HOUSE FILE 73

BY  HUNTER

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for fair share agreements relating to collective bargaining and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 20.3, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4A.  “Fair share fee” means the amount charged to an employee in a bargaining unit who is not a member of the employee organization certified by the board as the exclusive bargaining representative for the public employees in that bargaining unit, to cover the costs incurred by the employee organization on behalf of the employee for collective bargaining, contract administration, the adjustment of grievances, and the pursuit of other matters affecting wages, hours, and other conditions of employment.
   Sec. 2.  Section 20.8, subsection 4, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  Refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee organizations, including the payment of any dues, fees or assessments or service fees of any type, except as provided in section 20.9A.
   Sec. 3.  Section 20.9, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   The public employer and the employee organization shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings reasonably in advance of the public employer’s budget-making process, to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, vacations, insurance, holidays, leaves of absence, shift differentials, overtime compensation, supplemental pay, seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, health and safety matters, evaluation procedures, procedures for staff reduction, in-service training and other matters mutually agreed upon. Negotiations shall also include whether a fair share fee shall be charged to nonmembers of the employee organization, terms authorizing dues checkoff for members of the employee organization and grievance procedures for resolving any questions arising under the agreement, which shall be embodied in a written agreement and signed by the parties. If an agreement provides for dues checkoff, a member’s dues may be checked off only upon the member’s written request and the member may terminate the dues checkoff at any time by giving thirty days’ written notice. Such obligation to negotiate in good faith does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession.
   Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  20.9A  Fair share fee procedures.
   1.  When a collective bargaining agreement between a public employer and a certified employee organization, which provides that a fair share fee shall be charged to nonmembers of the employee organization, is reached by ratification of the agreement or by issuance of an arbitration award under section 20.22, the public employer shall, within ten days of the date the agreement is reached, provide the employee organization with a list of the names and addresses of all employees in the bargaining unit represented by the employee organization. If a collective bargaining agreement providing for fair share fees has a term of more than one year, the list shall be provided by the public employer annually, not later than thirty days prior to the commencement of the next full year of the contract’s term.
   2.
  a.  Following receipt by the employee organization of a list of employees pursuant to subsection 1, the employee organization shall provide the public employer with the name of each nonmember of the employee organization and the amount of the fair share fee. In addition, the employee organization shall provide the labor commissioner with the amount of the fair share fee and any supporting documentation utilized in determining the amount of the fair share fee. Commencing on the effective date of the collective bargaining agreement which provides for a fair share fee or the public employer’s receipt of the names and amounts from the employee organization, whichever occurs later, the public employer shall deduct once each month from the wages or salaries of each nonmember the amount of the fair share fee specified for that nonmember by the employee organization and transmit the amounts deducted to the employee organization within fourteen days of the deduction. If a collective bargaining agreement includes a retroactive effective date, the public employer shall make deductions for fair share fees prospectively only.
   b.  For purposes of determining the fair share fee, the amount of the fair share fee shall not exceed the regular membership dues paid by members of the employee organization and shall not include any share of the costs incurred by the employee organization for fraternal, ideological, political, or other activities not germane to collective bargaining, contract administration, the adjustment of grievances, or the pursuit of other matters affecting wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. Costs that shall be excluded from the fair share fee include but are not limited to costs for social events; lobbying on issues or for purposes other than the negotiation, ratification, or implementation of a collective bargaining agreement; voter registration training; efforts to increase voting; political campaign techniques; supporting or contributing to charitable organizations; and supporting or contributing to religious or other ideological causes.
   3.  As a precondition to the collection of a fair share fee, the employee organization shall establish and maintain a full and fair procedure that conforms with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Iowa and all of the following:
   a.  Provides nonmembers of the employee organization with an annual notice which informs them of the amount of the fair share fee to be charged, provides them with sufficient information to gauge the propriety of that amount, and informs them of the procedure by which a nonmember may challenge that amount.
   b.  Permits challenges by nonmembers to the amount of the fair share fee.
   c.  Provides for the consolidation of all timely challenges and for an impartial hearing, before an arbitrator appointed by the American arbitration association pursuant to its rules for impartial determination of union fees, conducted in accordance with those rules and paid for by the employee organization.
   d.  Provides that the burden of proof relating to the propriety of the amount of the fair share fee is on the employee organization.
   e.  Provides that all fair share fees reasonably in dispute while a challenge is pending shall be held by the employee organization in an interest-bearing escrow account until a final decision is issued by the arbitrator, at which time such funds shall be disbursed in accordance with the arbitrator’s decision.
   4.  The employee organization shall notify the public employer of any arbitrator’s award issued pursuant to the challenge procedure specified in subsection 3 which reduced the amount of a fair share fee and the public employer shall adjust its deduction from the wages or salaries of the challenging nonmembers accordingly.
   5.  This section shall be enforced through an action in a court of competent jurisdiction.
   Sec. 5.  Section 731.3, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   731.3  Contracts to exclude unlawful.
   It Except as provided in sections 20.8, 20.9A, and 731.4A, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association, corporation or labor organization to enter into any understanding, contract, or agreement, whether written or oral, to exclude from employment members of a labor union, organization or association, or persons who do not belong to, or who refuse to join, a labor union, organization or association, or because of resignation or withdrawal therefrom.
   Sec. 6.  Section 731.4, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   731.4  Union dues as prerequisite to employment —— prohibited.
   It Except as provided in sections 20.8, 20.9A, and 731.4A, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association, labor organization or corporation, or political subdivision, either directly or indirectly, or in any manner or by any means as a prerequisite to or a condition of employment to require any person to pay dues, charges, fees, contributions, fines or assessments to any labor union, labor association or labor organization.
   Sec. 7.  NEW SECTION.  731.4A  Fair share fee agreements.
   A labor union, labor association, labor organization, or employee organization, which is the certified or recognized exclusive representative for collective bargaining under applicable federal law, may enter into an agreement with the employer of the employees it is certified or recognized to represent in collective bargaining that, as a condition of continued employment, requires employees, after thirty days of employment, either to become a member of the certified or recognized labor union, labor association, labor organization, or employee organization, or to pay a fair share fee to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Iowa, and federal law. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require an employee to become a member of a labor union, labor association, labor organization, or employee organization. In addition, the requirements of a fair share agreement shall not apply to an employee whose initial date of employment with the employer occurs on a date when a fair share fee agreement as authorized by this section is not in effect.
   Sec. 8.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
   This bill authorizes the negotiating of fair share fees in collective bargaining agreements.
   Code chapter 20, concerning collective bargaining for public employees, is amended to authorize fair share fees.
   Code section 20.9 is amended to provide that the scope of negotiations for purposes of a collective bargaining agreement includes negotiating whether a fair share fee shall be charged to nonmembers of an employee organization.
   New Code section 20.9A establishes the procedures to follow if a fair share fee is included in a collective bargaining agreement. The new Code section provides that once an agreement is ratified or an arbitration award is issued that includes a fair share fee, the public employer shall, within 10 days, provide the employee organization with a list of employees covered by the agreement. If the agreement has a term of more than one year, the employer shall provide the list on an annual basis. Once the employee organization receives the list, the employee organization shall provide the employer with a list of each nonmember of the employee organization and the amount of the fair share fee. The employee organization shall also inform the labor commissioner of the amount of the fair share fee and how it was determined. The bill provides that the fee shall not exceed the regular membership dues paid by members and shall not include costs of the employee organization that are not germane for collective bargaining, contract administration, the adjustment of grievances, and the pursuit of other matters affecting wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. The bill provides that the public employer shall begin deducting the fair share fee from nonmembers upon the later of the effective date of the collective bargaining agreement or the date the public employer receives the list of nonmembers and the amount of the fair share fee. The bill provides that no retroactive deductions for fair share fees are allowed.
   The bill also establishes several additional conditions for the collection of a fair share fee from public employees. The bill provides that nonmembers be given an annual notice of the amount of the fair share fee and their rights as to challenging the amount. The bill also provides that nonmembers shall be permitted to challenge the amount of the fair share fee at an impartial hearing before an arbitrator appointed by the American arbitration association. The bill provides that the employee organization has the burden of proof relating to the amount of the fee to be charged. The bill provides that the employee organization shall notify the public employer of any arbitrator’s award and the public employer shall adjust the deduction from wages of the nonmembers who challenged the fair share fee amount. The bill provides that the requirements of this new Code section shall be enforced in a court of competent jurisdiction.
   Code chapter 731, concerning labor union membership, is also amended to authorize fair share agreements. New Code section 731.4A provides that a labor union, certified as the bargaining representative of a private sector employer under federal law, may enter into an agreement with an employer that, as a condition of continued employment, requires employees whom the union is certified to represent to become a member of the labor union or to pay a fair share fee to the extent permitted by the United States Constitution, the Iowa Constitution, and applicable federal law. The new Code section provides that nothing in this Code section shall be deemed to require an employee to become a member of a labor union and also provides that the requirement to pay a fair share fee shall not apply to an employee whose initial date of employment occurred on a date when a fair share agreement was not in effect.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment.