January 2011 - National Labor Relations Board

10118 DEFERRALS10118.6 Pattern for Collyer Deferral LetterThe following pattern should be used for deferral under Collyer and addressed toboth parties as follows:If an attorney represents a party, the letter should be addressed to theattorney with a copy to the party.If the party is not represented by an attorney, the letter should beaddressed to that party with a copy to its representative.Collyer Deferral Letter[Charging Party’s and Charged Party’s Attorneys—otherwise, list the party if not represented by an attorney.]Re:[Case Name][Case Number]Appropriate Salutation:The Region has carefully considered the charge filed against[Charged Party name] alleging it violated the National Labor RelationsAct. As explained below, I have decided that further proceedings onthat charge should be handled in accordance with the Board’s deferralpolicy.Deferral Policy: The Board’s deferral policy provides that thisAgency withhold making a final determination on certain unfair laborpractice charges when a grievance involving the same issue can beprocessed under the grievance/arbitration provisions of the applicablecontract. Collyer Insulated Wire, 192 NLRB 837 (1971), and UnitedTechnologies Corp., 268 NLRB 557 (1984). This policy is based, in part,on the preference that the parties should resolve certain issues throughtheir contractual grievance procedure in order to achieve a prompt, fairand effective settlement of their dispute. Therefore, if an employeragrees to waive contractual time limits and process the relatedgrievance through arbitration if necessary, the Regional Office willdefer the charge. However, this policy requires that a charge beRevised 01/11