The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently affirmed it will continue to follow and enforce the long-established “contract-bar doctrine,” which provides unions with protection from ouster during most of a collective bargaining agreement’s (CBA) effective period.
How Contract-Bar Doctrine Works
Ahead of the Mountaire Farms, Inc. decision issued on April 21, 2021, the NLRB invited interested parties to file briefs about whether it should continue to follow the contact-bar doctrine or modify or discontinue its use altogether. Under the doctrine, a valid CBA is a bar to a representation petition filed during the agreement’s term for up to a maximum three-year period. While the bar is in effect, employees may not file a decertification petition asserting they no longer wish to be represented by the union.
