NLRB General Counsel Proposes a Change to Existing Deferral Policies

Under a proposal by NLRB General Counsel, Lafe Solomon, the Board would no longer defer certain charges to lengthy grievance and arbitration processes. Under the current Board deferral policy union charges of employer violations of 8(a)(1) and (3) which involve discharges or discrimination based on Union activity are deferred to the parties’ grievance and arbitration provision in their collective bargaining agreement. The reasoning behind the existing deferral policy is that the dispute will be resolved faster through arbitration than under a Board investigation. However, this is not always the case. Often employer delay tactics cause these disputes to take over a year to be resolved. Solomon is attempting to address this very problem. Solomon is proposing that the Board no longer defer where it is anticipated that the underlying disputes will not be resolved in under a year. He is also proposing that the Board end its deferral policy for an existing charge where the dispute remains unresolved after a year. This proposal, when implemented, will provide for a more efficient Board and greater protection for Union members from employer retaliation.