Divided NLRB Rules (Again) That Dues Deductions Survive Contract Expiration

For more than five decades, employers could cease deduction of dues at the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement as a legitimate economic weapon. It was only recently that, as part of the constant shifting of precedent at the Board, the decades-old rule has been disturbed.

On September 30, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board issued the most recent iteration of the rule. In a 3-2 decision (split along party lines) Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc. [Valley Medical Center II], 371 NLRB No. 160, the Board once again held that employers may not unilaterally cease dues checkoff arrangements after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement. Specifically, Democrat Board members Chairman Lauren McFerran and Members Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty determined that the employer must continue deducting dues until either a new contract or valid impasse is reached because such deduction "should be treated as part of the status quo that cannot be changed