Budget Amendment ID: FY2019-S4-26-R1
Redraft OTH 26
Employee Orientations
Messrs. Feeney and Timilty, Ms. Gobi, Mr. Moore, Ms. L'Italien, Messrs. O'Connor, Welch, Pacheco, Cyr, Crighton, Brady, Rush and Collins moved that the proposed new text be amended by adding the following section:-
Section X. Chapter 180 of the general laws is hereby amended by striking section 17A and inserting the following section:-
Section 17A. Deductions on payroll schedules may be made from the salary of any employee of any amount which such employee may specify in writing to any public employer under chapter 150 E or by any employer made subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred fifty A by chapter 760 of the Acts of 1982 by whom or which he is employed, for the payment of union dues or fees to any labor organization or employee organization. The authorization for payroll deduction may be irrevocable pursuant to the terms of such authorization for a period of no longer than one year from the anniversary of the authorization and shall be revocable solely pursuant to the terms of revocation specified in the employee authorization. Any authorization consistent with the terms of this section shall be accepted by the employer or public employer. The treasurer of the labor organization or employee organization or relief association shall notify the office of the employer or public employer responsible for implementing payroll deductions of any authorization revocation within fifteen days of receipt.
If the authorization for payroll deduction does not specify the terms for revocation, then any such authorization may be withdrawn by the employee by giving at least sixty days’ notice in writing of such withdrawal to the office of the employer or public employer responsible for implementing payroll deductions by whom or which he is then employed and by filing a copy thereof with the treasurer of the labor organization or employee organization.
The state treasurer or the treasurer of the employer or public employer by which such employee is employed, shall deduct from the salary of such employee such amount of union dues or fees, as may be certified to him on the payroll, and transmit the sum so deducted to the treasurer of said labor organization or employee organization; provided, that the state treasurer or the treasurer of the employer or public employer, as the case may be, is satisfied by such evidence as he may require that the treasurer of such employee organization or labor organization has given to said employee organization or labor organization a bond, in a form approved by the commissioner of revenue, for the faithful performance of his duties, in a sum and with such surety or sureties as are satisfactory to the state treasurer or treasurer of the employer or public employer; and provided, further, that whenever a labor organization or employee organization is certified or obtains consent recognition under the provisions of chapter one hundred fifty A or chapter one hundred and fifty E, such deductions shall be made for dues or fees only to the certified or recognized labor organization or employee organization.
This section shall be effective in any county, city or town which has accepted it in the manner provided by section two of chapter seven hundred and forty of the acts of nineteen hundred and fifty, or which accepts it in the following manner:-- In a county by vote of the county commissioners; in a city having a Plan D or Plan E charter by majority vote of its city council; in any other city by vote of its city council, approved by the mayor; and in a town by vote of the board of selectmen.
and further moves to amend the bill by inserting the following section:-
SECTION XX. Chapter 150E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new section:-
Section 5A.
A. Public employers shall provide to an employee organization access to members of the bargaining unit that the employee organization exclusively represents. Access includes, but it not limited to the following:
(1) the right to meet with individual employees on the premises of the public employer during the work day to investigate and discuss grievances, workplace-related complaints, and other workplace issues;
(2) the right to conduct worksite meetings during lunch and other non-work breaks, and before and after the workday, on the employer’s premises to discuss workplace issues, collective bargaining negotiations, the administration of collective bargaining agreements, other matters related to the duties of an exclusive representative, and internal union matters involving the governance or business of the employee organization; and
(3) the right to meet with newly hired employees, without charge to the pay or leave time of the employees, for a minimum of 30 minutes, within 10 calendar days from the date of hire, during new employee orientations, or if the employer does not conduct new employee orientations at individual or group meetings. In the case of school employees, the employer shall notify the exclusive representative of a hiring decision within 10 calendar days of the date a prospective employee accepts an offer of employment and shall further provide to the exclusive representative the employee contact information identified in sub-section B of this enactment.
B. Within 10 calendar days from the date a prospective school employee accepts an offer of employment or the date of hire of all other public bargaining unit employees, public employers shall provide the following contact information to an exclusive representative employee organization in an spreadsheet Excel file format or other format agreed to by the exclusive representative employee organization: name, job, title, worksite location, home address, work telephone numbers, any home and personal cellular telephone numbers on file with the public employer, date of hire, work email address, and any personal email address on file with the public employer.
C. Home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and bargaining units and groupings of employees, and the emails or other communications between employee organizations and their members, are not public records and are prohibited from disclosure except as provided in G.L. c. 4, §7, clause 26 (o) and (p).
D. The exclusive representative shall have the right to use the email system of a public employer to communicate with bargaining unit members regarding official union-related matters including but not limited to elections, results of elections, meetings and social activities, provided such use does not create an unreasonable burden on network capability or system administration. .
E The exclusive representative shall have the right to use government buildings and other facilities that are owned or leased by government entities to conduct meetings with unit members regarding bargaining negotiations, the administration of collective bargaining agreements, the investigation of grievances, other workplace-related complaints and issues, and internal union matters involving the governance or business of the union, provided such use does not interfere with governmental operations. Meetings conducted in government buildings pursuant to this section shall not be for a purpose prohibited by section thirteen and section fourteen of chapter fifty-five. An exclusive representative conducting a meeting in a government building or other government facility pursuant to this section may be charged for maintenance, security and other costs related to the use of the government building or facility that would not otherwise be incurred by the government entity.
F. Nothing in in this law shall be construed to diminish the obligations of an employer to comply with any collective bargaining agreement that provides greater access and orientation rights than the rights established by this law.
G. A public employer’s failure to comply with the provisions of Sections A through E shall constitute a violation of Section 10(a)(5) of G. L. c. 150E.
H. For the purposes of this section, “exclusive representative” means an employee organization which has been designated as the exclusive representative of employees in a collective bargaining unit as defined in section 3 of chapter 150E.