PRINTER'S NO. 1166
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1117
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY ROWE, DIAMOND, HAMM, JONES, KAUFFMAN, KEEFER,
KLUNK, LEWIS, METCALFE, MOUL, ROTHMAN AND ZIMMERMAN,
APRIL 7, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 7, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563, No.195), entitled
"An act establishing rights in public employes to organize
and bargain collectively through selected representatives;
defining public employes to include employes of nonprofit
organizations and institutions; providing compulsory
mediation and fact-finding, for collective bargaining
impasses; providing arbitration for certain public employes
for collective bargaining impasses; defining the scope of
collective bargaining; establishing unfair employe and
employer practices; prohibiting strikes for certain public
employes; permitting strikes under limited conditions;
providing penalties for violations; and establishing
procedures for implementation," in definitions, further
providing for definitions; in employee rights, providing for
payments to employee organizations, for resignation from
employee organization and for affirmative consent; in
representation, further providing for exclusive
representation and providing for recertification; in scope of
bargaining, further providing for membership dues deductions
and maintenance of membership and providing for collection of
payments from nonmembers; and making related repeals.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 301 of the act of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563,
No.195), known as the Public Employe Relations Act, is amended
by adding clauses to read:
Section 301. As used in this act:
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(20) "Nonmember" means a public employe in a collective
bargaining unit who is not a member of the employe organization
that serves as the exclusive representative for the collective
bargaining unit.
(21) "Independent bargaining" or "to bargain independently"
means bargaining between a public employer and a public employe
with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment,
adjustment of grievances or other terms and conditions of
employment without the intervention of an employe organization,
bargaining agent or exclusive bargaining representative. The
term does not include:
(i) granting any greater or lesser rights or privileges to
public employes who have chosen to represent themselves in a
unit with an exclusive representative than those public employes
in a unit without an exclusive bargaining representative; or
(ii) granting any greater or lesser duties or obligations
for a public employer to public employes who have chosen to
represent themselves in a unit with an exclusive bargaining
representative than those duties or obligations the public
employer owes to public employes in a unit without an exclusive
bargaining representative.
(22) "Affirmative consent" means a knowing, voluntary and
explicit agreement by a public employe to financially support an
employe organization and to waive the employe's right or
privilege not to do so, in written form and signed by the public
employe.
(23) "Political contribution" means money appropriated for
any of the following:
(i) A contribution, as defined in section 1621 of the act of
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June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the "Pennsylvania
Election Code."
(ii) An independent expenditure, as defined in section 1621
of the "Pennsylvania Election Code."
(iii) An expenditure, as defined in section 1621 of the
"Pennsylvania Election Code."
(iv) Lobbying, as defined in 65 Pa.C.S. § 13A03 (relating to
definitions).
(v) A voter registration drive.
(vi) A get-out-the-vote drive.
(vii) Any other electoral, political or legislative purpose.
Section 2. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
Section 402. (a) A public employer shall notify, in
writing, all public employes in a collective bargaining unit
that there is no statutory obligation by nonmembers to make any
payments to the employe organization that serves as the
nonmember's exclusive representative. The notice shall specify
the following:
(1) A payment may not be made to the employe organization
unless the employe affirmatively consents to make the payment.
(2) A payment to the employe organization shall not be
necessary to maintain employment.
(b) The notice required under subsection (a) shall be given
annually and may be given by mailing a letter by first class
mail to the address of the employe organization or other means
deemed appropriate by the board.
(c) Prior to the hiring of an applicant as a new public
employe, the public employer, when applicable, shall notify the
applicant of the following:
(1) Membership in the employe organization that serves as
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the exclusive representative of the collective bargaining unit
is not a condition of employment with the public employer.
(2) The applicant may opt to be a nonmember by not giving
affirmative consent. As a nonmember, the applicant has no
statutory obligation to make a payment to the employe
organization.
Section 403. (a) No collective bargaining agreement entered
into on or after the effective date of this section may
establish conditions for when a public employe may join or
resign from an employe organization acting as the exclusive
representative of a unit.
(b) A public employe may resign from an employe organization
at any time.
(c) Resignation shall become effective thirty days after the
date of mailing a letter by first class mail to the address of
the employe organization or other means deemed appropriate by
the board.
(d) A stamped receipt from a United States Post Office or
other evidence deemed appropriate by the board shall constitute
proof of mailing.
Section 404. (a) No membership dues or any portion of
membership dues may be deducted from the wages of a public
employe, except on receipt by the public employer of the
affirmative consent of the employe within the previous twelve
months.
(b) Affirmative consent provided to public employers shall
include the following language:
I recognize that I have a First Amendment right to
associate. My rights provide that I am not compelled to
pay an employe organization as a condition of employment,
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and I do not have to sign this waiver. However, I am
hereby choosing to associate with the herein named
employe organization and affirmatively consent to allow
my employer to deduct payments to such employe
organization until such time as I choose to revoke this
authorization.
(c) The provision under subsection (b) shall be written in
bold and in all caps and shall be in a font that is equal to or
larger than any other font found in the text of the form. The
waiver shall be contained in a separate document and shall not
be a part of a document that serves additional purposes or has
additional provisions.
(d) An employe labor organization may present a public
employe with an affirmative consent form on the commencement of
employment, but not more often than twice annually thereafter.
If any information related to the waiver or the potential
execution of the affirmative consent is provided to an employe
in any form, representatives of the employer and any relevant
union shall be given the equivalent ability to provide
information in the same format to the employe.
(e) No deadline or any other like requirement may be placed
on an employe for the potential execution of an affirmative
consent.
(f) The following is prohibited in a communication or action
that is in any manner related to the potential execution of an
affirmative consent:
(1) Requiring an employe to attend a meeting with the
purpose of influencing the decision of the employe to execute or
not execute the affirmative consent.
(2) Requesting an employe to announce the employe's decision
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to execute or not to execute the affirmative consent at a
particular place or time.
(3) A communication by any means directed at an employe's
home.
(4) A communication directed in any manner, direct or
indirect, to a person other than the employe himself or herself
or other employes of the same employer.
(5) The promise or provision of an inducement or thing of
value, other than a description of membership benefits in the
union in question.
(6) The threat of negative action of any kind, including
placement on a public list or exclusion from a benefit, event or
activity that is a part of the employe's employment.
Section 3. Section 606 of the act is amended to read:
Section 606. (a) Representatives selected by public
employes in a unit appropriate for collective bargaining
purposes shall be the exclusive representative of all the
employes in such unit that have not chosen to independently
bargain to bargain on wages, hours, terms and conditions of
employment[: Provided, That any]. An individual employe or a
group of employes shall have the right at any time to [present
grievances to their employer and to have them adjusted]
independently bargain without the intervention of the bargaining
representative [as long as the adjustment is not inconsistent
with the terms of a collective bargaining contract then in
effect: And, provided further, That the bargaining
representative has been given an opportunity to be present at
such adjustment].
(b) Public employes shall have the right to independently
bargain in the employes' relations with the public employer.
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(c) No provision of an agreement between an employe
organization and a public employer or any other public policy
shall impose representation by the employe organization on
public employes who are not members of that organization and
have chosen to bargain independently. Nothing in a collective
bargaining agreement shall limit a public employe's ability to
negotiate with the employe's public employer or adjust the
employe's grievances directly with the employe's public
employer, nor shall a resolution of any such negotiation or
grievance be controlled or limited by the terms of a collective
bargaining agreement.
(d) There shall be not more than one exclusive bargaining
representative designated by the board pursuant to the
provisions of this act as the representative of public employes
in an appropriate collective bargaining unit.
(e) No provision of an agreement between an employe
organization and a public employer or any other public policy
shall impose wages or conditions of employment for members of an
employe organization that are linked or contingent on wages or
conditions of employment to public employes who are not members
of the employe organization.
Section 4. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 608. (a) The board shall conduct periodic
recertification elections using a secret ballot vote among the
public employes in a collective bargaining unit to determine if
the majority of the employes desire to continue representation.
(b) The board shall conduct recertification elections on
expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, but not less
than every three years.
(c) To meet the recertification requirement, continuation of
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the employe organization's status as the representative shall be
favored in a secret ballot election conducted by the board by
more than fifty per cent of the public employes in the
collective bargaining unit.
(d) If public employes vote not to continue representation
under subsection (c), the current representative's duties,
including collection of dues, fees and grievance arbitration,
shall terminate and the collective bargaining agreement shall
remain in effect with respect to wages, hours and conditions of
employment.
(e) If public employes do not recertify the public employes'
current representative under subsection (c), public employes in
the unit may certify a new representative in accordance with
this section, provided public employes cannot certify a
representative affiliated with or substantially similar to the
decertified representative for two years following the date of
decertification.
(f) The board shall assess and collect a fee from each
representative participating in an election conducted under this
section for the purpose of paying for the election as follows:
(1) For a bargaining unit of one to one hundred members, a
fee of two hundred dollars ($200).
(2) For a bargaining unit of one hundred one to two hundred
fifty members, a fee of three hundred fifty dollars ($350).
(3) For a bargaining unit of two hundred fifty-one to five
hundred members, a fee of five hundred dollars ($500).
(4) For a bargaining unit of five hundred one to one
thousand members, a fee of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750).
(5) For a bargaining unit of one thousand one to three
thousand members, a fee of one thousand five hundred dollars
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($1,500).
(6) For a bargaining unit of more than three thousand
members, a fee of two thousand dollars ($2,000).
Section 5. Section 705 of the act is amended to read:
Section 705. [Membership dues deductions and maintenance of
membership are proper subjects of bargaining with the proviso
that as to the latter, the payment of dues and assessments while
members, may be the only requisite employment condition.] On or
after the effective date of section 705.1, maintenance of
membership shall not be a proper subject of bargaining, and no
collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the
effective date of section 705.1 may contain the provision.
Section 6. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
Section 705.1. (a) A collective bargaining agreement
entered into, renewed or extended on or after the effective date
of this section may not contain provisions requiring the
deduction of political contributions or membership dues
deductions from a public employe's wages, including, without
limitation, wages of public school employes covered by the act
of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the "Public School
Code of 1949."
(b) A public employer may not deduct political contributions
or membership dues from the wages of a public employe, including
public school employes covered by the "Public School Code of
1949," except as required by a valid collective bargaining
agreement entered into between a public employer and a
representative of its employes prior to the effective date of
this section.
(c) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) Employes of a public employer who are not permitted to
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strike under section 1001.
(2) Employes of a public employer who are subject to the act
of June 24, 1968 (P.L.237, No.111), referred to as the
"Policemen and Firemen Collective Bargaining Act."
Section 705.2. A public employer may not collect through a
wage deduction any form of payment from a nonmember to an
employe organization.
Section 7. Repeals are as follows:
(1) The General Assembly declares that the repeals under
paragraph (2) are necessary to effectuate the addition of
sections 301(20), 402 and 705.2 of the act.
(2) The following acts and parts of acts are repealed:
(i) Section 2215 of the act of April 9, 1929
(P.L.177, No.175), known as The Administrative Code of
1929.
(ii) The act of June 2, 1993 (P.L.45, No.15), known
as the Public Employee Fair Share Fee Law.
Section 8. This act shall take effect in 30 days.
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