BILL REQ. #:  S-0676.1 

Read first time 01/21/11.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     AN ACT Relating to collective bargaining; amending RCW 41.80.020; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that additional flexibility is needed to address the current budget crisis in this state. While contracting for state services is currently authorized, the legislature recognizes that the process is cumbersome and ultimately the collective bargaining process can interfere with the state's ability to efficiently contract for appropriate services. The legislature recognizes that the decision to contract for a service and the implementation of a contract should be a management decision about how to most efficiently deliver state services, and that these decisions are not an appropriate topic for collective bargaining. State agencies are encouraged to use competition to lower the cost and improve the quality of public services, and state employees are encouraged to compete for contracts to provide services.

Sec. 2   RCW 41.80.020 and 2010 c 283 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the matters subject to bargaining include wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, and the negotiation of any question arising under a collective bargaining agreement.
     (2) The employer is not required to bargain over matters pertaining to:
     (a) Health care benefits or other employee insurance benefits, except as required in subsection (3) of this section;
     (b) Any retirement system or retirement benefit; or
     (c) Rules of the director of personnel or the Washington personnel resources board adopted under section 203, chapter 354, Laws of 2002.
     (3) Matters subject to bargaining include the number of names to be certified for vacancies, promotional preferences, and the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits. However, except as provided otherwise in this subsection for institutions of higher education, negotiations regarding the number of names to be certified for vacancies, promotional preferences, and the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits shall be conducted between the employer and one coalition of all the exclusive bargaining representatives subject to this chapter. The exclusive bargaining representatives for employees that are subject to chapter 47.64 RCW shall bargain the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits with the employer as part of the coalition under this subsection. Any such provision agreed to by the employer and the coalition shall be included in all master collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the parties. For institutions of higher education, promotional preferences and the number of names to be certified for vacancies shall be bargained under the provisions of RCW 41.80.010(4).
     (4) The employer and the exclusive bargaining representative shall not agree to any proposal that would prevent the implementation of approved affirmative action plans or that would be inconsistent with the comparable worth agreement that provided the basis for the salary changes implemented beginning with the 1983-1985 biennium to achieve comparable worth.
     (5) The employer and the exclusive bargaining representative shall not bargain over matters pertaining to management rights established in RCW 41.80.040.
     (6) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, if a conflict exists between an executive order, administrative rule, or agency policy relating to wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment and a collective bargaining agreement negotiated under this chapter, the collective bargaining agreement shall prevail. A provision of a collective bargaining agreement that conflicts with the terms of a statute is invalid and unenforceable.
     (7) ((This section does not prohibit)) Bargaining that affects contracts authorized by RCW 41.06.142 is prohibited. Any provision in conflict with this act in any collective bargaining agreement in effect on the effective date of this section is not effective beyond the expiration date of the agreement.