Dealing directly with employees during collective bargaining is considered bad faith bargaining and violates the National Labor Relations Act. Given that an employer needs to know how its employees feel about various terms and conditions of employment, how can it avoid direct dealing during negotiations?

To avoid the appearance of direct dealing, an employer should avoid conducting employee opinion surveys during negotiations unless they deal with issues that are clearly unrelated to mandatory bargaining issues (wages, hours, working conditions). The employer can communicate the status of negotiations with employees but should be careful not to use language that might be considered intimidating or threatening. The employer should avoid statements that might be perceived as an attempt to undermine the union. If the employer is truly concerned about how employees feel about a particular issue, the employer can ask the union to provide the employer with information regarding the preferences and desires of its union members. Unions have an obligation to provide such information if it is relevant to negotiations.