SF 1614

1st Engrossment - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/28/2014 08:32am

A bill for an act
relating to publicly financed projects; requiring labor peace agreements for
certain state-funded construction projects; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 16C.

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

Section 1.

new text begin [16C.50] LABOR PEACE AGREEMENTS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin For the purposes of this section:
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new text begin (1) the state has a "proprietary interest" in a project where it finances the project in
whole or in part by any of the following: providing a grant; providing a loan; guaranteeing
any payment under any loan, lease, or other obligation; contributing revenue on general
obligation bond; or providing a tax abatement, reduction, deferral, or credit;
new text end

new text begin (2) the state acts as a "market participant" in a project when it is the owner of the
project; is an equity investor in the project; or donates, sells, or leases real property,
personal property, or infrastructure in support of the project;
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new text begin (3) "qualifying project" means a project that is located in a city of the first class as
defined under section 410.01, and includes the construction or development of:
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new text begin (i) a hotel;
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new text begin (ii) a food and beverage operation that is integral to a hotel, a major league or minor
league sports facility, a convention center, or a civic center;
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new text begin (iii) a cultural venue with catering or cafeteria facilities; or
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new text begin (iv) infrastructure constructed specifically to support a project in item (i), (ii), or (iii);
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new text begin (4) "hospitality workers" means all full-time or regular part-time employees of
hotels and their integral food and beverage operations, as well as all full-time or regular
part-time employees providing food and beverage, concession, catering, cafeteria, or
merchandise services at sports facilities, convention centers, civic centers, or cultural
venues, excluding supervisors, managers, and guards;
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new text begin (5) "employer of hospitality workers" means an employer of hospitality workers who
will be employed as a result of a qualifying project, and includes a developer of a state or
local government-owned facility that is all or part of a qualifying project and a developer
of a facility benefiting from state financial participation in a qualifying project; and
new text end

new text begin (6) "labor peace agreement" means a valid contract that sets forth agreements by
and between an employer of hospitality workers and any labor organization seeking to
represent hospitality workers on the process the employer and union will follow as the
hospitality workers who will be employed as a result of the project choose whether or not
to organize as a unit for collective bargaining with the employer.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Labor peace agreement required. new text end

new text begin Any employer of hospitality workers
on a qualifying project must have negotiated and executed a labor peace agreement with
any interested labor organization prior to, and as a condition precedent of, the execution of
a contract, project, agreement, grant agreement, or other agreement for financial assistance
that causes the state to hold a proprietary interest in the project. When the state acts as a
market participant in the project, any employer of hospitality workers must have a signed
labor peace agreement with any interested labor organization prior to, and as a condition
precedent to, its contract with the state.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Labor peace agreement provisions. new text end

new text begin To fulfill the condition precedent to
state financial participation, a labor peace agreement must contain:
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new text begin (1) a provision prohibiting the labor organization and its members from engaging
in any picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, or any other economic interference with
the employer's hospitality operations on the qualifying project for the duration of the
state government's ongoing financial interest in the qualifying project or for five years,
whichever is greater;
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new text begin (2) a provision requiring that during the duration of the agreement, all disputes
relating to employment conditions or the negotiation thereof shall be submitted to final
and binding arbitration; and
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new text begin (3) a provision requiring the employer of hospitality workers to incorporate the
terms of the labor peace agreement in any contract, subcontract, lease, sublease, operating
agreement, concessionaire agreement, franchise agreement, or other agreement or
instrument giving a right to any other employer of hospitality workers to own or operate
the project or activities within the project.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Binding arbitration. new text end

new text begin If the employer of hospitality workers and the
interested labor organization reach impasse in negotiating a labor peace agreement,
following mediation, either party may petition the commissioner of the Bureau of
Mediation Services for binding arbitration. The procedural rules of section 179A.16
shall be followed in the selection of the arbitration panel. The question to be certified
for arbitration shall be whether the interested labor organization has placed arbitrary
or capricious conditions upon the negotiation of the labor peace agreement. If the
arbitrator answers in the affirmative, the employer of hospitality workers is relieved of the
obligations of this section.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Existing agreements. new text end

new text begin If an employer of hospitality workers has valid
collective bargaining agreements with recognized unions that cover, or will cover, the
hospitality workers that will be employed as a result of the qualifying project, those
agreements satisfy the requirements of this section.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Exemption. new text end

new text begin This section shall not apply to projects that receive funds,
property, goods, guarantees, or allowances of less than $2,000,000 of the total cost of the
project from state sources.
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new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Limitations. new text end

new text begin Nothing in this section requires an employer to recognize a
particular labor organization. This section is not intended to enact or express any generally
applicable policy regarding labor management relations or to regulate those relations in
any way. This section is not intended to favor any particular outcomes in the determination
of employee preference regarding union representation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Prior financial assistance. new text end

new text begin Nothing in this section applies to any financial
assistance for which a contract or project agreement was executed prior to July 1, 2014.
new text end