HF 1486

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public employee labor relations; requiring 
  1.3             annual notice of a state employee's right to reduce 
  1.4             union dues expended for certain purposes; requiring an 
  1.5             accounting of certain expenditures by a union to its 
  1.6             members; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.7             Statutes, chapter 179A. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [179A.211] [STATE EMPLOYEES RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [NOTICE.] A state employee, who is a member 
  1.11  of a collective bargaining unit, shall be provided an annual 
  1.12  notice no later than February 1 of the right to reduce the dues 
  1.13  payable by the employee as a member of the union, or as an 
  1.14  individual employed by an employer subject to a labor agreement 
  1.15  containing a collective bargaining security clause, by the same 
  1.16  percentage as the percentage of the collective bargaining unit's 
  1.17  revenues that are expended on lobbying, political contributions, 
  1.18  distribution of publications, and advertising.  The notice shall 
  1.19  inform the members that they may reduce their obligation by this 
  1.20  percentage by providing written notice to the collective 
  1.21  bargaining unit and to the employer deducting dues from their 
  1.22  pay, if any, and that they will suffer no harm or retribution 
  1.23  from the employer or the union for doing so. 
  1.24     Subd. 2.  [ACCOUNTING.] A collective bargaining unit shall 
  1.25  provide to its members an accounting of the actual dollar 
  1.26  revenues spent by the collective bargaining unit in the 
  2.1   preceding calendar year no later than February 1 the following 
  2.2   year.  The accounting shall include a line item for each of the 
  2.3   following: 
  2.4      (1) grievance processing; 
  2.5      (2) contract negotiations; 
  2.6      (3) political contributions; 
  2.7      (4) lobbying; 
  2.8      (5) Minnesota meeting attendance and travel costs; 
  2.9      (6) out-of-state meeting attendance and travel costs; 
  2.10     (7) dues and contributions to the national affiliate; 
  2.11     (8) advertising; 
  2.12     (9) production and distribution of publications; and 
  2.13     (10) every item of expenditure constituting more than one 
  2.14  percent of the total revenue of the collective bargaining unit. 
  2.15     If a collective bargaining unit fails to timely provide the 
  2.16  account to its members, it shall be conclusively presumed that 
  2.17  one-half of members' dues are expended on the activities listed 
  2.18  in clauses (1) to (9) and other expenditures not directly 
  2.19  related to the representation of members. 
  2.20     Subd. 3.  [ACTION.] A member of a collective bargaining 
  2.21  unit who is not provided a timely annual accounting or a notice 
  2.22  of the employee's rights under this section by a collective 
  2.23  bargaining unit shall have a cause of action for the amount of 
  2.24  dues paid by the member in excess of the percentage of those 
  2.25  dues dedicated to contract negotiations, grievance handling, and 
  2.26  strike support, plus punitive damages in an amount of twice the 
  2.27  dues, plus costs and attorney fees.