Bargaining Update

SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION	STATUS	CASE NAME
Contracts With Union Members	Pre-employment contract requiring officer to repay training costs if officer did not remain employed for 36 months.	Mandatory. Contract ruled non-enforceable.	City of Lewistown v. Lloyd, 2006 WL 2053110 (Mont. 2006).
Insurance	Employer unilaterally changed health insurance specifications during bid process. Union was aware of change and requested bargaining, and employer did not have valid business necessity defense nor contractual waiver.	Mandatory. Employer required to rescind change in practice.	Essex County Sheriff, PERC No. 2006-86 (N.J. PERC 2006).
Medical Coverage	Proposal would provide employer-paid medical coverage to police officers who have retired because of job-related disabilities. Issue held not to be preempted by state statutory scheme for disability pensions.	Mandatory. Employer required to bargain over proposal.	Yakima County, Decision 9338 (Wash. PERC 2006).
Rules And Regulations	Union proposed continuation of contract clause allowing it to file grievances concerning new rules and regulations. Under New Jersey law, clause could only apply to rules and regulations dealing with mandatorily negotiable subjects.	Mandatory. Employer required to bargain over proposals.	City of Newark, 32 NJPER ¶47 (N.J. PERC 2006).
Shift Schedules	Employer changed shift schedule of one employee, requiring him to work weekends. Where shift schedules in general are a mandatory subject of bargaining, the change in schedule of one employee must be analyzed under contractual language, not under the general duty to bargain.	Not Mandatory. Employer allowed to retain change.	North Berks Regional Police Association, #PF-C-06-75-E (Pa. LRB 2006).
Subcontracting	The County sought declaration that contract clause was unenforceable because it provided that no one outside of the bargaining unit should normally perform work done by employees within the bargaining unit. The Court found that the clause was primarily related to wages, hours, and conditions of employment.	Mandatory. Provision ruled to be enforceable.	Dunn County v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, 2006 WL 1147598 (Wis.App. 2006).

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).