Indeed, the Board will not even keep petitions filed during the certification year on file so it can begin processing them once the certification year expires even though it will do that with petitions filed during insulated periods under the contract bar rule. The seemingly solid certification-year front has exceptions. A major loophole is that an employee petition to the employer during the certification year disavowing the union, under existing precedents, permits that employer to withdraw recognition from the certified union as soon as the certification year expires. Indeed, the employer receiving such an anti-union petition can immediately announce to the union, even during the certification year, that it will withdraw recognition as soon as the year expires. As noted, even though the employees themselves are not permitted to file a decertification petition before the certification year ends, their anti-union petition gives the employer the opportunity to withdraw recognition because it creates a lawful good faith doubt in the employer s mind as to whether the certified union s majority status continues in place.
Unions despise the good faith doubt exception.
That venerable Board case permits employers to withdraw recognition from unions in a variety of contexts if they have a good-faith doubt that the union still represents a majority of the affected employees. That Board issue remains to be addressed in the Levitz Furniture case. Chelsea Industries presented the Board with a real dilemma if existing precedents were followed. The certified union finally receives a full year without any exceptions. This Board decision required major surgery for the Board s earlier decisions.