Bill Text - SB148 (2019)

Relative to notification to public employees regarding their right to join or not join a union.


Revision: March 27, 2019, 3:16 p.m.

SB 148 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

 

03/27/2019   1165s

2019 SESSION

19-1023

04/01

 

SENATE BILL 148

 

AN ACT relative to notification to public employees regarding their right to join or not join a union.

 

SPONSORS: Sen. Giuda, Dist 2; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Morse, Dist 22

 

COMMITTEE: Commerce

 

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

 

This bill requires an employer to provide written notice to any person hired for employment with the state or any of its political subdivisions regarding the employee's constitutional right to decide whether to join or not to join a union and the estimated annual cost to the employee of joining a union.  The bill also requires a public employer to provide to an employee organization access to certain personal information of employees which the organization represents.

 

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/27/2019   1165s 19-1023

04/01

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen

 

AN ACT relative to notification to public employees regarding their right to join or not join a union.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  New Section; Public Employee Labor Relations; Notification of Rights Regarding Union Membership.  Amend RSA 273-A by inserting after section 11 the following new section:

273-A:11-a  Notification of Rights Regarding Union Membership.  

I.  A public employer as defined in RSA 273-A:1, X shall, at the time of hiring, provide written notice to any person hired for employment with the state or any of its political subdivisions regarding the employee's constitutional right to decide whether to join or not to join a union and the estimated cost to the employee of joining a union.  The written notice shall state:  "You have the constitutional right to join or decline membership in a union or authorized collective bargaining unit.  Union dues for the position for which you have been hired are estimated to be $_____ per pay period."

II.(a)  A public employer shall provide to an employee organization access to members of the bargaining unit that the employee organization exclusively represents.  Access shall include the following:

(1)  The right to meet with affected employees on the premises of the public employer during the work day to investigate and discuss grievances and workplace-related complaints,

(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.

(3)  The right to meet with newly-hired employees, without charge to the pay or leave time of the employees, for 60 minutes, not later than 10 calendar days after the employee’s first day of employment, during new employee orientations or, if the employer does not conduct new employee orientations, at individual or group meetings.

(4)  Meetings for any other purpose shall be by mutual agreement between the employee organization and the employer.

(b)  Personal information, including but not limited to home address, phone numbers, email addresses, date of birth, bargaining units and groupings of employees, shall not be public and shall be prohibited from disclosure.

(c)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, emails and other communications between employee organizations and their members shall be private records and shall be prohibited from disclosure.

(d)  The exclusive representative shall be allowed to use government buildings and other facilities that are owned or leased by government entities to conduct meetings consistent with the purposes established in this section; provided, that the use does not interfere with governmental operations.  An exclusive representative conducting a meeting in a government building or other government facility pursuant to this paragraph 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.

(e)  Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to diminish the obligations of an employer to comply with a collective bargaining agreement that provides greater access and orientation rights than the rights established by law.

(f)  In this paragraph, “exclusive representative” means an employee organization which has been designated as the exclusive representative of employees in a collective bargaining unit.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.