Separate Mandatory From Permissive Bargaining Subjects
Distinguish mandatory bargaining subjects from permissive subjects before declaring impasse.
Principle line: Hard bargaining is different from unlawful insistence. What the framework protects Borg-Warner discipline is about what either side may insist on to impasse. Wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment are mandatory subjects. Parties must bargain over them in good faith and may press hard positions. Permissive subjects may be discussed, traded, or parked, but a party cannot make agreement on a permissive item the price of reaching the contract. The mechanism prevents parties from converting side objectives into vetoes over the statutory bargaining duty. The hard part is not labeling everything; it is noticing when…
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