Opinion ID: 4529815
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Refusal to bargain before May 2016

Text: Finally, Local 15 contends that PSAV acted in bad faith by refusing to bargain with Local 15 from January to May 2016. As noted above, see supra note 2, PSAV refused to bargain during this time in order to obtain review of the NLRB’s certification decision, see S.R.D.C., Inc., 45 F.3d at 330 n.2, and the NLRB found that PSAV’s refusal was unlawful, Audio Visual Servs. Grp., Inc., 2017 WL 2241025, at . However, in the current proceeding, the NLRB concluded that PSAV’s refusal did not evidence overall bad faith bargaining. Specifically, the NLRB noted that PSAV’s challenge to Local 15’s certification was pending during this time and that after PSAV’s challenge was rejected, it quickly engaged in the bargaining process with Local 15. The record does not compel a contrary conclusion. PSAV has actively engaged in the bargaining process since May 2016 by attending multiple in-person bargaining sessions, responding to Local 15’s contract proposals, making its own proposals, and reaching agreement with Local 15 on numerous contract terms. Finally, we note—as did the NLRB—that viewing the parties’ entire course of negotiations reveals that Local 15 did not sufficiently utilize the bargaining process before charging PSAV with bad faith. The negotiations occurred from June 2016 through January 2017—eight months. Local 15 filed an NLRB charge related to its document requests in October, less than a month after issuing the requests. PSAV had explained why it was not producing the requested documents, and Local 15 never responded to PSAV’s explanation or asserted its continued belief that it was IATSE LOCAL 15 V. NLRB 27 entitled to the requested documents. Then, after only one additional bargaining session (because both parties cancelled bargaining sessions scheduled for late 2016), Local 15 filed another NLRB charge asserting PSAV was bargaining in bad faith. And since filing that charge, it has refused PSAV’s efforts to continue bargaining. On this record, we find no error in the NLRB’s conclusion that Local 15 “did not sufficiently test [PSAV]’s willingness to bargain prior to filing its bad-faith bargaining charge.” Audio Visual Servs. Grp., Inc., 2019 WL 1198973, at .