Small city police would have the ability to seek interest arbitration to resolve contract negotiation disputes under companion bills scheduled for hearings this week.

HB 1045 and SB 5040 are companion bills, each with a bipartisan list of co-sponsors. Under the current law, law enforcement for cities under 2,500 population, and counties under 10,000 population are not covered by the Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA). Simply put, the bills remove the city and county population thresholds for law enforcement employees from the definition of "uniformed personnel" in the PECBA, in effect applying the Act to small jurisdictions’ law enforcement officers. In addition to law enforcement, “uniformed personnel” includes correctional employees, firefighters, EMS, and public safety telecommunicators, among others.

The PECBA governs collective bargaining and rights to organize for state and local government workers, however there are some special provisions and procedures for “uniformed personnel.” Under the PECBA, uniformed personnel cannot participate in a strike, work slowdown, or work stoppage during a labor dispute. But the Act does allow them to submit a CBA negotiation dispute to a mediator during an impasse, and if the impasse persists, pursue binding interest arbitration to settle the impasse.

Importantly, under the PECBA, in interest arbitration involving certain uniformed personnel (those also considered family childcare providers and long-term care providers) and the state, the arbitration panel must consider the state’s ability to pay as one of the factors in their decision. Similar “state’s financial ability” consideration is included in interest arbitration for other types of state public employees like ferry workers, adult family home providers, and language access providers.

Arbitration can add high costs to any CBA, let alone to small cities and towns with smaller tax bases and less ability to pay. AWC would like similar consideration given to local governments’ financial ability to pay if more city workers are going to be empowered to pursue interest arbitration.

Dates to remember

HB 1045 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on January 21 at 10:30 am.

SB 5040 is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on January 24 at 8 am.