Signed by Governor Janet Mills

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires public employers to provide bargaining agents access to certain member information and other rights.

Highlights:

• Requires public employers, universities, academies, and community colleges to provide to a bargaining agent access to members of the bargaining unit that the bargaining agent exclusively represents, including, but not limited to (Sec. 1 & 3):

• The right to meet with individual employees on the premises of the public employer’s workplace during the work day to investigate and discuss grievances, workplace-related complaints and other workplace issues;

• The right to conduct workplace meetings during lunch and other breaks, and before and after the work day, on the public employer's premises to discuss workplace issues, collective bargaining negotiations, the administration of collective bargaining agreements and other matters related to the duties of a bargaining agent and internal bargaining agent matters involving the governance or the business of the bargaining agent;

• 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 or for an amount of time agreed upon by all parties, not later than 10 days after receipt of information provided during new employee orientations or, if the employer doesn’t conduct new employee orientation, at individual or group meetings; and

• The right to use the email system of a public employer to communicate with bargaining unit members regarding official bargaining agent matters including, but not limited to, elections, meetings and social activities, as long as the use of the email system doesn’t create an unreasonable burden on the public employer's network capabilities or system administration.

• Requires public employers to provide the following information no later than 30 days after the date a prospective school employee accepts an offer of employment or the date of hire for all other public employees in spreadsheet file format or another format agreed to by the bargaining agent (Sec. 1):

• Name;

• Job title;

• Workplace location;

• Home address;

• Work telephone numbers;

• Home telephone and personal cellular telephone numbers, if known;

• Work email address;

• Personal email address, if known; and

• Date of hire.

• Specifies that the following are not public records and are confidential and may not be disclosed by the public employer under any other circumstances (Sec. 1):

• Home addresses;

• Home or personal telephone numbers;

• Personal email addresses;

• Dates of birth of employees;

• Names of employees within a bargaining unit; and

• Communications between a bargaining agent and its members.

• Specifies that the bargaining agent has the right to use government buildings and other facilities that are owned or leased by government entities to conduct meetings with members as long as use doesn’t interfere with governmental operations, and that they may be charged for maintenance, security, and other costs related to the use of the facility that would not otherwise be incurred by the government entity (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes employees to opt out of receiving any further communications from a bargaining agent or allowing a bargaining agent to have any further access to their information, except for communications related to direct representation of that employee by a bargaining agent, after having an initial meeting (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits bargaining agents from selling or sharing the information provided of an employee who is not a member of an employee organization except for the purpose of fulfilling the agent’s collective bargaining obligations (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that the bargaining agent has the right to use university, academy, and community college buildings and other facilities that are owned or leased by the university, academy, or community college to conduct meetings with members as long as use doesn’t interfere with the facility’s operations, and that they may be charged for maintenance, security, and other costs related to the use of the facility that would not otherwise be incurred by the university, academy, or community college (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that nothing in this section may be construed to limit the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that provide a bargaining agent with greater rights of access to employees than the rights established in the bill (Sec. 1 & 3).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires public employers to provide bargaining agents access to certain member information and other rights.

Highlights:

• Requires public employers, universities, academies, and community colleges to provide to a bargaining agent access to members of the bargaining unit that the bargaining agent exclusively represents, including, but not limited to (Sec. 1 & 3):

• The right to meet with individual employees on the premises of the public employer’s workplace during the work day to investigate and discuss grievances, workplace-related complaints and other workplace issues;

• The right to conduct workplace meetings during lunch and other breaks, and before and after the work day, on the public employer's premises to discuss workplace issues, collective bargaining negotiations, the administration of collective bargaining agreements and other matters related to the duties of a bargaining agent and internal bargaining agent matters involving the governance or the business of the bargaining agent;

• 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 or for an amount of time agreed upon by all parties, not later than 10 days after receipt of information provided during new employee orientations or, if the employer doesn’t conduct new employee orientation, at individual or group meetings; and

• The right to use the email system of a public employer to communicate with bargaining unit members regarding official bargaining agent matters including, but not limited to, elections, meetings and social activities, as long as the use of the email system doesn’t create an unreasonable burden on the public employer's network capabilities or system administration.

• Requires public employers to provide the following information no later than 30 days after the date a prospective school employee accepts an offer of employment or the date of hire for all other public employees in spreadsheet file format or another format agreed to by the bargaining agent (Sec. 1):

• Name;

• Job title;

• Workplace location;

• Home address;

• Work telephone numbers;

• Home telephone and personal cellular telephone numbers, if known;

• Work email address;

• Personal email address, if known; and

• Date of hire.

• Specifies that the following are not public records and are confidential and may not be disclosed by the public employer under any other circumstances (Sec. 1):

• Home addresses;

• Home or personal telephone numbers;

• Personal email addresses;

• Dates of birth of employees;

• Names of employees within a bargaining unit; and

• Communications between a bargaining agent and its members.

• Specifies that the bargaining agent has the right to use government buildings and other facilities that are owned or leased by government entities to conduct meetings with members as long as use doesn’t interfere with governmental operations, and that they may be charged for maintenance, security, and other costs related to the use of the facility that would not otherwise be incurred by the government entity (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes employees to opt out of receiving any further communications from a bargaining agent or allowing a bargaining agent to have any further access to their information, except for communications related to direct representation of that employee by a bargaining agent, after having an initial meeting (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits bargaining agents from selling or sharing the information provided of an employee who is not a member of an employee organization except for the purpose of fulfilling the agent’s collective bargaining obligations (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that the bargaining agent has the right to use university, academy, and community college buildings and other facilities that are owned or leased by the university, academy, or community college to conduct meetings with members as long as use doesn’t interfere with the facility’s operations, and that they may be charged for maintenance, security, and other costs related to the use of the facility that would not otherwise be incurred by the university, academy, or community college (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that nothing in this section may be construed to limit the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that provide a bargaining agent with greater rights of access to employees than the rights established in the bill (Sec. 1 & 3).

Full Bill Text