Revision: Dec. 3, 2019, 11:26 a.m.
HB 1554-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2020 SESSION
20-2335
04/06
HOUSE BILL 1554-FN
AN ACT relative to elections in collective bargaining.
SPONSORS: Rep. Nunez, Hills. 37; Rep. Hunt, Ches. 11; Rep. Cordelli, Carr. 4
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
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ANALYSIS
This bill provides for changes to public employee bargaining unit voting.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
20-2335
04/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty
AN ACT relative to elections in collective bargaining.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Public Employee Labor Relations; Elections. Amend RSA 273-A:10, VI to read as follows:
VI.(a) Certification as exclusive representative shall remain valid but shall be recertified by a vote of a majority of the bargaining unit when the members within the unit that have never voted on the issue of collective representation become the majority of members, until the employee organization is dissolved, voluntarily surrenders certification, loses a valid election or is decertified by a vote of the majority of the bargaining unit. The commissioner of the department of labor shall provide notice to each bargaining unit when the members in the unit that have never voted on the issue of certification of collective representation have become the majority of members.
(b) The board shall decertify any employee organization which is found in a judicial proceeding to discriminate with regard to membership, or with regard to the conditions thereof, because of age, sex, race, color, creed, marital status or national origin; or has systematically failed to allow all of its membership equal participation in the affairs of the employee organization.
(c) Any challenge to a certified exclusive bargaining representative, whether in a decertification election or a challenge by another labor organization, shall result in decertification or change in bargaining representation if decertification or the challenging organization is approved by a majority vote of members of the bargaining unit voting.
(d) All members of a bargaining unit shall be permitted to participate in the recertification vote or any vote held to determine a change in bargaining unit representation.
(e) If a majority of bargaining unit members votes to decertify the unit, a new bargaining unit may be established by a majority vote of the members of the decertified unit within 12 months of the date of decertification.
(f) Documentation of the votes taken pursuant to this paragraph shall be provided to the commissioner of the department of labor within 30 days of the vote.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
20-2335
11/19/19
HB 1554-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to elections in collective bargaining.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2020 | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | $165,800+ | $167,200+ | $173,800+ |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
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COUNTY: |
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Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
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LOCAL: |
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Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
METHODOLOGY:
This bill provides for changes to public employee bargaining unit voting. The Public Employee Labor Relations Board administers and enforces the provisions of the Public Employee Labor Relations Act in RSA 273-A. The Board indicates the financial impact of this proposed legislation is the cost of the additional full time board personnel necessary to administer the new recertification election procedures. The objective when a notice of election is issued is to conduct the election within a reasonably prompt amount of time to minimize any disruption in the workplace that may be caused by campaign activity, and to avoid unnecessary delay in settling a question of bargaining unit representation. To properly implement and administer this law, the Board assumes it would need at least two additional full-time staff; one Attorney II position and one Secretary Typist II. The Board provided the following estimated cost information for the two additional staff assuming a start date of July 1, 2020:
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 |
Secretary Typist II |
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Salary & Benefits | $50,300 | $52,600 | $54,900 |
Other Expenses* | $9,500 | $7,000 | $7,000 |
Total | $59,800 | $59,600 | $61,900 |
Attorney II |
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Salary & Benefits | $88,500 | $92,600 | $96,900 |
Other Expenses* | $17,500 | $15,000 | $15,000 |
Total | $106,000 | $107,600 | $111,900 |
Grand Total | $165,800 | $167,200 | $173,800 |
* Other expenses include, equipment, office space, travel and office supplies etc.
The financial impact of this bill on county, and local expenditures is indeterminable and would depend upon the amount of time personnel are diverted to work on the recertification election cases, the outcome of the elections, and the frequency of subsequent petitions to reestablish a bargaining unit in the event a recertification election terminates an existing bargaining unit. There would be no fiscal impact on state, county, or local revenue. The cost of conducting elections electronically has not been researched or calculated, as this procedure would require, at a minimum, a change to the board's election rules (Pub 303), if not an amendment to RSA 273-A.
The bill would require the Commissioner of the Department of Labor to provide notice to each bargaining unit when the members in the unit that have never voted on the issue of certification of collective representation have become a majority of members. The Department indicates it does not have the information to make such determinations. The Department is not involved with administration or enforcement of RSA 273-A and a mechanism would need to be developed to make the data available to the Commissioner, and likely at some indeterminable cost.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Public Employee Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor