Posted: | January 25, 2021 03:33 PM |
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From: | Representative David H. Rowe |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Legislation Requiring Notification of Right to Resign Membership in Public-Sector Union |
I am preparing to reintroduce HB624 (F. Keller) from the previous session to amend the Public Employee Relations Act (Act 195 of 1970), to increase the time period a union member has to resign their membership in a public-sector union. Under current law, Act 195 states that a union member can only resign their membership from their representative union during the 15-day period before a collective bargaining agreement ends. There is no requirement for the public employer of the union to notify a member of this right. This legislation increases the “resignation period” from 15 days to 45 days. In addition, it also requires that the public employer notify their employees once a year (in January) of their right to resign from the union, during this time period. It also requires that the representative union notify its members during the ten-day period before the “resignation period” of their right to resign from the union. The bill’s intent is to ensure that members are aware of their existing right to resign, and to give them a more reasonable period to do so. This legislation only relates to making full union members aware of their right to resign from their union and does not relate to nonmember’s rights. I believe this legislation offers a reasonable change to the law, that does not eliminate the “maintenance of membership” concept that is part of the traditional balance between public-sector unions and their public employers. Please join me in sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB842