Historically, employers have been free to discontinue union dues
check-off arrangements upon the expiration of a collective
bargaining agreement. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
changed that long-standing rule on December 12, overturning 50
years of precedent and ruling employers must honor dues check-off
arrangements until the parties execute a new collective bargaining
agreement or reach a bargaining impasse. The fact that this
decision came just one day after Michigan joined the ranks of
Right-to-Work states, by banning requirements that non-union
employees pay union dues, raises the question of whether the NLRB
is seeking to give where state legislatures take away.
In WKYC-TV, Inc., a divided Board determined that
employers must continue to honor dues check-off provisions after
contract expiration in order to preserve the status quo, thereby
"ensuring that the trade-offs made by the parties in earlier
bargaining remain in place." Union dues check-off
