SB 11

collective bargaining

Under current law, municipal employees have the right to collectively bargain

over wages, hours, and conditions of employment under the Municipal Employment

Relations Act (MERA), and state employees have the right to collectively bargain

over wages, hours, and conditions of employment under the State Employment

Labor Relations Act (SELRA). This bill changes MERA and SELRA with respect to

all employees except employees who are certain protective occupation participants

under the Wisconsin Retirement System or under a county or city retirement system

(public safety employees). This bill limits the right to collectively bargain for all

employees who are not public safety employees (general employees) to the subject of

base wages. In addition, unless a referendum authorizes a greater increase, any

general employee who is part of a collective bargaining unit is limited to bargaining

over a percentage of total base wages increase that is no greater than the percentage

change in the consumer price index. This bill also prohibits municipal employers

from collectively bargaining with municipal general employees in matters that are

not permitted under MERA.

Under SELRA and MERA, a collective bargaining unit elects a labor

organization as its representative once a majority of the employees in that collective

bargaining unit who are actually voting votes for that labor organization; that labor

organization remains the representative unless a percentage of members of the

collective bargaining unit supports a petition for a new election and subsequently

votes to decertify the representative. This bill requires an annual certification

election of the labor organization that represents each collective bargaining unit

containing general employees. If, at the election, less than 51 percent of the actual

employees in the collective bargaining unit vote for a representative, then, at the

expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement, the current

representative is decertified and the members of the collective bargaining unit are

nonrepresented and may not be represented for one year. This bill requires an initial

certification election for all represented state and municipal general employees in

April 2011.

Currently, except for an initial collective bargaining agreement, the terms of

collective bargaining agreements are generally two years for state and municipal

employees, and current law does not prohibit collective bargaining agreements from

being extended. This bill limits the term for general employees to one year and

prohibits the extension of collective bargaining agreements.

Current law provides that state and municipal employees who are represented

by a labor organization have the organization dues deducted from their salaries.

Except for salary deductions for public safety employees, this bill prohibits the salary

deductions for labor organization dues. This bill also allows a general employee to

refrain from paying dues and remain a member of a collective bargaining unit.