Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System v. Associated Colt Staff of the University of Maine System

The duty to bargain in good faith requires employers and employees to maintain the status quo with respect to conditions of employment until an agreement is achieved or they reach an impasse. The preservation of the status quo prevents either party from circumventing their statutory obligation to bargain by making unilateral changes in existing wages, hours, or working conditions. Two rules have been applied when a collective bargaining agreement expires with no new agreement in place. The “static status quo rule” would require and permit public employers to pay only those wages in effect…