Minnesota Session Laws - 1989, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1989 

                        CHAPTER 255-H.F.No. 489 
           An act relating to employment; regulating fair share 
          fees, unfair labor practices, arbitration procedures 
          and grievance procedures; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1988, sections 179.02, by adding a subdivision; 
          179A.03, subdivision 7; 179A.05, subdivision 6; 
          179A.06, subdivision 3; 179A.13, subdivision 1; 
          179A.14, subdivision 1; 179A.16, subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 
          and 4; 179A.20, subdivision 4; repealing Laws 1984, 
          chapter 654, article 2, section 116. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179.02, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [ROSTER OF ARBITRATORS.] The commissioner shall 
maintain a roster of persons suited and qualified by training 
and experience to act as arbitrators of labor disputes and shall 
provide parties to a labor dispute with the names of persons on 
the roster upon written request.  The commissioner shall adopt 
rules governing appointments to, removals from, and 
administration of this roster. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.03, 
subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 7.  [ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEE.] "Essential employee" means 
firefighters, peace officers subject to licensure under sections 
626.84 to 626.855, guards at correctional facilities, employees 
of hospitals other than state hospitals, confidential employees, 
supervisory employees, principals, and assistant principals.  
However, for state employees, "essential employee" means all 
employees in law enforcement, health care professionals, 
correctional guards, professional engineering, and supervisory 
collective bargaining units, irrespective of severance, and no 
other employees.  For University of Minnesota employees, 
"essential employee" means all employees in law enforcement, 
nursing professional and supervisory units, irrespective of 
severance, and no other employees.  "Firefighters" means 
salaried employees of a fire department whose duties include, 
directly or indirectly, controlling, extinguishing, preventing, 
detecting, or investigating fires.  
     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.05, 
subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 6.  [LIST OF ARBITRATORS ADMINISTRATION OF ARBITRATOR 
ROSTER.] The board shall maintain a list of names of arbitrators 
qualified by experience and training in the field of labor 
management negotiations and arbitration.  Names on the list may 
be selected and removed at any time by a majority of the board.  
In maintaining the list the board shall, to the maximum extent 
possible, select persons from varying geographical areas of the 
state.  The board shall adopt rules under chapter 14 governing 
the administration of the arbitration roster. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.06, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [FAIR SHARE FEE.] An exclusive representative may 
require employees who are not members of the exclusive 
representative to contribute a fair share fee for services 
rendered by the exclusive representative.  The fair share fee 
shall must be equal to the regular membership dues of the 
exclusive representative, less the cost of benefits financed 
through the dues and available only to members of the exclusive 
representative.  In no event shall may the fair share fee exceed 
85 percent of the regular membership dues.  The exclusive 
representative shall provide advance written notice of the 
amount of the fair share fee to the commissioner, the employer, 
and to unit employees who will be assessed the fee.  The 
employer shall provide the exclusive representative with a list 
of all unit employees.  
    A challenge by an employee or by a person aggrieved by the 
fee shall must be filed in writing with the commissioner, the 
public employer, and the exclusive representative within 30 days 
after receipt of the written notice.  All challenges shall must 
specify those portions of the fee challenged and the reasons for 
the challenge.  The burden of proof relating to the amount of 
the fair share fee is on the exclusive representative.  The 
commissioner shall hear and decide all issues in these 
challenges.  
    The employer shall deduct the fee from the earnings of the 
employee and transmit the fee to the exclusive representative 30 
days after the written notice was provided.  If a challenge is 
filed, the deductions for a fair share fee shall must be held in 
escrow by the employer pending a decision by the commissioner. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.13, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [ACTIONS.] The practices specified in this 
section are unfair labor practices.  Any employee, employer, 
employee or employer organization, exclusive representative, or 
any other person or organization aggrieved by an unfair labor 
practice as defined in this section may bring an action for 
injunctive relief and for damages caused by the unfair labor 
practice in the district court of the county in which the 
practice is alleged to have occurred.  A copy of any complaint 
alleging an unfair labor practice must be filed with the 
commissioner at the time it is brought in district court.  The 
party bringing an unfair labor practice action in district court 
shall also transmit to the commissioner any orders or judgments 
of the court within ten days of the order or judgment. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.14, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [INITIATION OF NEGOTIATION.] (a) [FIRST 
AGREEMENT.] When employees or their representatives desire an 
exclusive representative desires to meet and negotiate an 
initial agreement establishing terms and conditions of 
employment, they the exclusive representative shall give written 
notice to the employer and the commissioner.  If the exclusive 
representative has not been certified by the commissioner under 
section 179A.12 within one year of such written notice, the 
employer has ten days from receipt of the notice to object or 
refuse to recognize the employees' representative or the 
employees as an appropriate unit to the demand to negotiate by 
petitioning the commissioner to investigate either the 
appropriateness of the unit or the question of representation 
that the employer believes is raised by the demand, or both.  If 
the employer does not object within ten days, the employer must 
recognize the employee representative for purposes of reaching 
agreement on terms and conditions of employment for the 
represented employees accepts the obligations of section 
179A.07, subdivision 2, and the balance of this chapter with 
regard to such exclusive representative.  If the employer does 
object by filing a petition under this section, the employer or 
employees' representative may petition the commissioner to take 
jurisdiction of the matter and the commissioner shall 
investigate the petition under section 179A.12, subdivision 5.  
    (b) [SUBSEQUENT AGREEMENT.] When a party to a contract 
desires to meet and negotiate an agreement subsequent to the 
initial agreement, the party shall give written notice to the 
other party and to the commissioner at least 60 days before the 
termination date of the existing contract.  If a party fails to 
give the required 60-day notice, the party is subject to a fine 
of $10 per day for each day the notice is late.  The fine for 
late notice may be waived at the discretion of the commissioner 
if the commissioner finds that the failure to give timely notice 
did not prejudice the commissioner or the other party in the 
fulfillment of their responsibilities and duties.  The fine for 
late notice shall be is the only penalty for late notice under 
this paragraph. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.16, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [NONESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES.] An exclusive 
representative or an employer of a unit of employees other than 
essential employees may petition the commissioner for request 
interest arbitration.  For all public employees except those 
specified in subdivision 2, the commissioner shall certify a 
matter to the board for binding interest arbitration if:  
    (a) the commissioner has determined that further mediation 
would serve no purpose and has certified an impasse, or impasse 
has occurred because the exclusive representative and the 
employer have participated in mediation for the period required 
in section 179A.18, subdivisions 1 and 2, and the collective 
bargaining agreement has expired; and 
    (b) within 15 days of a request by one party for binding 
arbitration the other party has accepted the request.  A request 
for arbitration is rejected if the other party has not responded 
within 15 days of the request by providing written notice of the 
request to the other party and the commissioner.  The written 
request for arbitration must specify the items to be submitted 
to arbitration and whether conventional, final-offer 
total-package, or final-offer item-by-item arbitration is 
contemplated by the request. 
    The items to be submitted to arbitration and the form of 
arbitration to be used are subject to mutual agreement.  If an 
agreement to arbitrate is reached, it must be reduced to writing 
and a copy of the agreement filed with the commissioner.  A 
failure to respond, or to reach agreement on the items or form 
of arbitration, within 15 days of receipt of the request to 
arbitrate constitutes a rejection of the request. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.16, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES.] For essential employees 
the commissioner shall only certify a matter to the board for 
binding arbitration if either or both parties petition for 
binding arbitration stating that an impasse has been reached, 
and the commissioner has determined that further mediation would 
serve no purpose An exclusive representative or employer of a 
unit of essential employees may petition for binding interest 
arbitration by filing a written request with the other party and 
the commissioner.  The written request must specify the items 
which that party wishes to submit to binding arbitration.  
Within 15 days of the request, the commissioner shall determine 
whether further mediation of the dispute would be appropriate 
and shall only certify matters to the board in cases where the 
commissioner believes that both parties have made substantial, 
good-faith bargaining efforts and that an impasse has occurred. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.16, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [PROCEDURE.] Within 15 days from the time the 
commissioner certifies a matter to the board for binding 
arbitration the has certified a matter to be ready for binding 
arbitration because of an agreement under subdivision 1 or in 
accordance with subdivision 2, both parties shall submit their 
final positions on matters not agreed upon the items in 
dispute.  The commissioner shall submit these matters to the 
board once the 15-day period for the submission of final 
positions has elapsed, along with any final positions submitted 
by the parties.  In the event of a dispute over the items to be 
submitted to binding arbitration involving essential employees, 
the commissioner shall determine the matters not agreed upon 
items to be decided by the arbitration panel based on the 
efforts to mediate the dispute and the positions submitted by 
the parties and the commissioner's efforts to mediate the 
dispute during the course of those efforts.  The parties may 
stipulate items to be excluded from arbitration. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.16, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [CONSTRUCTION OF ARBITRATION PANEL.] The board 
shall provide the parties to the interest arbitration a list of 
seven arbitrators.  In submitting names of arbitrators to the 
parties, the board shall try to include names of persons from 
the geographical area in which the public employer is located.  
The parties shall, under the direction of the chair of the 
board, alternately strike names from the list of arbitrators 
until only three names remain, or if requested by either party, 
until only a single arbitrator remains, unless the parties 
request and mutually agree to utilize a panel of three 
arbitrators.  If the parties are unable to agree on who shall 
strike the first name, the question shall must be decided by the 
flip of a coin.  The arbitrator or arbitrators remaining after 
the striking procedure constitute the arbitration panel. 
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 179A.20, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE.] All contracts shall must 
include a grievance procedure which shall provide providing for 
compulsory binding arbitration of grievances including 
all written disciplinary actions.  If the parties cannot agree 
on the grievance procedure, they shall be are subject to the 
grievance procedure promulgated by the commissioner under 
section 179A.04, subdivision 3, clause (h).  
    Notwithstanding any home rule charter to the contrary, 
after the probationary period of employment, any disciplinary 
action, other than the termination of a teacher contract or the 
discharge of a teacher under section 125.12 or 125.17, is 
subject to the grievance procedure and compulsory binding 
arbitration. 
    Employees covered by civil service systems created under 
chapter 43A, 44, 375, 387, 419, or 420, by a home rule charter 
under chapter 410, or by Laws 1941, chapter 423, may pursue a 
grievance through the procedure established under this section. 
When the grievance is also within the jurisdiction of appeals 
boards or appeals procedures created by chapter 43A, 44, 375, 
387, 419, or 420, by a home rule charter under chapter 410, or 
by Laws 1941, chapter 423, the employee may proceed through the 
grievance procedure or the civil service appeals procedure, but 
once a written grievance or appeal has been properly filed or 
submitted by the employee or on the employee's behalf with the 
employee's consent the employee may not proceed in the 
alternative manner.  
    This section does not require employers or employee 
organizations to negotiate on matters other than terms and 
conditions of employment.  
    Sec. 12.  [REPEALER.] 
    Laws 1984, chapter 654, article 2, section 116, is repealed.
    Sec. 13.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1 to 12 are effective the day following final 
enactment. 
    Presented to the governor May 23, 1989 
    Signed by the governor May 25, 1989, 6:10 p.m.