In labor law, a “contract bar” generally states that no petition to get rid of a union may be filed during the existence of a valid collective bargaining agreement. Sounds straight forward. There must be an actual contract, signed by both parties. But what happens if there is a signed, valid contract but the effective dates of the…

An employer is only allowed to bargain with a union that has proven it represents a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. Otherwise the company violates the law by recognizing a non-majority union. This rule on majority status is tricky. If a company thinks a union has lost its majority status it is…

People who practice traditional labor law, like me, are used to throwing around a lot of numbers and letters as short hand when talking shop. For example, we like to know whether it’s a 9(a) union or an 8(f) contract. Management lawyers like myself are used to unions filing 8(a) unfair labor practice charges, and we’re…