NLRB says contract bar is here to stay

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.

As a corollary to the contract-bar doctrine, the Mountaire Farms decision additionally discussed an exception known as the “window period,” wherein a decertification petition may be filed (1) during the 30-day window that begins 90 days and ends 60 days before an agreement expires or (2) in the case of healthcare employers, during the 30-day window that begins 120 days and ends 90 days before contract expiration.