Crowell & Moring Establishes that an Employer May Unilaterally Exercise Management Rights Implemented after Bargaining Impass

A Crowell & Moring team led by Labor & Employment co-chair Jeffrey W. Pagano, with assistance from Herbert Meyer, Glenn Grant and Ira Saxe, successfully argued before the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ("DCCA") on behalf of Mail Contractors of America ("MCA"), and obtained reversal of a decision of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") that found that MCA had unlawfully refused to bargain regarding a unilateral change of a driver relay point. The right of MCA, the largest U.S. Postal Service depot to depot mail carrier, to unilaterally change the relay point was contained in the Management Rights provision of MCA's final offer, implemented after impasse. The DCCA squarely rejected the NLRB's position that exercise of that right violated the National Labor Relations Act. The Court's Opinion is a landmark decision, and was featured as the lead article in the January 31, 2008 edition of the BNA Daily Labor Report, as it ensures an employer's ability to operate its business without interference of a union after implementation of a final offer.

Court Documents:
Mail Contractors of America v. NLRB, Nos. 06-1338, 06-1380, 2008 WL 220637 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 29, 2008)