Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process

Term/Duration of Agreement

 This provision defines the duration of the MOU, and may provide a time frame for initiating the meet and confer process for a successor MOU.  An employer should avoid deadlines which, if they are not met, require automatic extension of the contract.

Management Rights

 A management rights clause will not set aside an agency’s bargaining obligation during the term of the MOU unless the language sets forth a clear and unmistakable waiver of the union’s bargaining rights. 246 For example, an employer’s argument that it was entitled to unilaterally impose furloughs because it reserved the right to “relieve employees from duty because of lack of funds” and to “take all necessary actions… to carry out its mission in emergencies” failed because the employer did not establish an express exemption from its general obligation to arbitrate contractual interpretation disputes. Binding arbitration did not constitute an unlawful delegation of discretionary authority and the employer was contractually obligated to arbitrate employee grievances. 247  A management rights clause may include the following reserved rights: determinations about the nature of service(s) to be rendered by the agency; what the work is and how it is to be performed; location or organization structure; type of equipment and machinery used; size of work force; selection of work force; right to discipline employees; overall financial decisions; determination of work rules; employee performance evaluation; promotion and/or demotion of personnel; hiring; and assignment of duties.  A management rights clause should assert that failure of the employer to insist upon strict compliance of contract language is not deemed a waiver of the right to later enforce the language. 248  Eliminating bargaining unit positions and reassigning that work to non-unit employees is a mandatory subject of bargaining—even if the eliminated positions are vacant. 249  Reassigning overtime work performed by unit employees out of the unit is a required subject of bargaining. 250  Contracting out work provided by unit positions is a required subject of bargaining if the decision hinges on labor costs and other matters suitable for resolution through collective bargaining. 251 Eliminating Unit Work

Employee Representatives/Release Time

 Agencies are required by statute to allow a reasonable number of public agency employee representatives meeting on behalf of the exclusive representative to have reasonable paid release time for the purpose of formally meeting and conferring. 252 This includes time spent at the negotiating table, and time in caucus with one’s own bargaining team. Reasonable release time also includes time in mediation and fact-finding sessions, and time

Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 44