Before an employer or union can modify or terminate a collective bargaining agreement, Section 8(d) of the National Labor Relations Act imposes four notice requirements: written notice to the other party at least 60 days before the contract expires, an offer to meet and bargain, notice to federal and state mediation agencies if no deal is reached within 30 days, and a 60-day cooling-off period during which the existing contract stays in force.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 158 – Unfair Labor Practices Miss any one of them and the moving party is exposed to an unfair labor practice charge. Employees who strike inside the notice window can lose their statutory protection altogether.
Step One: Written Notice to the Other Party
The party seeking a change must send written notice to the other side at least 60 days before the contract’s expiration date. If the contract has no expiration date, the 60 days run from the date the party proposes the change. The notice should say plainly whether the intent is to renegotiate specific terms or terminate the agreement.
The statute prescribes no particular form. A letter to the other party’s authorized representative satisfies the rule, but the sensible practice is to use a method that generates proof of delivery. Certified mail with a return receipt is the standard choice. Hand delivery works if the recipient signs an acknowledgment. There is no centralized filing system for this notice, so preserving your own record is the only way to establish, later, that service happened on time.
Step Two: Offer to Meet and Bargain
Sending the notice alone does not satisfy Section 8(d). The moving party must also offer to meet and negotiate a new or modified agreement. The offer can be folded into the initial written notice or sent separately, but it has to come before any changes take effect. This requirement exists to stop a party from checking the notice box while refusing to actually sit at the table.
Step Three: Notice to Federal and State Mediation Agencies
If the parties have not reached agreement within 30 days after the initial written notice, the moving party must notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and any state or territorial mediation agency where the dispute is located. Both notifications happen simultaneously. This obligation is triggered only if no deal exists at the 30-day mark; a quick settlement removes the requirement entirely.
The FMCS collects this notice through Form F-7. Since April 2022, the agency accepts F-7 filings only through its online portal. Paper submissions by mail, fax, or email are no longer accepted, though a party facing genuine hardship with electronic filing can contact the FMCS Office of Client Services for assistance.2Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Notice to FMCS of Upcoming Collective Bargaining F-7 After filing, the portal generates a confirmation record. Keep it. If a compliance dispute surfaces later, that timestamp is the cleanest proof that the mediation notice went out on time.
Once notified, the FMCS typically assigns a mediator who reaches out to both sides. In general industry, participating in the mediation itself is voluntary. The notice is not.
Step Four: The Cooling-Off Period
From the date written notice is served until 60 days later, or the contract’s expiration date, whichever comes last, both parties must maintain every term of the existing agreement in full force and effect. Strikes and lockouts are barred during this window. Neither side may apply economic pressure while the clock runs.
Practically, this means an employer cannot unilaterally change wages, benefits, or working conditions, and a union cannot pull its members off the job. If the contract expires before the 60 days are up, the existing terms still hold until the full period runs out.
Longer Deadlines for Healthcare Institutions
Healthcare facilities operate under extended timelines because patient care is at stake. The written notice period stretches to 90 days before contract expiration, and the mediation agency notification moves to 60 days after the initial notice rather than 30. The cooling-off period likewise extends to 90 days.3National Labor Relations Board. Collective Bargaining Section 8d and 8b3
Healthcare mediation is also not optional once it begins. Federal regulations require the parties to participate fully in any meetings the FMCS calls to help settle the dispute.4eCFR. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service – Assistance in the Health Care Industry On top of the Section 8(d) requirements, a union at a healthcare institution must give a separate 10-day written notice before engaging in any strike or picketing.
What Happens If You Skip a Step
The consequences are serious on both sides.
For a union, a strike launched before the notice period expires is unlawful, and every employee who participates loses their status as an employee for purposes of NLRA protection. The employer can lawfully discharge those workers and has no obligation to reinstate them. That loss of status ends only if the employer voluntarily rehires the worker. One narrow exception exists: if the strike was provoked by an unfair labor practice by the employer, the workers are treated as unfair labor practice strikers and keep their protected status even where the union failed on notice.5National Labor Relations Board. Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act
For an employer, unilaterally changing contract terms without completing the notice steps exposes the company to an unfair labor practice charge for failure to bargain in good faith. NLRB remedies are not criminal penalties; they are cease-and-desist orders and affirmative relief, which can include reinstatement with full back pay and interest.
Mid-Term Modifications
Section 8(d) reaches beyond contract expiration. It also governs attempts to change terms in the middle of a contract’s life. For a contract with a fixed term, neither party is required to discuss or agree to modifications that would take effect before the contract’s own reopener provisions allow. If your agreement runs through 2028 and has no reopener clause, the other side may lawfully refuse to even discuss a mid-term change.
When a contract does contain a reopener, the Section 8(d) notice obligations apply to whatever changes the reopener permits. A union that strikes to force a mid-term modification is engaged in an unlawful strike, and its members face the same loss-of-status consequences that apply during the cooling-off period.
When the Notice Rules Fall Away
The bargaining, mediation, and cooling-off requirements under paragraphs (2) through (4) of Section 8(d) do not apply when the NLRB certifies a new union as the employees’ representative, replacing the union that signed the existing contract. Once that certification issues, the old contract’s notice framework no longer binds anyone, because the party that signed no longer speaks for the workforce. The new representative and the employer begin their bargaining relationship from scratch.