Opinion ID: 2994875
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Negotiating to Impasse

Text: An employer violates sections 8(a)(1) and (5) of the Act when it unilaterally changes a condition of employment that is a mandatory subject of bargaining before bargaining has reached an impasse. NLRB v. Katz, 369 U.S. 736, 743 (1962); Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp., 904 F.2d 1180, 1185 (7th Cir. 1990). Because an employer is only required to bargain in good faith and may ultimately refuse to amend its proposals, once impasse has been reached the employer may implement its original proposals without violating the Act. Duffy Tool & Stamping, L.L.C. v. NLRB, 233 F.3d 995, 996 (7th Cir. 2000). In the context of ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, however, we have recently held that the parties are required to reach an overall impasse before an employer can unilaterally implement individual proposals made during the course of collective bargaining. Id. at 999; see also Visiting Nurse Services of Western Massachusetts, Inc. v. NLRB, 177 F.3d 52, 58 (1st Cir. 1999) (same). NRM’s contention that the parties had reached impasse on the subcontracting issue is precisely the kind of partial impasse argument foreclosed by Duffy. Partial impasse does not justify unilateral implementation of the contested item, and it is clear both that nothing approaching total deadlock had occurred between the Union and NRM at the time NRM unilaterally sold the trucks, and that NRM’s decision to sell the trucks was not part of a larger plan to go out of business. As our earlier review of the course of events shows, collective bargaining negotiations were ongoing until at least August 7 or 18, long after NRM implemented its truck sale plan. NRM contends in the alternative that it was not required to negotiate to impasse because the Union had waived its right to bargain over the issue of subcontracting. Duffy recognized that there could be exceptions to the overall impasse rule in the event that the employer could demonstrate that the union waived its right to bargain over a particular proposal or that the company would suffer severe economic consequences from a delay in implementation. 233 F.3d at 997. To establish waiver, an employer must prove that the union’s waiver of its statutorily protected right was clearly and unmistakably articulated. Beverly California Corp. v. NLRB, 227 F.3d 817, 838 (7th Cir. 2000). Alternatively, a union can relinquish its right to bargain if it insists on continually avoiding or delaying bargaining. Serramonte Oldsmobile, Inc. v. NLRB, 86 F.3d 227, 235 (D.C. Cir. 1996). NRM does not assert that the Union engaged in any such dilatory conduct; it must therefore show that the Union unmistakably waived its right to bargain over NRM’s proposal to subcontract hauling services. NRM finds such a waiver in the Union’s repeated refusal to accept its plan to shift hauling work to non-union subcontractors and its proposed modifications of Article 24. The Board properly rejected this argument. NRM’s waiver theory is simply a restatement of its single- issue impasse theory using different terminology. In the context of collective bargaining negotiations, the Union’s mere refusal to budge on a particular issue cannot constitute a waiver. Indeed, the Union expressed its willingness to discuss changes to Article 24 as late as the July 1 meeting, which further weakens NRM’s argument. At no time did the Union refuse to negotiate or fail to negotiate in good faith over the terms of the successor contract. The record lends ample support to the Board’s conclusion that while the Union was opposed to the truck-selling plan, it expressed willingness to try to find ways by which NRM’s economic concerns could be met and that [t]he Union was thus responsive and persistent rather than dilatory and evasive in the negotiations. 329 NLRB No. 19 at 9. Under these circumstances, there was no waiver. NRM finally claims that the strike entitled it to implement its shift to a system of subcontract haulers, but here it is confusing apples and oranges. It is true that when workers strike, an employer may temporarily subcontract unit work in order to enable the employer to continue operating in an emergency situation thrust upon it by a strike. American Cyanamid Co. v. NLRB, 592 F.2d 356, 360 (7th Cir. 1979). But the mere fact that employees go on strike does not relieve the employer of the duty to bargain to impasse, and thus it does not permit an employer permanently to subcontract out unit work in the absence of impasse. Id. All of the evidence supports the Board’s conclusion that NRM’s subcontracting was not a temporary response to circumstances created by the strike, but rather the implementation of a carefully formulated plan for a permanent shift of unit work away from employees and over to subcontractors.