Bargaining Update

SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION	STATUS	CASE NAME
Contracts With Union Members	Employer required new hires to sign agreement to repay costs of training academy if they left work within five years of employment. Though employer contended agreements were signed pre-employment, Commission found that agreements had impacts on employment post-hire.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind contracts.	Town of Ludlow, (Mass. LRC 2002).
Light Duty	Employer unilaterally implemented new policies restricting light-duty assignments to employees with job-related injuries. Clause in collective bargaining agreement giving Sheriff the exclusive right to “determine assignments” not a waiver by the Union of the right to bargain over the issue.	Mandatory. County required to rescind new policies.	Capitol City Lodge No. 141 v. Ingham County Board of Commissioners, 2003 WL 283811 (Mich.App. 2003).
Wages	Employer unilaterally imposed new pay plan based on total compensation study. Union merely protested that implementation of pay plan was illegal, but never formally demanded to bargain over issue.	Unresolved. Union waived right to bargain.	Ponce Inlet Professional Firefighters, Local 4140, 28 FPER ¶33287 (Fla. PERC 2002).

There are three categories of bargaining topics.

Mandatory. Mandatory subjects must be negotiated if either side raises them during the negotiations process. If a past practice concerns a mandatory subject of bargaining, an employer may not make a change in the practice without first bargaining with the labor organization unless the labor organization has waived its right to negotiate over the subject.

Permissive. Permissive subjects need not be negotiated by either party, but can be negotiated if both sides voluntarily choose to do so. An employer is free to make changes in past practices affecting permissive subjects of bargaining without first bargaining with a labor organization.

Prohibited. Prohibited subjects are excluded from bargaining. A subject is often prohibited if it is “preempted” by another law covering the subject (e.g., a state law might preempt bargaining over the entire subject of pension benefits).