Z-764                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 3620

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senators Bauer, Benitz, Gaspard and Rasmussen; by Temporary Committee on Educational Policies, Structure and Management request

Read first time 2/6/85 and referred to Committee on Education.

AN ACT Relating to collective bargaining; amending RCW 41.58.020; adding new sections to chapter 41.59 RCW; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 4, chapter 296, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. and RCW 41.58.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) It shall be the duty of the commission, in order to prevent or minimize interruptions growing out of labor disputes, to assist employers and employees to settle such disputes through facilitating training in collaborative dispute resolution methods, and through mediation and fact-finding.

          (2) The commission shall have administrative responsibility for a joint labor-management council for the common schools.

(3) The commission, through the director, may proffer its services in any labor dispute involving a political subdivision, municipal corporation, or the community college system of the state, either upon its own motion or upon the request of one or more of the parties to the dispute, whenever in its judgment such dispute threatens to cause a substantial disruption to the public welfare.

          (((3))) (4) If the director is not able to bring the parties to agreement by mediation within a reasonable time, he shall seek to induce the parties to voluntarily seek other means of settling the dispute without resort to strike or other coercion, including submission to the employees in the bargaining unit of the employer's last offer of settlement for approval or rejection in a secret ballot.  The failure or refusal of either party to agree to any procedure suggested by the director shall not be deemed a violation of any duty or obligation imposed by this chapter.

          (((4))) (5) Final adjustment by a method agreed upon by the parties is declared to be the desirable method for settlement of grievance disputes arising over the application or interpretation of an existing collective bargaining agreement.  The commission is directed to make its mediation and fact-finding services available in the settlement of such grievance disputes only as a last resort.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     There is hereby created a joint labor-management council, under the administration of the public employment relations commission, in consultation with the school directors, the representative teachers' unions, and other interested parties, to serve as a forum for early discussion of local and state-wide employer and employee issues in the common schools.  Membership on the council shall be established by the commission, but shall include prominent representatives of  both employers and employees, and the council, as its first formal task, shall establish its operating procedures and specific function, including but not limited to a schedule of regular meetings, a method for identifying emergent problems and problem areas, and a means for including local directors and teacher representatives in its deliberations and operations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The commission, in consultation with and with the assistance of the school directors' association, the educational unions, and other representative organizations, shall develop a program to provide training in collaborative bargaining methods to be available throughout the state, using existing training modalities and individuals with expertise and experience in such methods, as well as other training providers, to the fullest extent possible.  A plan to provide encouragement for participation in such training shall be developed, including the creation of a fund for partially deferring training expenses of participants.  The commission shall also include within its training program other means of encouraging reductions in bargaining conflict and facilitating resolution as it finds appropriate, including processes for meeting target resolution dates, model contracts or practices, processes for effective public involvement, and other means that may be identified.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Sections 2 and 3 of this act are each added to chapter 41.59 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     The sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, from the general fund to the public employees relations commission for the purposes of sections 2 and 3 of this act.