BILL REQ. #:  S-1438.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/21/11.   

     AN ACT Relating to granting binding interest arbitration rights to certain uniformed personnel; amending RCW 41.56.473, 41.56.475, and 41.80.005; reenacting and amending RCW 41.56.030; and adding a new section to chapter 41.56 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 41.56.030 and 2010 c 296 s 3 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Adult family home provider" means a provider as defined in RCW 70.128.010 who receives payments from the medicaid and state-funded long-term care programs.
     (2) "Bargaining representative" means any lawful organization which has as one of its primary purposes the representation of employees in their employment relations with employers.
     (3) "Child care subsidy" means a payment from the state through a child care subsidy program established pursuant to RCW 74.12.340 or 74.08A.340, 45 C.F.R. Sec. 98.1 through 98.17, or any successor program.
     (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) "Family child care provider" means a person who: (a) Provides regularly scheduled care for a child or children in the home of the provider or in the home of the child or children for periods of less than twenty-four hours or, if necessary due to the nature of the parent's work, for periods equal to or greater than twenty-four hours; (b) receives child care subsidies; and (c) is either licensed by the state under RCW 74.15.030 or is exempt from licensing under chapter 74.15 RCW.
     (8) "Home care quality authority" means the authority under chapter 74.39A RCW.
     (9) "Individual provider" means an individual provider as defined in RCW 74.39A.240(4) who, solely for the purposes of collective bargaining, is a public employee as provided in RCW 74.39A.270.
     (10) "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.
     (11)(a) "Language access provider" means any independent contractor who provides spoken language interpreter services for department of social and health services appointments or medicaid enrollee appointments, or provided these services on or after January 1, 2009, and before June 10, 2010, whether paid by a broker, language access agency, or the department.
     (b) "Language access provider" does not mean an owner, manager, or employee of a broker or a language access agency.
     (12) "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 as a member of a multimember board, commission, or committee, whether appointed 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 (i) the executive head or body of the applicable bargaining unit, or (ii) any person elected by popular vote, or (iii) any person appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office as a member of a multimember board, commission, or committee, whether appointed by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (d) who is a court commissioner or a court magistrate of superior court, district court, or a department of a district court organized under chapter 3.46 RCW, or (e) who is a personal assistant to a district court judge, superior court judge, or court commissioner. For the purpose of (e) of this subsection, no more than one assistant for each judge or commissioner may be excluded from a bargaining unit.
     (13) "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.
     (14) "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(9), 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) firefighters 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 firefighting 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; or (i) police forces for universities and The Evergreen State College as authorized in RCW 28B.10.550.

Sec. 2   RCW 41.56.473 and 2005 c 438 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to the entities listed in RCW 41.56.020, this chapter applies to the state with respect to the officers of the Washington state patrol appointed under RCW 43.43.020 and police forces for universities and The Evergreen State College as authorized in RCW 28B.10.550, except that the state is prohibited from negotiating any matters relating to retirement benefits or health care benefits or other employee insurance benefits.
     (2) For the purposes of negotiating wages, wage-related matters, and nonwage matters, the state shall be represented by the governor or the governor's designee who is appointed under chapter 41.80 RCW, and costs of the negotiations under this section shall be reimbursed as provided in RCW 41.80.140.
     (3) The governor or the governor's designee shall consult with the chief of the Washington state patrol regarding collective bargaining.
     (4) The negotiation of provisions pertaining to wages and wage-related matters in a collective bargaining agreement between the state and the Washington state patrol officers is subject to the following:
     (a) The state's bargaining representative must periodically consult with a subcommittee of the joint committee on employment relations created in RCW 41.80.010(5) which shall consist of the four members appointed to the joint committee with leadership positions in the senate and the house of representatives, and the chairs and ranking minority members of the senate transportation committee and the house transportation committee, or their successor committees. The subcommittee must be consulted regarding the appropriations necessary to implement these provisions in a collective bargaining agreement and, on completion of negotiations, must be advised on the elements of these provisions.
     (b) Provisions 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.
     (5) The governor shall submit a request for funds necessary to implement the wage and wage-related matters in the collective bargaining agreement or for legislation necessary to implement the agreement. Requests for funds necessary to implement the provisions of bargaining agreements may not be submitted to the legislature by the governor unless such requests:
     (a) Have been submitted to the director of financial management by October 1st before the legislative session at which the requests are to be considered; and
     (b) Have been certified by the director of financial management as being feasible financially for the state or reflects the decision of an arbitration panel reached under RCW 41.56.475.

Sec. 3   RCW 41.56.475 and 2008 c 149 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     In addition to the classes of employees listed in RCW 41.56.030(((7))) (14), 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 and police forces for universities and The Evergreen State College as authorized in RCW 28B.10.550 as provided in this section, subject to the following:
     (1) Within ten working days after the first Monday in September of every odd-numbered year, the state's bargaining representative and the bargaining representative for the appropriate bargaining unit shall attempt to agree on an interest arbitration panel consisting of three members to be used if the parties are not successful in negotiating a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement. Each party shall name one person to serve as its arbitrator on the arbitration panel. The two members so appointed shall meet within seven days following the appointment of the later appointed member to attempt to choose a third member to act as the neutral chair of the arbitration panel. Upon the failure of the arbitrators to select a neutral chair within seven days, the two appointed members shall use one of the two following options in the appointment of the third member, who shall act as chair of the panel: (a) By mutual consent, the two appointed members may jointly request the commission to, and the commission shall, appoint a third member within two days of such a request. Costs of each party's appointee shall be borne by each party respectively; other costs of the arbitration proceedings shall be borne by the commission; or (b) either party may apply to the commission, the federal mediation and conciliation service, or the American arbitration association to provide a list of five qualified arbitrators from which the neutral chair shall be chosen. Each party shall pay the fees and expenses of its arbitrator, and the fees and expenses of the neutral chair shall be shared equally between the parties. Immediately upon selecting an interest arbitration panel, the parties shall cooperate to reserve dates with the arbitration panel for potential arbitration between August 1st and September 15th of the following even-numbered year. The parties shall also prepare a schedule of at least five negotiation dates for the following year, absent an agreement to the contrary. The parties shall execute a written agreement before November 1st of each odd-numbered year setting forth the names of the members of the arbitration panel and the dates reserved for bargaining and arbitration. This subsection imposes minimum obligations only and is not intended to define or limit a party's full, good faith bargaining obligation under other sections of this chapter.
     (2) The mediator or arbitration panel may consider only matters that are subject to bargaining under RCW 41.56.473.
     (3) The decision of an arbitration panel is not binding on the legislature and, if the legislature does not approve the funds necessary to implement provisions pertaining to wages and wage-related matters of an arbitrated collective bargaining agreement, is not binding on the state or the Washington state patrol.
     (4) 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 matters that are subject to bargaining under RCW 41.56.473.

Sec. 4   RCW 41.80.005 and 2002 c 354 s 321 are each amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Agency" means any agency as defined in RCW 41.06.020 and covered by chapter 41.06 RCW.
     (2) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual obligation of the representatives of the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative to meet at reasonable times and to bargain in good faith in an effort to reach agreement with respect to the subjects of bargaining specified under RCW 41.80.020. The obligation to bargain does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or to make a concession, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
     (3) "Commission" means the public employment relations commission.
     (4) "Confidential employee" means an employee who, in the regular course of his or her duties, assists in a confidential capacity persons who formulate, determine, and effectuate management policies with regard to labor relations or who, in the regular course of his or her duties, has authorized access to information relating to the effectuation or review of the employer's collective bargaining policies, or who assists or aids a manager. "Confidential employee" also includes employees who assist assistant attorneys general who advise and represent managers or confidential employees in personnel or labor relations matters, or who advise or represent the state in tort actions.
     (5) "Director" means the director of the public employment relations commission.
     (6) "Employee" means any employee, including employees whose work has ceased in connection with the pursuit of lawful activities protected by this chapter, covered by chapter 41.06 RCW, except:
     (a) Employees covered for collective bargaining by chapter 41.56 RCW;
     (b) Confidential employees;
     (c) Members of the Washington management service;
     (d) Internal auditors in any agency; or
     (e) Any employee of the commission, the office of financial management, or the department of personnel.
     (7) "Employee organization" means any organization, union, or association in which employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining with employers.
     (8) "Employer" means the state of Washington.
     (9) "Exclusive bargaining representative" means any employee organization that has been certified under this chapter as the representative of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.
     (10) "Institutions 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, except for police forces for universities and The Evergreen State College as authorized in RCW 28B.10.550.
     (11) "Labor dispute" means any controversy concerning terms, tenure, or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment with respect to the subjects of bargaining provided in this chapter, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
     (12) "Manager" means "manager" as defined in RCW 41.06.022.
     (13) "Supervisor" means an employee who has authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, direct, reward, or discipline employees, or to adjust employee grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine nature but requires the consistent exercise of individual judgment. However, no employee who is a member of the Washington management service may be included in a collective bargaining unit established under this section.
     (14) "Unfair labor practice" means any unfair labor practice listed in RCW 41.80.110.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 41.56 RCW to read as follows:
     The exclusive bargaining representatives recognized under chapter 41.80 RCW as representing the bargaining units that consist of employees described in RCW 41.56.030(14)(i) that exist on the effective date of this section shall be recognized as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees described in RCW 41.56.030(14)(i) under this chapter without the necessity of an election, and the commission shall issue new bargaining unit certifications and modify any existing bargaining unit certifications consistent with the purposes of this act. However, there may be proceedings concerning representation under this chapter thereafter.