Bargaining Update

SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION	STATUS	CASE NAME
Discipline	Unfair labor practice alleged that City had deviated from its practice of offering “last chance” agreements to firefighters charged with a first offense relating to the use of alcohol. Board found that Union failed to establish a past practice, and that the two previous examples cited by the Union could not be used as evidence since the settlement agreements in those cases were non-precedent setting.	Not Mandatory. Employer allowed to not offer agreements.	City and County of San Francisco, Decision 1611M (Cal. PERB 2004).
Seniority	Proposal that if a sheriff’s department absorbed or merged with any other law enforcement agency, the newly-acquired employees would not bring with them any seniority for job-bidding purposes.	Mandatory. Employer required to bargain over issue.	Camden County Sheriff, 30 NJPER ¶10 (N.J. PERC 2004).
Subcontracting	Employer joined regional SWAT-type team as well as regional traffic unit, causing members from other departments to perform work inside the city limits.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind change.	Town of East Hartford, Decision 3853-A (Conn. SBLR 2004).

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).