PUBLIC Law, Chapter 460, An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Collective Bargaining Rights of Employees of School Management and Leadership Centers

An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Collective Bargaining Rights of Employees of School Management and Leadership Centers

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17001, sub-§42, as amended by PL 2007, c. 491, §§66 and 67, is further amended to read:

42. Teacher. "Teacher" means:

A. Any employee of a public school or a school management and leadership center established pursuant to Title 20-A, chapter 123 who fills any position that the Department of Education requires be filled by a person who holds the appropriate certification or license required for that position and:

(1) Holds appropriate certification from the Department of Education, including an employee whose duties include, in addition to those for which certification is required, either the setup, maintenance or upgrading of a school computer system the use of which is to assist in the introduction of new learning to students or providing school faculty orientation and training related to use of the computer system for educational purposes; or

(2) Holds an appropriate license issued to a professional employee by a licensing agency of the State;

B. Any employee of a public school or a school management and leadership center established pursuant to Title 20-A, chapter 123 who fills any position not included in paragraph A, the principal function of which is to introduce new learning to students, except that a coach who is employed by a public school and who is not otherwise covered by the definition of teacher as defined in this subsection or an employee who is employed in adult education as defined in Title 20-A, section 8601-A, subsection 1 and who is not otherwise covered by the definition of teacher defined in this subsection may not be considered a teacher for purposes of this Part;

C. Any employee of a public school on June 30, 1989, in a position not included in paragraph A or B which was included in the definition of teacher in effect on June 30, 1989, as long as:

(1) The employee does not terminate employment; or

(2) The employee terminates employment and returns to employment in a position in the same classification within 2 years of the date of termination.

Regardless of any subsequent employment history, any employee of a public school in a position which was included in the definition of teacher in effect on June 30, 1989, is entitled to creditable service as a teacher for all service in that position on or before that date;

D. Any employee of a public school or a school management and leadership center established pursuant to Title 20-A, chapter 123 in a position not included in paragraph A, B or C who was a member of the State Employee and Teacher Retirement Program of the retirement system as a teacher on August 1, 1988, as long as:

(1) The employee does not terminate employment; or

(2) The employee terminates employment and returns to employment in a position in the same classification within 2 years of the date of termination;

E. Any former employee of a public school or a school management and leadership center established pursuant to Title 20-A, chapter 123 in a position not included in paragraph A, B or C who was a member of the State Employee and Teacher Retirement Program of the retirement system as a teacher before August 1, 1988, as long as the former employee returns to employment in a position in the same classification before July 1, 1991; or

F. For service before July 1, 1989, any employee of a public school in a position which was included in the definition of teacher before July 1, 1989.

"Teacher" includes a person who is on a one-year leave of absence from a position as a teacher and is participating in the education of prospective teachers by teaching and supervising students enrolled in college-level teacher preparation programs in this State.

"Teacher" also includes a person who is on a leave of absence from a position as a teacher and is duly elected as President of the Maine Education Association.

"Teacher" also includes a person who, subsequent to July 1, 1981, has served as president of a recognized or certified bargaining agent representing teachers for which released time from teaching duties for performance of the functions of president has been negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement between the collective bargaining agent and the teacher's school administrative unit and for whom contributions related to the portion of the person's salary attributable to the released time have been paid as part of the regular payroll of the school administrative unit.

Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §17154, sub-§6, ¶J is enacted to read:

J. Notwithstanding this section, the employer retirement costs and administrative operating expenses related to the retirement programs applicable to those teachers employed by a school management and leadership center, as defined in Title 20-A, section 3801, subsection 1, paragraph B, whose funding is provided from local and state funds must be paid by that school management and leadership center.

Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §3808 is enacted to read:

§ 3808. Collective bargaining in school management and leadership centers

1. Assumption of obligations, duties, liabilities and rights. On and after the operational date of a school management and leadership center, teachers and other employees whose positions are transferred from a school administrative unit to the school management and leadership center and were included in a bargaining unit represented by a bargaining agent, and for participating school administrative units, teachers and other employees who are subsequently employed by the school management and leadership center and were included in a bargaining unit and represented by a bargaining agent, continue to be included in the same bargaining unit and represented by the same bargaining agent pending completion of the bargaining agent and bargaining unit merger procedures and bargaining for initial school management and leadership center collective bargaining agreements covering school management and leadership center employees, as described in this section. After teachers and other employees become employees of the school management and leadership center, the school management and leadership center has the obligations, duties, liabilities and rights of a public employer pursuant to Title 26, chapter 9-A with respect to those teachers and other employees.

2. Structure of bargaining units. All bargaining units of school management and leadership center employees must be structured on a school management and leadership center-wide basis. Teachers and other employees who are employed by the school management and leadership center to provide consolidated services must be removed from the existing bargaining units of teachers and other employees who are employed by each member school unit and merged into units of school management and leadership center employees. Merger into school management and leadership center-wide bargaining units is not subject to approval or disapproval of employees. Formation of school management and leadership center-wide bargaining units must occur in accordance with this subsection.

A. In each school management and leadership center, there must be one bargaining unit of teachers, if any teachers are employed by the school management and leadership center, and, to the extent they are on the effective date of this paragraph included in bargaining units, other certified professional employees, excluding principals and other administrators.

B. Any additional bargaining units in a school management and leadership center must be structured as follows.

(1) In the initial establishment of such units, units must be structured primarily on the basis of the existing pattern of organization, maintaining the grouping of employee classifications into bargaining units that existed prior to the creation of the school management and leadership center and avoiding conflicts among different bargaining agents to the extent possible.

(2) In the event of a dispute regarding the classifications to be included within a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit, the current bargaining agent or agents or the school management and leadership center may petition the Maine Labor Relations Board to determine the appropriate unit in accordance with this section and Title 26, section 966.

C. When there is the same bargaining agent in all bargaining units that will be merged into a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit, the units must be separated and merged on the operational date or the date represented employees are transferred to the school management and leadership center, whichever is applicable, and the school management and leadership center shall recognize the bargaining agent as the representative of the merged unit.

D. When all bargaining units that will be separated and merged into a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit are represented by separate local affiliates of the same state labor organization, the units must be separated and merged on the operational date or the date represented employees are transferred to the school management and leadership center, whichever is applicable. The identity of a single affiliate that will be designated the bargaining agent for the merged unit must be selected by the existing bargaining agents and the state labor organization. Upon completion of the merger and designation of the bargaining agent and notification by the state labor organization to the school management and leadership center, the school management and leadership center shall recognize the designated bargaining agent as the representative of employees in the merged unit. If necessary, the parties shall then execute a written amendment to any collective bargaining agreement then in effect to change the name of the bargaining agent to reflect the merger.

E. When there are bargaining units that will be separated and merged into a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit in which there are employees who are not represented by any bargaining agent and other employees who are represented either by the same bargaining agent or separate local affiliates of the same state labor organization, the units must be separated and merged on the operational date or the date represented employees are transferred to the school management and leadership center, whichever is applicable, as long as a majority of employees who compose the merged unit were represented by the bargaining agent prior to the merger. The procedures for separation and merger of separate local affiliates of the same state labor organization described in paragraph D must be followed if applicable. If prior to the merger a bargaining agent did not represent a majority of employees who compose the merged unit, a bargaining agent election must be conducted by the Maine Labor Relations Board pursuant to paragraph F.

F. When bargaining units with different bargaining agents must be merged into a single school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit pursuant to this section, the bargaining agent of the merged bargaining unit must be selected in accordance with Title 26, section 967 except as modified in this section.

(1) A petition for an election to determine the bargaining agent must be filed with the Maine Labor Relations Board by any of the current bargaining agents or the school management and leadership center.

(2) The petition must be filed not more than 90 days prior to the first August 31st occurring after either the 3rd anniversary date of the operational date of the school management and leadership center or the date on which positions are transferred from member school units to the school management and leadership center, whichever is later.

(3) The election ballot may contain only the names of the bargaining agents of bargaining units that will be merged into the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit and the choice of no representative, but no other choices. A showing of interest is not required from any such bargaining agent other than its current status as representative.

(4) The obligation to bargain with existing bargaining agents continues from the operational date of the school management and leadership center or the date on which positions are transferred from member school units to the school management and leadership center, whichever is later, until the determination of the bargaining agent of the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit under this section; but in no event may any collective bargaining agreement that is executed after the operational date extend beyond the first August 31st occurring after either the 3rd anniversary date of the operational date of the school management and leadership center or the date on which positions are transferred from member school units to the school management and leadership center, whichever is later.

(5) The Maine Labor Relations Board shall expedite to the extent practicable all petitions for determination of the bargaining agent in the school management and leadership center filed pursuant to this section.

(6) The bargaining units must be merged into a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit as of the date of certification of the results of the election by the Maine Labor Relations Board or the expiration of the collective bargaining agreements in the unit, whichever occurs later.

(7) Until the first August 31st occurring after either the 3rd anniversary date of the operational date of the school management and leadership center or the date on which positions are transferred from member school units to the school management and leadership center, whichever is later, existing bargaining agents shall continue to represent the bargaining units that they represented on the day prior to the operational date of the school management and leadership center. If necessary, each bargaining agent and the school management and leadership center must negotiate interim collective bargaining agreements to expire the first August 31st occurring after either the 3rd anniversary date of the operational date of the school management and leadership center or the date on which positions are transferred from member school units to the school management and leadership center, whichever is later.

(8) When there are 2 or more bargaining units in which there are employees who are represented either by the same bargaining agent or by separate local affiliates of the same state labor organization that will be merged into a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit with one or more other bargaining units pursuant to the election procedures described in this paragraph, the bargaining units that are represented either by the same bargaining agent or by separate local affiliates of the same state labor organization must merge as of the operational date. The procedures for merger of separate local affiliates of the same state labor organization described in paragraph D must be followed if applicable.

3. Agent to engage in collective bargaining. After the merger of bargaining units in a school management and leadership center, the bargaining agent of a school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit and the school management and leadership center shall engage in collective bargaining for a collective bargaining agreement for the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit. In the collective bargaining agreement for each school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit, the employment relations, policies, practices, salary schedules, hours and working conditions throughout the school management and leadership center must be made uniform and consistent as soon as practicable. In the event that the parties are unable to agree upon an initial school management and leadership center-wide collective bargaining agreement, the parties shall use the dispute resolution procedures pursuant to Title 26, section 965 to resolve their differences.

4. Application of collective bargaining agreements. On and after the operational date of a school management and leadership center, but before the completion of negotiations for a single school management and leadership center-wide collective bargaining agreement for the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit, the wages, hours and working conditions of an employee of the school management and leadership center who is in a bargaining unit and who is reassigned to a different position that is in a different bargaining unit but that upon the completion of the merger of bargaining units will be included in the same school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit must be determined by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that applies to the position to which the employee is reassigned, except as provided in this subsection.

A. If the application of the collective bargaining agreement that applies to the position to which the employee is reassigned would cause a reduction in the employee's wage or salary rate, the employee's wage or salary rate must be maintained at the rate the employee was paid immediately prior to the reassignment until the completion of negotiations for a single school management and leadership center-wide collective bargaining agreement for the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit or the applicable collective bargaining agreement requires a higher wage or salary rate for the employee, whichever occurs sooner.

B. If the application of the existing collective bargaining agreement that applies to the position to which the employee is reassigned would cause a reduction in the amount that is paid by the school management and leadership center for premiums for health insurance for the employee and the employee's dependents, the school management and leadership center's payment must be maintained at the amount that was paid immediately prior to the reassignment until the completion of negotiations for a single school management and leadership center-wide collective bargaining agreement for the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit or the applicable collective bargaining agreement requires a higher payment, whichever occurs sooner.

C. If the application of the existing collective bargaining agreement that applies to the position to which the employee is reassigned provides for coverage under a different health insurance plan, the employee may elect to retain coverage under the health insurance plan in which the employee was enrolled immediately prior to reassignment if the eligibility provisions of the plan permit until the completion of negotiations for a single school management and leadership center-wide collective bargaining agreement for the school management and leadership center-wide bargaining unit.

Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 129th Legislature, First Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.

HP1025 LD 1412	PUBLIC Law, Chapter 460 on - Session - 129th Maine Legislature
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