Bargaining Update

SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION	STATUS	CASE NAME
Disciplinary Procedures	Police department was contemplating implementing “early warning system.” Implementation of system mandatory for bargaining to the extent it impacted wages, hours, and mandatorily negotiable working conditions.	Mixed.	City of Milwaukee, No. 32115 (Wis. PERC 2007).
Insurance	Employer unilaterally implemented $50 annual deduction for dental insurance. Fact that employer sent all represented employees a benefit package two months before the change that reflected a $50 deductible for dental insurance did not suffice to meet the employer’s bargaining obligations.	Mandatory. Employer required to bargain over issue.	Skagit County Deputy Sheriffs Guild v. Skagit County, Decision 8886-A (Wash. PERC 2007).
Job Duties	Employer expanded its Basic Life Support responses. While employer not required to bargain over decision to implement expansion, increase from 30 to 140 runs a year represented “a substantial increase in workload” that was mandatorily negotiable.	Mixed. Employer required to bargain over impact of expansion.	King County Fire District, No. 9236-A (Wash. PERC 2007).
Privacy	Employer installed overt security cameras inside and outside its public safety complex without notice to or bargaining with the labor organizations representing public safety employees. Commission concluded that since cameras were part of an overall security system, and were overt rather than covert, management’s rights to protect “people and property” overrode any employee privacy interest.	Not Mandatory. Employer not required to bargain over issue.	City of Paterson, New Jersey, PERC No. 2007-62 (N.J. PERC 2007).
Retirement	State enacted law prospectively changing retirement system from defined benefits to defined contribution program. Retirement not mandatory subject of bargaining under Alaska law.	Not Mandatory. Employer not required to bargain over new law.	Alaska Correctional Officers Association v. State of Alaska, Case No. 06-1481-ULP (Alaska Department of Labor 2007).

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).