On the eve of Independence Day, the NLRB, in a 3-1 decision (Member McFerran dissented), clarified the law concerning withdrawal and enunciated a new framework for determining whether a union has retained majority support at the conclusion of a contract term.

In Johnson Controls, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 20

For over 65 years, an employer has had a legal right to withdraw recognition from an incumbent union based on the union’s lack of majority status. In 1951, in Celanese, the NLRB permitted withdrawal based on the employer’s “good faith belief” for the lack of majority status. In 2001,

Sometimes in negotiations the parties just cannot agree on certain items.  Such a deadlock under certain circumstances can have legal consequences under the concept of “impasse,” one of the more shadowy, hard to define issues in labor law.  A true legal impasse over an important issue can allow one party