S-1753

AN ACT Relating to Washington state patrol employment agreements; amending RCW 41.56.020, 41.56.030, and 41.56.475; and adding a new section to chapter 41.56 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 41.56.020 and 1994 c 297 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

This chapter shall apply to any county or municipal corporation, or any political subdivision of the state of Washington, including district courts and superior courts, except as otherwise provided by RCW 54.04.170, 54.04.180, and chapters 41.59, 47.64, and 53.18 RCW. ((The Washington state patrol shall be considered a public employer of state patrol officers appointed under RCW 43.43.020. The Washington state bar association shall be considered a public employer of its employees.))

Sec. 2. RCW 41.56.030 and 1995 c 273 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Public employer" means any officer, board, commission, council, or other person or body acting on behalf of any public body governed by this chapter, or any subdivision of such public body. For the purposes of this section, the public employer of district court or superior court employees for wage-related matters is the respective county legislative authority, or person or body acting on behalf of the legislative authority, and the public employer for nonwage-related matters is the judge or judge's designee of the respective district court or superior court.

(2) "Public employee" means any employee of a public employer except any person (a) elected by popular vote, or (b) appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (c) whose duties as deputy, administrative assistant or secretary necessarily imply a confidential relationship to the executive head or body of the applicable bargaining unit, or any person elected by popular vote or appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (d) who is a personal assistant to a district court judge, superior court judge, or court commissioner. For the purpose of (d) of this subsection, no more than one assistant for each judge or commissioner may be excluded from a bargaining unit.

(3) "Bargaining representative" means any lawful organization which has as one of its primary purposes the representation of employees in their employment relations with employers.

(4) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual obligations of the public employer and the exclusive bargaining representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to grievance procedures and collective negotiations on personnel matters, including wages, hours and working conditions, which may be peculiar to an appropriate bargaining unit of such public employer, except that by such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter. ((~~In the case of the Washington state patrol, "collective bargaining" shall not include wages and wage-related matters.~~))

(5) "Commission" means the public employment relations commission.

(6) "Executive director" means the executive director of the commission.

(7) "Uniformed personnel" means: (a)(((i) Until July 1, 1997, law enforcement officers as defined in RCW 41.26.030 employed by the governing body of any city or town with a population of seven thousand five hundred or more and law enforcement officers employed by the governing body of any county with a population of thirty-five thousand or more; (ii) beginning on July 1, 1997,)) Law enforcement officers as defined in RCW 41.26.030 employed by the governing body of any city or town with a population of two thousand five hundred or more and law enforcement officers employed by the governing body of any county with a population of ten thousand or more; (b) correctional employees who are uniformed and nonuniformed, commissioned and noncommissioned security personnel employed in a jail as defined in RCW 70.48.020(5), by a county with a population of seventy thousand or more, and who are trained for and charged with the responsibility of controlling and maintaining custody of inmates in the jail and safeguarding inmates from other inmates; (c) general authority Washington peace officers as defined in RCW 10.93.020 employed by a port district in a county with a population of one million or more; (d) security forces established under RCW 43.52.520; (e) fire fighters as that term is defined in RCW 41.26.030; (f) employees of a port district in a county with a population of one million or more whose duties include crash fire rescue or other fire fighting duties; (g) employees of fire departments of public employers who dispatch exclusively either fire or emergency medical services, or both; or (h) employees in the several classes of advanced life support technicians, as defined in RCW 18.71.200, who are employed by a public employer.

(8) "Institution of higher education" means the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, and the various state community colleges.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 41.56 RCW to read as follows:

(1) In addition to the entities listed in RCW 41.56.020, this chapter applies to the Washington state patrol with respect to the officers of the Washington state patrol appointed under RCW 43.43.020. Subjects of bargaining include wage-related matters, except that the Washington state patrol is prohibited from negotiating rates of pay or wage levels and any matters relating to retirement benefits or health care benefits or other employee insurance benefits.

(2) Provisions pertaining to wage-related matters in a collective bargaining agreement between the Washington state patrol and the Washington state patrol officers that are entered into before the legislature approves the funds necessary to implement the provisions must be conditioned upon the legislature's subsequent approval of the funds.

Sec. 4. RCW 41.56.475 and 1993 c 351 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

In addition to the classes of employees listed in RCW 41.56.030(7), the provisions of RCW 41.56.430 through 41.56.452 and 41.56.470, 41.56.480, and 41.56.490 also apply to Washington state patrol officers appointed under RCW 43.43.020 as provided in this section, subject to the following:

(1) The mediator ((~~shall not consider wages and wage-related matters~~)) or arbitration panel may consider only matters that are subject to bargaining under section 3 of this act.

(2) In making its determination, the arbitration panel shall be mindful of the legislative purpose enumerated in RCW 41.56.430 and, as additional standards or guidelines to aid it in reaching a decision, shall take into consideration the following factors:

(a) The constitutional and statutory authority of the employer;

(b) Stipulations of the parties;

(c) Comparison of the hours and conditions of employment of personnel involved in the proceedings with the hours and conditions of employment of like personnel of like employers of similar size on the west coast of the United States;

(d) Changes in any of the foregoing circumstances during the pendency of the proceedings; and

(e) Such other factors, not confined to the foregoing, which are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of ((~~hours and conditions of employment~~)) matters that are subject to bargaining under section 3 of this act.