## Facts

- H. K. Porter Co. and a certified union negotiated a collective-bargaining agreement.
- A major dispute concerned a “dues-checkoff” clause requiring the employer to deduct union dues from employees’ wages and remit them to the union.
- The employer refused to agree to a dues-checkoff provision.
- The NLRB found the employer committed unfair labor practices under NLRA § 8(a)(5) and § 8(a)(1) by refusing to bargain in good faith.
- As a remedy, the NLRB ordered the employer not only to bargain, but to agree to include a dues-checkoff clause.
- A court of appeals enforced the Board’s order.
- The Supreme Court granted review to determine whether NLRA § 10(c) authorizes the NLRB to require agreement to a specific contract term.

## Issues

1. Whether the duty to bargain in good faith under NLRA § 8(d) can be enforced by requiring a party to accept a particular substantive contract provision.
2. Whether NLRA § 10(c) authorizes the NLRB, as a remedy for bad-faith bargaining, to compel agreement to a specific term (a dues-checkoff clause).

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the enforcement of the NLRB’s order to the extent it compelled agreement to a dues-checkoff clause.
- The Court held that the NLRA imposes a duty to bargain in good faith but does not require either party to agree to any proposal or make concessions.
- The Court concluded the NLRB exceeded its statutory authority by dictating a substantive term of the collective-bargaining agreement.

## Legal Principles

- NLRA § 8(d) requires good-faith bargaining over mandatory subjects but “does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession.”
- The NLRB may remedy unfair labor practices by ordering parties to bargain and by issuing related process-focused remedies, but it may not impose substantive contract terms.
- NLRA § 10(c)’s authority to order affirmative action to effectuate the Act’s policies does not include power to compel a party to accept specific provisions in a collective-bargaining agreement.
- The Act preserves voluntary agreement through collective bargaining; the Board’s role is to police bargaining conduct, not to determine contract outcomes.

## Conclusion

The Court held that, even when bad-faith bargaining is found, the NLRB cannot force an employer or union to accept particular substantive terms; the statutory scheme requires good-faith negotiation while leaving the final contract terms to the parties’ agreement.


H. K. Porter Co. v. NLRB, 397 U.S. 99 (1970)