Monday, February 3, 2020

Public Employee Collective Bargaining Bills in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee considered two public employee collective bargaining bills this evening. 

SB1022 (Boysko) would require public employers, including school boards, to engage in collective bargaining with an employee organization that is the exclusive bargaining representative for its employees. 

SB939 (Saslaw) would repeal the prohibition on public employee collective bargaining for local government employees, including school board employees, when a local ordinance authorizing collective bargaining has been adopted. 

Neither bill was heard in subcommittee.  Rather, both bills were presented to the full committee and comprehensive substitutes for both bills were adopted. The Committee did not allow any public comment on either bill.

The Committee incorporated Senator Boysko's SB1022 into Senator Saslaw's SB939 and then reported and rereferred SB939 to the Senate Finance Committee, without ever allowing for public comment. 

SB939 will advance to the Senate Finance Committee and then likely to the floor of the Senate.  Please contact your Senator and urge him or her to vote NO on SB939.