Labor Law -- 2016



Volkswagen Group of Am., Inc. v. United Auto Workers, Local 42   (NLRB)

Application of Specialty Healthcare to maintenance employee micro unit

The NAM filed an amicus brief with the National Labor Relations Board supporting Volkswagen in a collective bargaining dispute with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The UAW brought the complaint after Volkswagen opposed the creation of a micro-bargaining unit exclusively for maintenance employees. UAW argued that because maintenance employees “share a unique function” they are readily identifiable and therefore should be recognized as a bargaining unit. This litigation is important to manufacturers because multiple bargaining agreements make it difficult to address employee concerns. The NAM’s brief argued that the application of the Specialty Healthcare doctrine, which reversed 70 years of precedent and instated a new standard for determining a collective bargain unit should not apply because the standard is inconsistent with the statute and the legislative history and that the decision in this case fails to even comply with the standard as set forth in Specialty Healthcare. The NLRB rejected Volkswagen’s request for review, but the case was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which remanded the case for reconsideration.


Related Documents:
NAM brief  (December 23, 2015)