INFORMATION FOR BARGAINING:
The duty to bargain, and provide relevant information,
arises as soon as the union is elected bargaining
representative and continues as long as the union remains
the representative, regardless of whether a contract is
in place. Information such as names and addresses of
employees, dates of hire, terms and conditions of
employment, benefit plans, employee manuals, disciplinary
policies, health and safety procedures, etc., is
presumptively relevant. Almost everything else is
arguably relevant.
Of special concern is financial information. If an employer says "it cannot pay," as opposed to "it will not pay," the Union can demand documentation of that claim by requesting review of the employer's financial records. This applies to an employer's statement that it must remain competitive to survive, even when the employer claims it is not pleading an inability to pay.
INFORMATION FOR GRIEVANCE HANDLING:
The employer's obligation to provide grievance
information is extremely broad. It includes the
disclosure of a broad range of documents; factual
information and data; materials that could be useful or
lead to other information that could be useful; and
records of the grievant, other bargaining unit employees
and non- bargaining unit employees, like supervisors and
management. All that the NLRB requires is that the
information be necessary and relevant for the monitoring
of compliance with the contract; the investigation of
whether a grievance exists; preparation for a grievance
meeting; determination of whether to proceed with the
grievance; or preparation for the arbitration hearing.
If the cost of the copying is not substantial, the employer must bear the cost. If the cost is substantial, the employer must bargain over the amount to be paid by the union. If the parties cannot come to agreement, the union may request, and is entitled to, direct access to the records for review purposes.
If the information request is relevant, but the employer asserts confidentiality concerns, the NLRB balances a union's need for the information against any "legitimate and substantial" confidentiality interests established by the employer, who has the burden of proof. Legitimate and substantial confidentiality and privacy claims will be upheld, but blanket claims of confidentiality will not. When the employer refuses to supply information on confidentiality grounds, it must negotiate an accommodation between the union's information needs and the employer's claim of confidentiality. The appropriate accommodation necessary depends on the particular circumstances of each case. The Union should not agree to a broad and general confidentiality agreement.
For each request, the Union should include a statement that if the employer considers information to be confidential, a written description of each item of information, including its title, author, recipient and content along with the reasons for the claim of confidentiality, should be provided. The Union can also propose that the employer delete those portions or references of a document that it claims to be proprietary or confidential, along with the reason for the deletion, and then submit the modified document.
NAME
TITLE
COMPANY
ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE
Re: LOCAL UNION & COMPANY; CASE NO.
Dear:
The following requested information is essential to the
Union's ability to properly determine the extent to which
the Company's proposals will impact individual bargaining
unit employees, as well as the bargaining unit as a
whole. Please note that during the course of these
DATE negotiations, the issue of job security has been a
frequent subject of discussion. The contractual
relationship that exists between the Company and
contractors performing bargaining unit work memorializes
the economic advantages of contracting and provides
benchmarks towards which the Union may bargain with a
view towards displacing contractors or preventing the
further erosion of job security by contractors. The
detailed information about such contractors and their
relationships with the Company forms the centerpiece of
the Union's ability to bargain effectively.
Additionally, accidents, near-misses, or injuries, as
well as their rates of occurrences among contractor or
subcontractor personnel, have an impact on the total
working environment and a direct bearing on the health
and safety conditions, as well as the job security of our
members who are permanent employees of your Company.
Therefore, the information regarding contractors is vital
to our duty to obtain an understanding of workplace
conditions which represent a potential hazard to the
security of our members, and is necessary to the
fulfillment of our duty of fair representation.
1. Concerning Article XXIII, CONTRACT WORK and Article
III, MANAGEMENT RIGHTS, please provide: (a) a list of
circumstances where the Employer will consider it
necessary to contract out bargaining unit work; (b) a
list of outside contractors which the Company has
employed or otherwise retained during the last 5 years,
and the business address of these contractors, the
locations where the work is performed and indicate the
nature of the work performed by the contractors, and the
products and/or tasks involved; (c) a description of the
system training provided for the contractor employees,
and all documentation which substantiates your
description; (d) a description of the confined space
entry training provided for the contractor employees, and
all documentation which substantiates your description;
(e) a description of the emergency response training
provided for the contractor employees, and all
documentation which substantiates your description; (f)
a description of the lock- out/tag-out training provided
for the contractor employees, and all documentation which
substantiates your description; (g) a description of the
hazard communication training provided for the contractor
employees, and all documentation which substantiates your
description; (h) a copy of the safety records and place
of employment for the contractor employees for the last
five (5) years; (i) information that evidences the
financial ability of the contractor to assume third party
liability for injury to our represented employees
resulting from contractor employee negligence; and, O
information and documentation which evidences the
economic and practical necessities for the contracting of
outsiders.
2. Concerning Article III, MANAGEMENT RIGHTS, please
provide: (a) a copy of any and all Company performance
standards; (b) a statement of any and all Company
policies regarding standards; (c) a statement of how the
Employer intends to notify the employees of the stated
standards; and, (d) a statement of the consequences for
failing to follow each stated standard.
3. Concerning Article III, MANAGEMENT RIGHTS, please
specify under what circumstances the Employer will
consider it necessary to transfer work from department to
department; for each circumstance please specify the
reason for the change and how it will impact the pay
rate.
4. Concerning Article III, MANAGEMENT RIGHTS, please
specify the current qualifications for each job
classification in the bargaining unit.
5. Concerning Article XX, BENEFITS, please specify all
changes that have occurred to benefits during the last 5
years.
To facilitate timely and good faith negotiations between
the parties over the Company's proposals, I am requesting
that this information be received by the Union no later
than (date). Should the Company challenge its obligation
to supply any portion of the requested information, or
have legitimate questions concerning the meaning or
relevancy of any portion of this request, such challenges
or questions will not relieve the Company of its duty to
supply the remaining portions. If items of information
are withheld for reasons of confidentiality please
provide a written description of each item of withheld
material and the reasons for the Company's claim of
confidentiality. Such description shall include the title
of the document, its general contents, authors,
recipients, and the name and title of any attorneys where
a claim of privilege is exercised. With regard to
information that is withheld for the alleged proprietary
or trade secret nature of the material, we request that
proprietary or trade secret information be struck so that
the material can be supplied within the two-day period.
Acceptance of such material by the Union does not
constitute a waiver on the part of the Union to its right
to challenge the Company's claim to confidentiality at a
later date.
I look forward to your response.
Very truly yours,
YOUR NAME
TITLE