PRINTER'S NO. 3456
No. 2462 Session of 1986
INTRODUCED BY COHEN, GALLAGHER, COWELL, KUKOVICH, VEON, WOZNIAK,
TRELLO, LESCOVITZ, COLAFELLA, KOSINSKI, STEWART AND BURNS,
MAY 7, 1986
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MAY 7, 1986
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," providing for fair share fees.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
9 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
10 section to read:
11 Section 513.1. Fair Share Fee; Payroll Deduction.--(a) When
12 the exclusive representative of a school entity's employes
13 notifies the school entity as to the amount of the fair share
14 fee, the school entity shall deduct from the salaries or wages
15 of non-members of the exclusive representative the fair share
16 fee and shall transmit said fee to the exclusive representative.
17 Payroll deduction and transmittal of the fee shall be in
18 accordance with a schedule agreed to by the school entity and
19 the exclusive representative.
1 (b) When the information is verified by an independent
2 auditor, the exclusive representative shall provide the school
3 entity and non-members with a list of the major categories of
4 expenses during the previous fiscal year, together with a
5 statement of the fair share fee and an explanation of how it was
6 calculated. At the same time, the exclusive representative shall
7 notify the non-members that they may challenge the fee within
8 thirty (30) days from receipt of notification, either with
9 respect to its calculation or on bona fide religious grounds,
10 before an impartial arbitrator, paid for equally by the non-
11 member and the exclusive representative and selected by both
12 from a list supplied by the American Arbitration Association,
13 pursuant to the voluntary rules of the association.
14 (c) The decision of the impartial arbitrator shall be final
15 and binding and shall be appealable only on the grounds
16 available for the appeal of arbitration awards under the common
17 law of this Commonwealth.
18 (d) The exclusive representative shall place each fair share
19 fee into an escrow account until such time as the non-member's
20 challenge is resolved or until the thirty (30) day
21 postnotification period has passed without challenge.
22 (e) Should an arbitrator decide that a non-member's
23 objection is based on bona fide religious grounds, the non-
24 member shall be required to transmit an amount equal to the fair
25 share fee to a non-religious charity agreed upon by the non-
26 member and the exclusive representative.
27 (f) When used in this section the following words and
28 phrases shall have the following meanings:--
29 (1) "Bona fide religious grounds" shall mean the tenets or
30 teachings of a bona fide church or religious body of which the
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1 objecting fee payer is a member and which form the basis for
2 refusal to associate with the exclusive representative.
3 (2) "Exclusive representative" shall mean the employe
4 organization selected by the employes of a school entity to
5 represent them for purposes of collective bargaining pursuant to
6 the act of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563, No.195), known as the "Public
7 Employe Relations Act."
8 (3) "Fair share" shall mean the regular membership dues
9 required of members of the exclusive representative, less the
10 cost for the previous fiscal year of its activities or
11 undertakings which were not reasonably employed to implement or
12 effectuate the duties of the employe organization as exclusive
13 representative.
14 (4) "School entity" shall mean any school district,
15 intermediate unit or vocational-technical school.
16 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1986, or
17 immediately, whichever is later.
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