BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to bargaining units for employees of institutions of higher education governed by chapter 41.56 RCW; and amending RCW 41.56.030 and 41.56.201.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 41.56.030 and 1999 c 217 s 2 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, or (e) excluded from a bargaining unit under RCW 41.56.201(2)(a). 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.

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

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

(7) "Uniformed personnel" means: (a) 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.

Sec. 2. RCW 41.56.201 and 1993 c 379 s 304 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) At any time after July 1, 1993, an institution of higher education and the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit of employees classified under chapter 28B.16 or 41.06 RCW as appropriate may exercise their option to have their relationship and corresponding obligations governed entirely by the provisions of this chapter by complying with the following:

(a) The parties will file notice of the parties' intent to be so governed, subject to the mutual adoption of a collective bargaining agreement permitted by this section recognizing the notice of intent. The parties shall provide the notice to the ((~~higher education~~)) Washington personnel resources board or its successor and the commission;

(b) During the negotiation of an initial contract between the parties under this chapter, the parties' scope of bargaining shall be governed by this chapter and any disputes arising out of the collective bargaining rights and obligations under this subsection shall be determined by the commission. If the commission finds that the parties are at impasse, the notice filed under (a) of this subsection shall be void and have no effect; and

(c) On the first day of the month following the month during which the institution of higher education and the exclusive bargaining representative provide notice to the ((~~higher education~~)) Washington personnel resources board or its successor and the commission that they have executed an initial collective bargaining agreement recognizing the notice of intent filed under (a) of this subsection, chapter 28B.16 or 41.06 RCW as appropriate shall cease to apply to all employees in the bargaining unit covered by the agreement.

(2) All collective bargaining rights and obligations concerning relations between an institution of higher education and the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees who have agreed to exercise the option permitted by this section shall be determined under this chapter, subject to the following:

(a) The commission shall recognize, in its current form, the bargaining unit as certified by the ((~~higher education~~)) Washington personnel resources board or its successor ((~~and~~)). For purposes of determining bargaining unit status, positions meeting the criteria established under RCW 41.06.070 or its successor shall be excluded from coverage under this chapter. An employer may exclude such positions from a bargaining unit at any time the position meets the criteria established under RCW 41.06.070 or its successor. The limitations on collective bargaining contained in RCW 41.56.100 shall not apply to that bargaining unit.

(b) If, on the date of filing the notice under subsection (1)(a) of this section, there is a union shop authorized for the bargaining unit under rules adopted by the ((~~higher education~~)) Washington personnel resources board or its successor, the union shop requirement shall continue in effect for the bargaining unit and shall be deemed incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement applicable to the bargaining unit.

(i) Salary increases shall continue to be appropriated by the legislature. The exclusive bargaining representative shall meet before a legislative session with the governor or governor's designee and the representative of the institution of higher education concerning the total dollar amount for salary increases and health care contributions that will be contained in the appropriations proposed by the governor under RCW 43.88.060;

(ii) The collective bargaining agreements may provide for salary increases from local efficiency savings that are different from or that exceed the amount or percentage for salary increases provided by the legislature in the omnibus appropriations act for the institution of higher education or allocated to the board of trustees by the state board for community and technical colleges, but the base for salary increases provided by the legislature under (c)(i) of this subsection shall include only those amounts appropriated by the legislature, and the base shall not include any additional salary increases provided under this subsection (2)(c)(ii);

(iii) Any provisions of the collective bargaining agreements pertaining to salary increases provided under (c)(i) of this subsection shall be subject to modification by the legislature. If any provision of a salary increase provided under (c)(i) of this subsection is changed by subsequent modification of the appropriations act by the legislature, both parties shall immediately enter into collective bargaining for the sole purpose of arriving at a mutually agreed upon replacement for the modified provision.

(3) Nothing in this section may be construed to permit an institution of higher education to bargain collectively with an exclusive bargaining representative concerning any matter covered by: (a) Chapter 41.05 RCW, except for the related cost or dollar contributions or additional or supplemental benefits as permitted by chapter 492, Laws of 1993; or (b) chapter 41.32 or 41.40 RCW.