Read Case Study 6-3, “The Influenza Work Rule,” on page 319 in your textbook, and address the prompts below.
Analyze the arguments over whether the two parties bargained. Did management bargain in good faith with the union over the policy? Did they bargain to impasse? If so, does that give management the right to unilaterally implement its last offer?
Was management required to develop this new policy by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)? Did that trump labor-management considerations? Explain your reasoning.
Using a database (e.g., Bloomberg’s BNA’s Labor & Employment Law Resource Center), look at the Raffles v. Wichelhaus case (also known as the Peerless case) and the First National Maintenance Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) case. Evaluate management’s argument that the flu-prevention policy is a core business decision in light of those case decisions.
Was management required to take this case to grievance arbitration? Explain your reasoning, considering the other precedent cases cited the managerial rights clause and the and zipper clause