HB 1645-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
14Mar2012… 0969h
2012 SESSION
06/10
HOUSE BILL 1645-FN
AN ACT relative to decertification of a bargaining unit.
SPONSORS: Rep. Lambert, Hills 27; Rep. Manuse, Rock 5
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
This bill permits the board of certain public employers to require a secret ballot election to determine whether certification of an employee organization shall remain in effect.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14Mar2012… 0969h
12-2114
06/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to decertification of a bargaining unit.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subparagraph; Decertification. Amend RSA 273-A:10, VI by inserting after subparagraph (c) the following new subparagraph:
(d) If the dues-paying membership of an employee organization is less than the number of employees needed to certify a bargaining unit, and such number is less than 50 percent of the number of positions comprising the bargaining unit, a secret ballot election may be requested by the board of the public employer to determine whether or not certification of the employee organization shall remain in effect. If such request is made, the cost of holding the secret ballot election shall be borne by the public employer, though the cost of promotional materials shall be borne by the respective parties. If the result of the secret ballot election results in the continuation of certification of the employee organization, no subsequent request shall be made by the board of the public employer for one year.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
12-2114
12/22/11
HB 1645-FN – FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to decertification of a bargaining unit.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Public Employee Labor Relations Board states this bill will decrease state general fund expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2013 and each year thereafter, the Department of Administrative Services states this bill will have an indeterminable impact on state expenditures in FY 2013 and each year thereafter, and the New Hampshire Association of Counties and New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill may decrease county and local expenditures by indeterminable amounts in FY 2013 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on state, county, and local revenues.
METHODOLOGY:
The Public Employee Labor Relations Board repeals RSA 273-A:1 through 273-A:17, provides that any general agreements or contracts between any public employer and any labor union entered into after the effective date of the bill shall be void, and also eliminates the Public Employee Labor Relations Board. The Board states in FY 2013 it has a general fund appropriation of $400,259 in the state operating budget, however costs related to employee terminations would net against potential savings of this bill. The Board is unable to determine the potential overall net savings as it is unable to predict total termination costs at this time.
The Department of Administrative Services states this bill could potentially result in both a cost and savings for the state. The Department states there will be an indeterminate cost associated with the necessary and essential laws, rules and/or policies required to be implemented to address all conditions of employment currently covered under collective bargaining. The Department states there could be potential indeterminate savings to the state as a result of changes in wages and benefits in the absence of collective bargaining. The Department also states all of the collective bargaining agreements (CBA) the state is currently participating in, expire on June 30, 2013 and include evergreen clauses, and the probability of realizing savings in wages and benefits would not happen until current CBAs expire and unions agree to give up their evergreen rights.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill repeals public employee collective bargaining, which county commissioners and county department heads participate in. The Association states in the absence of collective bargaining, county expenditures could decrease as there would be less personnel time and county resources spent, and counties would no longer need to obtain outside legal services or consultants to assist in the negotiating process. The Association is unable to estimate the potential decrease in county expenditures as a result of this bill.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill would eliminate collective bargaining between political subdivisions and public employees. The Association states by eliminating the need for municipalities to engage in collective bargaining, this bill would result in a decrease to local expenditures. The Association states it does not have information as to the time and resources spent by municipalities, and therefore is unable to estimate the decrease in local expenditures. The Association states municipalities may incur labor negotiation costs on an individual by individual basis, which cannot be estimated at this time.
The Judicial Branch states this bill would reduce management’s time spent on collective bargaining issues, but should not result in an impact to the Branch’s budget.