargaining, whether the strike has a secondary purpose, whether picketing involves a reserved gate, whether the strike is a sit- down or minority strike, whether the conduct is a slowdown and not a full withholding of work, whether the strike is partial or intermittent, whether the strike involves violence, and whether the strike is an unfair labor practice strike or an economic strike. ALFA argues that employees should be informed that if the employer is a healthcare institution, “employees do not have the right to participate in a union-initiated strike or picket unless the union has provided the employer and federal and state mediation agencies with the required 10 days notice.” 106 See comments of ALFA, Carrollton Health and Rehabilitation Center, and COLLE. The Board disagrees. By necessity, an 11x17-inch notice cannot contain an exhaustive list of limitations on and exceptions to the rights to strike and picket, as suggested by employers. However, because exercising the right to strike can significantly affect the livelihood of employees, the Board considers it important to alert employees that there are some limitations to exercising this right. The Board is satisfied that the general caveat, “depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing,” together with the instruction to contact the NLRB with specific questions about the application of rights in certain situations, provides sufficient guidance to employees about the exercise of their rights while still staying within the constraints set by a necessarily brief employee notice. v. The Right To Refrain From Union or Other Protected Concerted Activity All the comments that discuss the right to refrain from engaging in union activity criticize what they contend to be its lack of prominence. ALFA accuses the Board of ‘‘burying” the provision by placing it last, below the other rights to engage in union and other concerted activity. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggests that the notice include “‘or not’”’ after each of the enumerated rights. For example, ‘‘you have the right to: form join or assist a union, or not.” (Emphasis added.) Other suggested revisions to amplify the prominence of the provision include stating that employees have the right to refrain from protected, concerted activities and/or union activities; stating that employees’ right to refrain includes the right to actively oppose unionization, to not sign union authorization cards, to request a secret ballot election, to not be a member of a union or pay dues or fees (addressed further below), or to decertify a union (also addressed below); and stating that employees have the right to be fairly represented even if not a member of the union. One employer suggests that if the notice retains its current emphasis favoring union activity and disfavoring the freedom to refrain from such activity, employers will need to post their own notices that emphasize and elaborate on the right to refrain. The Board received at least four comments that argue that the notice, as written, may make employees believe that the employer is encouraging unionization. Two of those comments suggest that an employer is protected from compelled speech by Section 8(c) of the NLRA. (The Board has already rejected the latter argument; see section HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022292