THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY EARLL, EICHELBERGER, WAUGH, PICCOLA AND BROWNE, AUGUST 16, 2012

REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AUGUST 16, 2012  

AN ACT

Amending the act of June 24, 1968 (P.L.237, No.111), entitled

"An act specifically authorizing collective bargaining

between policemen and firemen and their public employers;

providing for arbitration in order to settle disputes, and

requiring compliance with collective bargaining agreements

and findings of arbitrators," further providing for right to

enter into collective bargaining, for duty to exert

reasonable effort to settle, for date for collective

bargaining to commence, for appointment of board of

arbitration, for powers of arbitrators, for determination of

board of arbitration and for costs and expenses; and making

editorial changes.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1 of the act of June 24, 1968 (P.L.237,

No.111), referred to as the Policemen and Firemen Collective

Bargaining Act, is repealed:

[Section 1.  Policemen or firemen employed by a political

subdivision of the Commonwealth or by the Commonwealth shall,

through labor organizations or other representatives designated

by fifty percent or more of such policemen or firemen, have the

right to bargain collectively with their public employers

concerning the terms and conditions of their employment,

including compensation, hours, working conditions, retirement,

pensions and other benefits, and shall have the right to an

adjustment or settlement of their grievances or disputes in

accordance with the terms of this act.] 

Section 2.  The act is amended by adding sections to read:

Section 1.1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Policemen and

Firemen Collective Bargaining Act.

Section 1.2.  (Reserved).

Section 1.3.  Right to bargain collectively.

(a)  General rule.--Except as otherwise provided in

subsection (b), policemen or firemen employed by a political

subdivision of the Commonwealth or by the Commonwealth shall,

through labor organizations or other representatives designated

by 50% or more of its active members, have the right to bargain

collectively with their public employers concerning the terms

and conditions of their employment, including compensation,

hours, working conditions, retirement, pensions and other

benefits, and shall have the right to a settlement of their

grievances or disputes in accordance with the terms of this act.

(b)  Exception.--Where there are one or two active members,

then the labor organization or other representative must be

designated by, as the case may be, one or both of the active

members.

(c)  Restriction.--Under no circumstances shall

postretirement health or pension benefits that are not

statutorily required or any other term or condition of

employment that is specifically exempted from collective

bargaining be considered a term of condition of employment

subject to collective bargaining under this act.

Section 3.  Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the act are

amended to read:

Section 2.  [It shall be the duty of public] Duty to exert

reasonable effort to settle.

(a)  General rule.--Public employers and their policemen and

firemen employes [to] shall exert every reasonable effort to

settle all disputes by engaging in collective bargaining in good

faith and by entering into settlements by way of written

agreements and maintaining the same.

(b)  Noncompliance.--If a public employer or a bargaining

unit composed of police or fire personnel fails to meet and

bargain in good faith, such party shall be subject to an unfair

labor practice charge, the jurisdiction over which shall lie in

the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. A party that fails to

meet and bargain in good faith, as determined by the

Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, shall be prohibited from

engaging in arbitration under this act until it satisfies its

good faith bargaining obligation.

Section 3.  Date for collective bargaining to commence.

Collective bargaining shall begin at least [six] ten months

before the start of the fiscal year of the political subdivision

or of the Commonwealth, as the case may be, and any request for

arbitration, as hereinafter provided, shall be made at least

[one hundred ten] 180 days before the start of said fiscal year.

Section 4.  Appointment of board of arbitration.

(a)  Right to request.--

(1)  If in any case of a dispute between a public

employer and its policemen or firemen employes the collective

bargaining process reaches an impasse and stalemate, or if

the appropriate lawmaking body does not approve the agreement

reached by collective bargaining, with the result that [said]

the employers and employes are unable to effect a settlement,

then either party to the dispute, after written notice to the

other party containing specifications of the issue or issues

in dispute, may request the appointment of a board of

arbitration.

(2)  For purposes of this section, an impasse or

stalemate shall be deemed to occur in the collective

bargaining process if the parties do not reach a settlement

of the issue or issues in dispute by way of a written

agreement within [thirty] 60 days after collective bargaining

proceedings have been initiated.

(3)  In the case of disputes involving political

subdivisions of the Commonwealth, the agreement shall be

deemed not approved within the meaning of this section if it

is not approved by the appropriate lawmaking body within one

month after the agreement is reached by way of collective

bargaining.

(4)  In the case of disputes involving the Commonwealth,

the agreement shall be deemed not approved within the meaning

of this section if it is not approved by the [Legislature]

General Assembly within [six months] 180 days after the

agreement is reached by way of collective bargaining.

(b)  Composition.--

(1)  The board of arbitration shall be composed of three

persons, one appointed by the public employer, one appointed

by the body of policemen or firemen involved, and a neutral 

third [member] arbitrator to be agreed upon by the public

employer and such policemen or firemen. The members of the

board representing the public employer and the policemen or

firemen shall be named within five days from the date of the

request for the appointment of such board.

(2)  If, after a period of ten days from the date of the

appointment of the two arbitrators appointed by the public

employer and by the policemen or firemen, the neutral third

arbitrator has not been selected by them, then, within five

days, either arbitrator may request the American Arbitration

Association, or its successor in function, to furnish a list

of [three members of said association] seven members who are

residents of Pennsylvania from which the neutral third

arbitrator shall be selected. [The arbitrator appointed by

the public employer shall eliminate one name from the list

within five days after publication of the list, following

which the arbitrator appointed by the policemen or firemen

shall eliminate one name from the list within five days

thereafter. The individual whose name remains on the list

shall be the third arbitrator and shall act as chairman of

the board of arbitration.]

(3)  In the case of a political subdivision, the American

Arbitration Association, or its successor in function, shall

publish a list, where a list has been requested as provided

in paragraph (2), that contains the names of seven

arbitrators. One of the names on the list, if feasible and

practical, shall be a resident of the municipality, county or

a county contiguous to the county in which the public

employer is located.

(4)  Starting with the arbitrator appointed by the labor

organization or representative of the policemen or firemen

and then the arbitrator appointed by the employer, each

arbitrator shall engage in alternate strikes of arbitrator

names from the list until only one arbitrator name remains on

the list. The remaining arbitrator name shall become the

neutral third arbitrator. The neutral third arbitrator shall

serve as chair of the board of arbitration. This process

shall be completed within ten days after publication of the

list.

(5)  The board of arbitration [thus] established shall

commence the arbitration proceedings within ten days after

the neutral third arbitrator is selected and shall make its

determination within [thirty] 60 days after the appointment

of the neutral third arbitrator.

Section 5.  Service of notice.

Notice by the policemen or firemen involved under section 4

shall, in the case of disputes involving the Commonwealth, be

served upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth and, in the case

of disputes involving political subdivisions of the

Commonwealth, shall be served upon the head of the governing

body of the local governmental unit involved.

Section 6.  Powers of arbitrators.

(a)  General rule.--Each of the arbitrators selected in

accordance with section 4 [hereof] shall have the power to

administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses and

physical evidence by subpoena.

(b)  Open meetings and public records.--

(1)  Except as otherwise provided under paragraph (2),

any hearing at which evidence of record is presented by any

party or witness under this act shall be open to the public

and all documents and evidence of record submitted by any

party at such public hearing shall be public records subject

to the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the

Right-to-Know Law. A stenographic recording shall be made of

any such hearing.

(2)  Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a bargaining

session, executive session or other meeting between the

arbitrators and conducted before or after the hearing.

Section 7.  Determination of board of arbitration.

(a)  Finality.--

(1)  The determination of the majority of the board of

arbitration thus established shall be final on the issue or

issues in dispute and shall be binding upon the public

employer and the policemen or firemen involved. Such

determination shall be in writing and a copy thereof shall be

forwarded to both parties to the dispute. [No appeal

therefrom shall be allowed to any court. Such determination

shall constitute a mandate to the head of the political

subdivision which is the employer, or to the appropriate

officer of the Commonwealth if the Commonwealth is the

employer, with respect to matters which can be remedied by

administrative action, and to the lawmaking body of such

political subdivision or of the Commonwealth with respect to

matters which require legislative action, to take the action

necessary to carry out the determination of the board of

arbitration.]

(2)  No appeal may be taken from the determination of the

board of arbitration to any court, except for any of the

following reasons:

(i)  The board of arbitration exceeded its powers and

duties.

(ii)  The board of arbitration issued an award that

requires an unconstitutional act or results in the

deprivation of a constitutional right.

(iii)  The proceedings were irregular.

(iv)  The board of arbitration exceeded its

jurisdiction.

(v)  The board of arbitration failed to include in

its determination:

(A)  A detailed explanation that is supported by

substantial evidence, which must be evidence of

record submitted at the hearing and before the close

of the record, that justifies each provision of the

determination and explains that each provision is

based on evidence of record and that identifies the

evidence of record.

(B)  The calculations that are correctly based on

the criteria under subsection (a.1).

(a.1)  Required criteria.--

(1)  The board of arbitration shall formulate, its award

based on the total new costs, in any year of the award. The

total new costs may not exceed the positive percentage change

in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)

as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau

of Labor Statistics, or its successor, for the period June to

June contained within the immediately preceding two years

prior to the first year of the award, and any increase in

total new costs may not exceed three percent.

(2)  The CPI-U analysis shall be performed and based on a

calculation of all of the combined total new costs in each

individual provision in the award, including any automatic

increase in the costs of terms and conditions of employment

that existed prior to the award, and shall be calculated as a

percentage of the preexisting base rate of a policeman or

fireman having five years of experience in the relevant

municipality.

(3)  For purposes of this subsection, the term "total new

costs" shall include any increase in the costs of the terms

and conditions of employment that existed prior to the award,

the cost of all new wages or wage increases and other forms

of direct, indirect and deferred compensation contained in

the award or that existed prior to the award; the cost of the

annual funding for all postretirement benefits, including

pension and health care benefits based on Statement 45, or

its successor, of the Government Accounting Standards Board;

and any other costs associated with complying with the award

which requires the direct or indirect expenditure of public

funds, including any grants and donations from any source.

The award shall include a calculation establishing that this

requirement is satisfied based on the evidence of record

provided during the hearing and executive session process. In

averaging the costs of the award with respect to costs for

any year encompassed by the award for which such increase may

not be known at the time the award is issued, for example,

the cost for all forms of insurance or annual pension costs,

the board of arbitration shall make a good faith estimate

projection based on existing facts and historical increases

known at the time when the award is issued.

(a.2)  Prohibition.--A board of arbitration may not include

in any award, determination or settlement and shall be required

to remove from any existing collective bargaining agreement or

pension plan ordinance any pension benefit or provision that has

been found to be or defined as either unauthorized, unlawful or

excessive by the Department of the Auditor General or any court

of law. Should the Department of the Auditor General or any

court of law make any such finding during the term of any

collective bargaining agreement, such provision shall be deemed

removed by the parties to the collective bargaining agreement

and such pension benefit or provision shall be null and void.

(b)  Matters requiring legislation.--With respect to matters

which require legislative action for implementation, such

legislation shall be enacted, in the case of the Commonwealth,

within [six months] 180 days following publication of the

findings, and, in the case of a political subdivision of the

Commonwealth, within [one month] 30 days following publication

of the findings. The effective date of any such legislation

shall be the first day of the fiscal year following the fiscal

year during which the legislation is [thus] enacted.

Section 8.  Costs and expenses.

[The compensation, if any, of the arbitrator appointed by the

policemen or firemen shall be paid by them. The compensation of

the other two arbitrators, as well as all stenographic and other

expenses incurred by the arbitration panel in connection with

the arbitration proceedings, shall be paid by the political

subdivision or by the Commonwealth, as the case may be.]

(a)  General rule.--The public employer and the policemen or

firemen employed by the public employer who are engaged in the

collective bargaining shall bear the costs of their respective

appointed arbitrators, witnesses, including any actuary or

expert witness, and attorneys in any arbitration proceeding.

(b)  Neutral third arbitrator and other expenses.--The

reasonable fees and costs billed by or associated with the

neutral third arbitrator and the stenographic and other expenses

incurred by the board of arbitration in connection with the

arbitration proceedings or incurred as a result of or associated

with the arbitration proceedings shall be divided. One-half of

such fees and costs shall be paid by the public employer and

one-half shall be paid by the policemen and firemen who are

engaged in the collective bargaining.

Section 4.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 8.1.  Construction.

Any reference to a determination of the board of arbitration

or award in this act shall be construed as a final and binding

arbitration award, determination or settlement by a board of

arbitrators that was issued pursuant to this act prior to the

effective date of this section and to any other law that

mandates binding interest arbitration to determine the terms and

conditions of employment for any public employer.

Section 5.  Sections 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the act are amended

to read:

Section 9.  Applicability.

The provisions of this act shall be applicable to every

political subdivision of this Commonwealth notwithstanding the

fact that any such political subdivision, either before or after

the passage of this act, has adopted or adopts a home rule

charter.

Section 10.  Severability.

If any provision of this act or the application thereof to

any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of

this act and the application of such provision to other persons

or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby, and to this end

the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.

Section 11.  Inconsistent repeals.

All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby

repealed.

Section 12.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect immediately.

Section 6.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.