A2791

An Act concerning public school employee collective bargaining and supplementing P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Public School Employee Collective Bargaining Reform Act."

2. For the purposes of this act:

"Consumer price index" means the average annual increase, expressed as a decimal, in the consumer price index for the New York City and Philadelphia areas during the fiscal year preceding the prebudget year as reported by the United States Department of Labor.

"District factor group" or "DFG" means any of the following district factor groups used by the Department of Education to classify school districts: A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

"Regional DFG labor negotiating group" means a group of representatives of employees comprised in the manner indicated in section 3 of this act to negotiate on behalf of all employees in all of the school districts which are of one district factor group and located in one Educational Employee Bargaining Region.

"Educational Employee Bargaining Region" means one of the three following regions: Region One, comprised of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterton, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties; Region Two, comprised of Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties; and Region Three, comprised of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

"Employee" means any employee of an employer as defined by this act whose rate of wages or salary and benefits are determined on the basis of collective bargaining.

"Employer" means any local or regional school district which is assigned to a district factor group by the Department of Education, including any State-operated school district.

"Majority representative" means the majority representative of the employees in a collective bargaining unit which is recognized or certified as the majority representative as the result of recognition or certification procedures under the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.), or is voluntarily recognized by the employer.

3. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, including the provisions of P.L.2003, c.126 (C.34:13A-31 et seq.), commencing with the 2007-2008 school year, all rates and schedules of wages, salaries, and benefits, for employees which are subject to collective bargaining shall be determined solely in collective bargaining conducted pursuant to this act. No collective bargaining agreement concerning the rates and schedules of wages, salaries or benefits for employees which applies to any period after the end of the 2006-2007 school year shall be entered into after the effective date of this act, other than a collective bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of this act.

b. With respect to any collective bargaining regarding rates and schedules of wages, salaries and benefits for employees of any employer subject to collective bargaining for the 2007-2008 school year and any subsequent school year:

(1) The Commissioner of Education shall function as a public employer under the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.) and conduct labor negotiations, and, with the participation of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, act as the chief spokesperson with respect to any collective bargaining regarding rates and schedules of wages, salaries and benefits; and

(2) The collective bargaining shall be conducted between the Commissioner of Education, who shall, with the participation of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, represent the employers, and the applicable regional DFG labor negotiating group, which shall represent the employees.

c. A regional DFG labor negotiating group shall be comprised of members who are authorized individual representatives of the majority representatives of all of the school districts in the Educational Employee Bargaining Region which have the same district factor group. The elected leaders of each majority representative shall, in the manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Education, authorize one individual representative to participate as a member of the regional DFG labor negotiating group.

d. In the event of any disagreement within a regional DFG labor negotiating group at any time during the collective bargaining process, votes may be taken among the members of the regional DFG labor negotiating group and decisions made by a majority, except that, prior to the commencing of collective bargaining, the votes of authorized individual representatives shall be weighted by the Commissioner of Education according to the share that the number of employees in each bargaining unit represents as a percentage of all employees in all of the school districts which are located in the Educational Employee Bargaining Region and part of the district factor group.

4. Commencing in the 2007-2008 school year, the rates and schedules agreed to in collective bargaining for wages, salaries and benefits shall be uniform for all of the school districts in an Educational Employee Bargaining Region which are part of any one district factor group, except that in no case shall the wages, salary or benefits of an employee be reduced, even if the employee's existing rates of pay or benefits is higher than the uniform rates and schedules agreed to in collective bargaining. If, as the result of the collective bargaining conducted pursuant to this act, the average rate of wages, salaries and benefits in any school district increases more in any one year than the average increase in the consumer price index during the preceding five years, the Department of Education shall be required to pay, from the General Fund, all wage, salary and benefit cost increases which represent the amount by which the growth of the rate of wages, salaries and benefits exceeds the increase in the consumer price index.

5. None of the costs of negotiations conducted pursuant to this act shall be paid by any employer or majority representative of the employees. All of those costs shall be assumed solely by the Department of Education.

6. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.

7. Six years after the effective date of this act, the Commissioner of Education shall submit a report to the Governor and to the Legislature on the effects of the provisions of this act on the negotiations and settlements between school employees and their employers, together with any recommendations he may deem appropriate for any changes in the provisions of this act.

8. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides that commencing with the 2007-2008 school year, all rates and schedules of wages, salaries and benefits for public school employees which are subject to collective bargaining shall be determined solely in collective bargaining conducted pursuant to the provisions of the bill. The bill prohibits any collective bargaining agreement regarding the rates and schedules of wages, salaries and benefits for employees which applies to any period after the end of the 2006-2007 school year from being entered into after the effective date of the bill other than an agreement entered into under the provisions of the bill.

With respect to any collective bargaining regarding rates and schedules of wages, salaries and benefits for employees of any employer subject to collective bargaining for the 2007-2008 school year and any subsequent school year, what the bill specifically requires is:

1. That the Commissioner of Education function as a public employer under the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.) and conduct labor negotiations, and, with the participation of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, act as the chief spokesperson with respect to any collective bargaining regarding rates and schedules of wages, salaries and benefits; and

2. That the collective bargaining be conducted between the Commissioner of Education, who, with the participation of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, will represent the employers, and the applicable regional district factor group (DFG) labor negotiating group, which will represent the employees.

A regional DFG labor negotiating group is to be comprised of authorized individual representatives of the majority representatives of all of the school districts in the Educational Employee Bargaining Region which have the same district factor group. The bill establishes three Educational Employee Bargaining Regions for this purpose:

1. Region One, comprised of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterton, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties;

2. Region Two, comprised of Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties; and

3. Region Three, comprised of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

The elected leaders of each majority representative are required by the bill, in the manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Education, to authorize one individual representative to participate in the regional DFG labor negotiating group.

In the event of any disagreement within a regional DFG labor negotiating group at any time during the collective bargaining, votes may be taken and decisions made by a majority, except that, prior to the commencing of collective bargaining, the votes of authorized individual representatives are to be weighted by the Commissioner of Education according to the share that the number of employees in each bargaining unit represents as a percentage of all employees in all of the school districts located in the Educational Employee Bargaining Region and part of the district factor group.

Commencing in the 2007-2008 school year, the bill requires that the rates and schedules agreed to in collective bargaining for wages, salaries and benefits shall be uniform for every school district in an Educational Employee Bargaining Region which is part of a single district factor group, except that wages, salaries or benefits of no school district employee shall be reduced, even if the employee's existing rate of pay is higher the uniform rates and schedules agreed to in collective bargaining.

The bill requires that, if, as the result of the collective bargaining conducted pursuant to the bill, the average rate of wages, salaries and benefits for all of the school districts in an Educational Employee Bargaining Region which are part of any one district factor group increases more in any one year than the average increase in the consumer price index during the preceding five years, the Department of Education is required to pay, from the General Fund, all wage, salary and benefit cost increases which represent the amount by which the growth of the rate of wages, salaries and benefits exceeds the increase in the consumer price index.

The bill further provides that the Department of Education, rather than any employer or majority representative of the employees, is solely responsible for any cost of negotiations conducted pursuant to the bill.