Short answer. Possibly. Article 252 defines the duty to bargain as a mutual obligation to meet and convene promptly and expeditiously in good faith. Repeated postponement without reason can fall short of that, though a single delay for a genuine cause is not by itself a breach.
What the law says
the performance of a mutual obligation to meet and convene promptly and expeditiously in good faith
Labor Code, Article 252 — Meaning Of Duty To Bargain. Read the full provision →
Promptly and expeditiously are enforceable words
The definition does not merely require that the parties meet. It requires that they meet promptly and expeditiously, which addresses timing directly and is precisely the aspect an employer controls when it postpones. Delay is therefore not outside the duty; it is one of the things the duty was written to reach. That said, the standard is about the overall course of dealing rather than any one cancelled date. What tells is the pattern — how many postponements, how much notice was given, what reasons were offered, and whether new dates were actually set.
Good faith runs through the whole process
The obligation is to meet in good faith, which means the conduct at and around the table matters as much as attendance. Sending someone with no authority to decide anything, arriving with nothing prepared, or agreeing to a date and then vacating it again are all consistent with turning up and inconsistent with the standard. Good faith is judged from the surrounding behaviour, since nobody announces its absence. The written record of who proposed what date, and what happened to it, is what makes that behaviour visible later.
What the duty does not require
It is important to be clear about the limit, because it is stated in the same sentence. The duty does not compel any party to agree to a proposal or to make any concession. So an employer that meets on time, engages with the proposals and still refuses your terms is not in breach of this article — however frustrating that is. The obligation is mutual as well: it binds both sides, and a union that misses meetings or will not engage is measured by the same standard.
Build the record now
Because the question is one of pattern, contemporaneous documents decide it. Keep every notice of meeting, every cancellation and the reason given, and note who cancelled and how much warning there was. Put your proposed dates in writing and keep the replies, or the absence of them. Minutes of any meeting that did take place are worth more than recollection. That file is what a lawyer needs in order to say whether the delays cross from ordinary scheduling difficulty into a failure to convene promptly and expeditiously.
Related provisions
- Labor Code, Article 252 — Meaning Of Duty To Bargain
- Labor Code, Article 251 — Duty To Bargain Collectively