Bill Text: NJ A3692 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns public employee union elections for recertification of majority representative.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-19 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [A3692 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A3692-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns public employee union elections for recertification of majority representative.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning elections for public employee union recertification, and amending P.L.1974, c.123.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1974, c.123 (C.34:13A-5.4) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. Public employers, their representatives or agents are prohibited from:
(1) Interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by this act.
(2) Dominating or interfering with the formation, existence or administration of any employee organization.
(3) Discriminating in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by this act.
(4) Discharging or otherwise discriminating against any employee because he has signed or filed an affidavit, petition or complaint or given any information or testimony under this act.
(5) Refusing to negotiate in good faith with a majority representative of employees in an appropriate unit concerning terms and conditions of employment of employees in that unit, or refusing to process grievances presented by the majority representative.
(6) Refusing to reduce a negotiated agreement to writing and to sign such agreement.
(7) Violating any of the rules and regulations established by the commission.
b. Employee organizations, their representatives or agents are prohibited from:
(1) Interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by this act.
(2) Interfering with, restraining or coercing a public employer in the selection of his representative for the purposes of negotiations or the adjustment of grievances.
(3) Refusing to negotiate in good faith with a public employer, if they are the majority representative of employees in an appropriate unit concerning terms and conditions of employment of employees in that unit.
(4) Refusing to reduce a negotiated agreement to writing and to sign such agreement.
(5) Violating any of the rules and regulations established by the commission.
c. The commission shall have exclusive power as hereinafter provided to prevent anyone from engaging in any unfair practice listed in subsections a. and b. above. Whenever it is charged that anyone has engaged or is engaging in any such unfair practice, the commission, or any designated agent thereof, shall have authority to issue and cause to be served upon such party a complaint stating the specific unfair practice charged and including a notice of hearing containing the date and place of hearing before the commission or any designated agent thereof; provided that no complaint shall issue based upon any unfair practice occurring more than 6 months prior to the filing of the charge unless the person aggrieved thereby was prevented from filing such charge in which event the 6-month period shall be computed from the day he was no longer so prevented.
In any such proceeding, the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) shall be applicable. Evidence shall be taken at the hearing and filed with the commission. If, upon all the evidence taken, the commission shall determine that any party charged has engaged or is engaging in any such unfair practice, the commission shall state its findings of fact and conclusions of law and issue and cause to be served on such party an order requiring such party to cease and desist from such unfair practice, and to take such reasonable affirmative action as will effectuate the policies of this act. All cases in which a complaint and notice of hearing on a charge is actually issued by the commission, shall be prosecuted before the commission or its agent, or both, by the representative of the employee organization or party filing the charge or his authorized representative.
d. The commission shall at all times have the power and duty, upon the request of any public employer or majority representative, to make a determination as to whether a matter in dispute is within the scope of collective negotiations. The commission shall serve the parties with its findings of fact and conclusions of law. Any determination made by the commission pursuant to this subsection may be appealed to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court.
e. The commission shall adopt such rules as may be required to regulate the conduct of representation elections, including a requirement that every public employee union hold a representation election not less than once every four years for the purpose of recertification of the majority representative, and to regulate the time of commencement of negotiations and of institution of impasse procedures so that there will be full opportunity for negotiations and the resolution of impasses prior to required budget submission dates.
f. The commission shall have the power to apply to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court for an appropriate order enforcing any order of the commission issued under subsection c. or d. hereof, and its findings of fact, if based upon substantial evidence on the record as a whole, shall not, in such action, be set aside or modified; any order for remedial or affirmative action, if reasonably designed to effectuate the purposes of this act, shall be affirmed and enforced in such proceeding.
(cf: P.L.1979, c.477, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Public Employment Relations Commission to promulgate any rules or regulations necessary to require public employee unions to hold an election at least once every four years for the purpose of recertifying the union as the exclusive representative body of the group of public employees.
Under current law, once a union has been certified as the exclusive representative body, also known as the "majority representative," of a group of public employees, that certification will be valid indefinitely. As a result, only those employees who were employed at the time the majority representative was initially certified have had a meaningful opportunity to choose their representation. Employees who subsequently enter the union do not have an opportunity to choose representation unless they undertake a potentially arduous decertification process. By requiring that public employee unions hold an election at least once every four years to recertify the majority representative, this bill will expand the rights of public employees and make union leadership more accountable to members of the union.
