Here is a brief summary of other noteworthy developments in
recent months:
Circuit court decisions
Revised successor bar doctrine upheld. The
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had a rational basis for
revising the so-called successor bar doctrine in its 2011
UGL-UNICCO Service Co. decision, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held, noting that the
agency explained its reason for doing so and "marshalled new
factual support for its doctrinal move." The Board also
properly applied the doctrine in finding an employer that took over
a bankrupt company unlawfully refused to bargain with the union
that represented a group of truck drivers at the acquired business.
In UGL, the Board overruled MV
Transportation—a Bush-era case that had created an
immediate window, following a sale or merger, during which a
union's representative status could be challenged by 30 percent
of employees, the employer, or a rival union. UGL marked a
return to the doctrine
