Bargaining Update

SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION	STATUS	CASE NAME
Furloughs	Employer unilaterally implemented a mandatory furlough program.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind furloughs.	King County, No. 10547-A (Wash. PECB 2010).
Holidays	For the first time, employer required liquor control officers to work on the day after Thanksgiving to meet unusual enforcement needs resulting from scheduling of Pitt-West Virginia football game. Since such an event requiring enforcement of underage drinking laws had never before occurred on the day after Thanksgiving, no binding past practice existed.	Not Mandatory. Assignment did not violate the law.	Pennsylvania Liquor Enforcement Association, Case No. PERA-C-09-2-E (Pa. LRB ALJ 2010).
Interest Arbitration	Ballot initiative that would have required interest arbitration as the last step in the bargaining process for corrections officers.	Not Mandatory.	DiQuisto v. County of Santa Clara, 181 Cal. App. 4th 236 (2010).
Overtime	Employer unilaterally enacted policy imposing limits on discretionary overtime worked by troopers, corporals, and sergeants. Employer required to make employees whole for missed overtime assignments.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind policy.	Pennsylvania State Police, No. PF-C-08-100-E (Pa. LRB 2010).
Pensions	Employer did not include EMT premium in pension calculations. Since practice had varied over time, the Union failed to establish the existence of a binding past practice.	Not Mandatory. No past practice.	Town of Stratford, No. 4432 (Conn. SLRB 2010).
Residency.	Employer established a review procedure to evaluate whether employees were in compliance with its residency requirement.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind procedure.	City of Niagara Falls, No. U-27834 (N.Y. PERB 2010).
Secondary Employment	Employer unilaterally imposed a policy restricting dual employment by police officers with other law enforcement agencies. Board rejected employer’s argument that the subject matter of dual employment is a management right based upon concerns over potential future liability resulting from off-duty employee conduct while performing secondary law enforcement duties.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind policy.	Village of Catskill, No. U-27414 (N.Y. PERB 2010).

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).