PRINTER'S NO. 3926
No. 2626 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY PASHINSKI, MUNDY, BELFANTI, McCALL, EACHUS, SURRA, DERMODY, ADOLPH, BLACKWELL, CARROLL, CASORIO, COHEN, CONKLIN, CURRY, DeLUCA, DePASQUALE, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GALLOWAY, GEORGE, GERBER, GERGELY, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HALUSKA, JAMES, JOSEPHS, KENNEY, LEVDANSKY, MAHONEY, MANDERINO, McGEEHAN, McILVAINE SMITH, MELIO, MURT, M. O'BRIEN, OLIVER, O'NEILL, QUINN, RAMALEY, RAYMOND, SAMUELSON, SHIMKUS, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH, SOLOBAY, STABACK, R. STEVENSON, VITALI, WAGNER, WANSACZ, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD AND YUDICHAK, JUNE 11, 2008
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR RELATIONS, JUNE 11, 2008
AN ACT 1 Amending the act of June 1, 1937 (P.L.1168, No.294), entitled 2 "An act to protect the right of employes to organize and 3 bargain collectively; creating the Pennsylvania Labor 4 Relations Board; conferring powers and imposing duties upon 5 the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, officers of the State 6 government, and courts; providing for the right of employes 7 to organize and bargain collectively; declaring certain labor 8 practices by employers to be unfair; further providing that 9 representatives of a majority of the employes be the 10 exclusive representatives of all the employes; authorizing 11 the board to conduct hearings and elections, and certify as 12 to representatives of employes for purposes of collective 13 bargaining; empowering the board to prevent any person from 14 engaging in any unfair labor practice, and providing a 15 procedure for such cases, including the issuance of a 16 complaint, the conducting of a hearing, and the making of an 17 order; empowering the board to petition a court of common 18 pleas for the enforcement of its order, and providing a 19 procedure for such cases; providing for the review of an 20 order of the board by a court of common pleas on petition of 21 any person aggrieved by such order, and establishing a 22 procedure for such cases; providing for an appeal from the 23 common pleas court to the Supreme Court; providing the board 24 with investigatory powers, including the power to issue 25 subpoenas and the compelling of obedience to them through 26 application to the proper court; providing for service of
1 papers and process of the board; prescribing certain 2 penalties," further providing for definitions; and providing 3 for disputes involving religious employers. 4 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: 5 (1) When the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act was 6 originally passed in 1937, teachers in religiously-affiliated 7 elementary and secondary schools were almost exclusively 8 members of religious orders. Since the passage of the act, 9 teachers in religiously-affiliated schools have become 10 predominately lay employees who do not belong to religious 11 orders and who, in many instances, are not members of the 12 religious group sponsoring the education. 13 (2) Thousands of lay teachers and other lay employees now 14 teach or provide services to religiously-affiliated schools 15 in this Commonwealth. Lay employees are paid salaries or work 16 for hourly wages, pay Federal, State and local taxes and 17 utilize resources provided by tax dollars, such as police, 18 fire and public health services. The religiously-affiliated 19 schools are engaged in commerce. 20 (3) Lay teachers and other lay employees, such as 21 librarians, guidance counselors, nurses and janitors have the 22 right to contract for their services, as to other 23 nonreligious employees in this Commonwealth, but they do not 24 have the right to form, join or refrain from joining 25 organizations based on elections conducted by the 26 Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. 27 (4) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Association of 28 Catholic Teachers, Local 1776 v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations 29 Board, 547 Pa. 594, 692 A.2d 1039 (1996), found that in the 30 absence of a clear intention on the part of the General 31 Assembly to include lay teachers as employees covered by the 20080H2626B3926 - 2 -
1 act of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563, No.195), known as the Public 2 Employe Relations Act, lay teachers were not to be considered 3 employees under that statute. 4 (5) Similarly the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Western 5 Pennsylvania Hospital v. Lichliter, 340 Pa. 382, 17 A.2d 206 6 (1941), held that nonprofit corporations were not covered by 7 the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act because nonprofit 8 corporations, such as hospitals, were not engaged in 9 industry, commerce, trade, business or production within the 10 meaning of the act and that to cover nonprofit institutions 11 the act would have to be amended by the General Assembly. 12 (6) Experience has proven that, in the absence of 13 legislation according lay employees of religiously-affiliated 14 schools the same rights and privileges as are accorded to 15 other workers in this Commonwealth, the employees are 16 disadvantaged by being unable to select representatives of 17 their own choosing to bargain on their behalf with their 18 employers and suffer from the same economic burdens as did 19 workers when the act was originally adopted. 20 (7) The relative inequality in the bargaining power 21 between lay employees and their employers adversely affects 22 the general welfare of this Commonwealth in the same manner 23 as originally described in the findings and policy of the 24 Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act when it was first adopted. 25 Therefore, the Commonwealth has a compelling State interest 26 in affording protections to lay employees. 27 (8) The purpose of this legislation is to extend a 28 facially neutral law of general applicability, benefiting 29 both employees and employers, to lay employees of 30 religiously-affiliated schools while preserving for lay 20080H2626B3926 - 3 -
1 employers an exemption with respect to coverage under the 2 Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act relating to those employees 3 who are directly employed as members of a religious society, 4 order or association. 5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 6 hereby enacts as follows: 7 Section 1. Section 3(d) of the act of June 1, 1937 8 (P.L.1168, No.294), known as the Pennsylvania Labor Relations 9 Act, is amended and the section is amended by adding a clause to 10 read: 11 Section 3. Definitions. When used in this act-- 12 * * * 13 (d) The term "employe" shall include any employe, and shall 14 not be limited to the employes of a particular employer, unless 15 the act explicitly states otherwise, and shall include any 16 individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in 17 connection with, any current labor dispute, or because of any 18 unfair labor practice, and who has not obtained any other 19 regular and substantially equivalent employment, but shall not 20 include any individual employed as an agricultural laborer, or 21 in the domestic service of any person in the home of such 22 person, or any individual employed by his parent or spouse[.], 23 or any individual employed by a religious organization in a 24 ministerial capacity, except lay teachers or other lay employes 25 at religious schools. 26 * * * 27 (k) The term "religious employer" includes a religiously- 28 affiliated profit or nonprofit school acting as an employer. 29 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read: 30 Section 10.2. Disputes Involving Religious Employers.--(a) 20080H2626B3926 - 4 -
1 In disputes involving a religious employer, the board may 2 neither define nor interpret religious doctrine. The board may 3 inquire into whether the espoused doctrine is a pretext for the 4 action of the employer. 5 (b) Where the evidentiary record before the board shows that 6 a religious employer made an employment decision based on 7 religious grounds, the board shall deem the grounds the cause of 8 that decision but for which the decision in question would not 9 have occurred unless the employe or the employe's representative 10 establishes that the employer's religious justification is a 11 pretext for engaging in any of the unfair labor practices listed 12 in section 6. 13 (c) In disputes involving a religious employer, the board 14 may not alter the employer's organizational structure, nor 15 determine who within the employer's organization has the power 16 to resolve religious controversies relating to the structure of 17 the employer. 18 (d) This section shall apply notwithstanding the provisions 19 of the act of December 9, 2002 (P.L.1701, No.214), known as the 20 "Religious Freedom Protection Act." 21 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days. F2L43BIL/20080H2626B3926 - 5 -