Opinion ID: 521923
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Unilateral Contract Changes

Text: 19 The collective bargaining agreement between ESI and the Union expired on October 31, 1983. Terms of a new agreement were being negotiated. ESI continued to make contributions for its union members to both the health and welfare fund and the pension fund after the contract expired. However, two months before the store closed, these payments ceased. Vacation benefits were paid to union employees up through the date of Emsing's closing, but ESI refused to pay the accrued vacation benefits owed to three employees. General Counsel Ex. 1(a). At the hearing before the ALJ, Mr. Emsing testified that the Union was not told that these payments had ceased. Mr. Emsing defended this unilateral action on two grounds: (1) that ESI was no longer obligated under the CBA because it had not been extended; and (2) that the Union's conduct revealed that it had abandoned the bargaining unit and waived any right to future payments. 7 20
21 ESI's first defense is raised rather obliquely in this enforcement proceeding. We address it for the sake of completeness. ESI was obligated to make these payments under the CBA notwithstanding the fact that the agreement expired in October 1983. The Supreme Court has held that it is a violation of the duty 'to bargain collectively' imposed by Sec. 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act for an employer, without first consulting a union with which it is carrying on bona fide contract negotiations, to institute changes regarding matters which are subjects of mandatory bargaining under Sec. 8(d) and which are in fact under discussion. 8 NLRB v. Katz, 369 U.S. 736, 737, 82 S.Ct. 1107, 8 L.Ed.2d 230 (1962). An employer may not make changes in the terms and conditions of employment reflected in an expired collective bargaining agreement. Stone Boat Yard v. NLRB, 715 F.2d 441, 444 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 937, 104 S.Ct. 1910, 80 L.Ed.2d 459 (1984); see NLRB v. Carilli, 648 F.2d 1206, 1214 (9th Cir.1981); Clear Pine Mouldings, Inc. v. NLRB, 632 F.2d 721, 729 (7th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 984, 101 S.Ct. 2317, 68 L.Ed.2d 841 (1981). Instead, the employer must maintain the status quo after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement until a new agreement is reached or until the parties bargain in good faith to impasse. Southwest Forest Indus., Inc. v. NLRB, 841 F.2d 270, 273 (9th Cir.1988); see NLRB v. Harvstone Mfg. Corp., 785 F.2d 570, 581 n. 12 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 821, 107 S.Ct. 88, 93 L.Ed.2d 41 (1986); Stone Boat Yard, 715 F.2d at 444; Carilli, 648 F.2d at 1214. The parties have not alleged that they reached an impasse or that negotiations were discontinued. We thus conclude that there is substantial evidence to support the Board's finding that, by unilaterally ceasing to make payments under the terms of the agreement, ESI committed an unfair labor practice in violation of sections 8(a)(1) and (5) of the Act. 9 22
23 Substantial evidence also supports the Board's finding that the Union did not abandon the Emsing's bargaining unit. Mr. Emsing alleged that he believed that the Union had abandoned interest in representing Emsing's employees. While the record contains evidence that would support such a conclusion, 10 there was also evidence that Mr. Emsing realized that the Union was still active. Mr. Emsing testified that, in April or May of 1984, at least six months after the CBA expired, he saw Mr. Primm posting a notice in Emsing's. Mr. Emsing admitted that the notice said that there was to be a meeting of all the employees of Emsing's Supermarket at the Union Hall. Tr. at 818. Mr. Emsing's actions also indicated that he believed that the terms of the agreement were still binding on him. Although the CBA had expired, Mr. Emsing continued to make payments to the various Union funds through June of 1984, at least seven months after the CBA expired. Additionally, through July of 1984, Mr. Emsing automatically deducted Union dues from employees' paychecks and forwarded them to the Union. Based on this evidence, the Board was justified in concluding that the Union had not abandoned representation of the bargaining unit. 11