The inherent rights of an employer to make decisions about his or her business. These may be expressly reserved for management in a collective agreement or, as in rcW 41.80, may be legally excluded from the scope of collective bargaining. A vote by members of a collective bargaining unit to distance themselves from the union they represent. In Washington, applications and procedures for employee decertification are processed by the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC). FRIEDRICHS – Friedrich`s case against the California Teachers Association sought to overturn a nearly 40-year precedent that allowed the use of “fair share” fees for public sector unions, where all members of the collective bargaining unit must pay the costs associated with collective bargaining and contract management. Given that all workers in unionized enterprises enjoy the benefits of unionization and that unions are legally required to represent all workers, which requires the use of unions` financial resources, the unions felt that workers who choose not to become members of unions should: at least pay these fees in order not to become “free riders” and benefit from representation. union without paying a penny for it. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But with the death of Associate Judge Antonin Scalia in February 2016 and the resulting open seat, the court had only 8 members to rule on cases. The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in March 2016 with a split 4-4 decision. The split decision 4-4 leaves intact the precedent set by Abood v.
Detroit Board of Education, the 1977 case in which the court upheld fair sharing costs and supported collective bargaining. The decision simply leaves in place the opinion of the lower court (the Ninth District Court of Appeals) and reserves the legal question for a future case. The decision therefore does not put an end to the threat of fair sharing and collective bargaining. Many other cases are currently under review in the justice system, and this scenario could likely recur in the future. REGIONAL FEDERATIONS OF LABOUR – In 2016, the national AFL-CIO worked with state union leaders across the country to lead an initiative to restructure Central Labour Councils (CLCs) into Regional Federations of Labour (RFLs) to strengthen and revive former CTCs. The objective of this reorganization is to advance the mission of strengthening the workers` movement through a common vision. The Central Labour Councils (CLC), Assemblies and Regional Federations of Labour (ALF) are the local workers` movement of the AFL-CIO. Each organization covers a geographic area of Massachusetts as well as other states. Trade unions and trade union members can take collective action and influence their communities through their local bodies. In 2019, delegates from the Pioneer Valley, Hampshire/Franklin and Berkshire Central labor organizations voted overwhelmingly to pool their efforts and form the Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation. This strategic movement gave new energy to the Western mass workers` movement. The CLCs, the Assemblies and the ALF Western MA ensure the pre-selection and affirmation of candidates, as well as support to workers` organisations and affiliated members.
PERB – (PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD) can also be called SLRB (State Labor Relations Board) and SERB (State Employment Relations Board) among others – depending on the State Collective Bargaining Act for Civil Servants. An administrative authority responsible for administering state laws on collective bargaining for civil servants. AUTHORIZATION CARD – Union card filled out by an employee during a representation campaign. The card usually indicates the union as a party to workers` collective bargaining and must be dated and signed. A typical union authorization card may read as follows: “I hereby authorize (name of the union), its representatives or assignees to act on my behalf as the exclusive representative for the purposes of collective bargaining with my employer on wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. I understand and agree that this card may be used to establish majority support among employees of the unit where I am employed and to obtain voluntary recognition from my employer without choice of NLRB and/or to obtain an NLRB election. “The NLRB accepts 30% of employee signatures on cards or petitions as a `show of interest` needed to conduct an election.