May 18, 2010, Introduced by Senators HARDIMAN and JANSEN and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Tourism.
A bill to amend 1947 PA 336, entitled
"An act to prohibit strikes by certain public employees; to provide
review from disciplinary action with respect thereto; to provide
for the mediation of grievances and the holding of elections; to
declare and protect the rights and privileges of public employees;
and to prescribe means of enforcement and penalties for the
violation of the provisions of this act,"
by amending section 12 (MCL 423.212).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
12. When a petition is filed, in accordance with rules
promulgated
by the commission:
(a)
By a public employee or group of public employees, or an
individual
or labor organization acting in their behalf, alleging
that
30% or more of the public employees within a unit claimed to
be
appropriate for such purpose wish to be represented for
collective
bargaining and that their public employer declines to
recognize
their representative as the representative defined in
section
11, or assert that the individual or labor organization,
which
is certified or is being currently recognized by their public
employer
as the bargaining representative, is no longer a
representative
as defined in section 11; or
(b)
By a public employer or his representative alleging that 1
or
more individuals or labor organizations have presented to him a
claim
to be recognized as the representative defined in section 11;
The
commission shall investigate the petition and, if it has
reasonable
cause to believe that a question of representation
exists,
shall provide an appropriate hearing after due notice. If
the
commission finds upon the record of the hearing that such a
question
of representation exists, it shall direct an election by
secret
ballot and shall certify the results thereof. Nothing in
this
section shall be construed to prohibit the waiving of hearings
by
stipulation for the purpose of a consent election in conformity
with
the rules of the commission.
(1) To initiate a hearing on a question of representation, a
petition shall be filed under the rules of the commission as
follows:
(a) By a public employee, a group of public employees, or an
individual or labor organization acting on behalf of a public
employee or group of public employees that alleges 1 of the
following:
(i) Thirty percent or more of the public employees within an
appropriate unit wish to be represented for collective bargaining
and their public employer declines to recognize their
representative as the representative described in section 11.
(ii) The individual or labor organization that is certified or
currently recognized by the public employer as the bargaining
representative is no longer a representative as described in
section 11.
(b) By a public employer or its representative that alleges
that 1 or more individuals or labor organizations have presented a
claim to be recognized as the representative described in section
11.
(2) Upon receipt of a petition described in subsection (1),
the commission shall investigate and, if it has reasonable cause to
believe that a question of representation exists, shall provide an
appropriate hearing after due notice.
(3) If the commission finds upon the record of the hearing
that a question of representation exists, that the bargaining unit
is appropriate, and that the relationship of public employer and
public employee exists, it shall direct an election by secret
ballot and shall certify the results of the election.
(4) This section shall not prohibit the waiver of a hearing by
stipulation for the purpose of a consent election in conformity
with the rules of the commission. That waiver, however, does not
preclude a subsequent challenge to the validity of the bargaining
unit based on the lack of public employer and public employee
relationship.