HB-4309, As Passed Senate, November 30, 2011

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 4309

     A bill to amend 1988 PA 57, entitled

"An act to provide for the incorporation by 2 or more

municipalities of certain authorities for the purpose of providing

emergency services to municipalities; to provide for the powers and

duties of authorities and of certain state and local agencies and

officers; to guarantee certain labor contracts and employment

rights in regard to the formation and reorganization of

authorities; to provide for certain condemnation proceedings; to

provide for fees; to provide for the levy of property taxes for

certain purposes; and to prescribe penalties and provide remedies,"

by amending the title and section 10 (MCL 124.610), the title as

amended by 2006 PA 652.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

TITLE

     An act to provide for the incorporation by 2 or more

municipalities of certain authorities for the purpose of providing

emergency services to municipalities; to provide for the powers and

duties of authorities and of certain state and local agencies and

officers; to guarantee certain labor contracts and employment

rights in regard to the formation and reorganization of

authorities; to provide for certain condemnation proceedings; to

provide for fees; to provide for the levy of property taxes for

certain purposes; and to prescribe penalties and provide remedies.

     Sec. 10. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), employees

of a municipal emergency service whose duties are transferred to an

authority formed under this act shall be given comparable positions

of employment with the emergency service established by the

authority, and shall maintain their seniority status and all

benefit rights of the position held in the municipal emergency

response service before the transfer.

     (2) If sufficient positions of comparable employment are not

available for all employees at the time of transfer, a less senior

employee who is not transferred to a comparable position shall be

placed on layoff status with the authority's emergency service and

shall be recalled to any position for which he or she may qualify,

which may occur after a reasonable training period, or as soon as

vacancies occur, or both. The layoff status, or any layoff list,

shall not be mandatorily honored beyond 3 years from the date of

layoff. The authority shall determine the number of positions

necessary to perform any emergency service, and shall not be

required to create or maintain unnecessary positions.

     (1) The municipalities that are parties to an authority

entered into pursuant to this act have the responsibility,

authority, and right to manage and direct on behalf of the public

House Bill No. 4309 as amended November 2 and 30, 2011

the emergency services performed or exercised <<to the extent

provided in the articles of incorporation creating>>

the authority.

     (2) The contents or language of the articles of incorporation

under this act shall be a permissive subject of collective

bargaining between a municipality and a bargaining representative

of its employees. If a municipality and a bargaining representative

of its employees engage in collective bargaining before the

articles of incorporation are approved and that municipality and

that bargaining representative reach an agreement on issues that

would obligate an entity that will function as an employer in the

authority, the articles of incorporation shall include those

obligations.

     (3) Nothing in this act creates an employment relationship

between the existing employees of a municipality and the proposed

authority.

<<(4) (3) An authority may bargain collectively and enter into

agreements with labor organizations pursuant to Act No. 336 of the

Public Acts of 1947, being sections 423.201 to 423.216 of the

Michigan Compiled Laws. When the duties of a municipal emergency

service are transferred to an authority, the authority immediately

shall assume and be bound by any existing labor agreements

applicable to that municipal service for the remainder of the term

of the labor agreement. Subject to the provision of subsection (2),

the members and beneficiaries of any pension or retirement system

or other benefits established by a municipal emergency service

which is transferred to an authority shall have the same rights,

privileges, benefits, obligations, and status with respect to the

House Bill No. 4309 as amended November 2, 2011

comparable systems established by the authority.

A representative of the employees or any

group of employees in a municipal emergency service who represent

or are entitled to represent the employees or a group of employees

of the municipal service , pursuant to Act No. 336 of the Public

Acts of 1947, shall

continue to represent the employee or group of employees after the

employees are transferred to an authority's emergency service. This

subsection does not limit the rights of employees, pursuant to

applicable law, to assert that a bargaining representative

protected by this subsection is no longer their representative.

An authority is effective through its articles of incorporation at

least 180 days before the actual transfer of personnel and equipment. Before the authority's effective date, the incorporating

municipalities shall affirm in writing to the authority those

employees who will be transferred to the authority.

     (5) If employees who are transferred to the authority are represented by a labor organization, those employees are subject to

their previous terms and conditions of employment until those terms

and conditions of employment are modified in accordance with 1947

PA 336, MCL 423.201 to 423.217, or for 6 months after the transfer

to the authority, whichever is earlier. Negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement with an authority shall begin no later than 180

days before the date the employees transfer to the authority.

     (6) Subject to subsection (7), a representative of the employees

or group of employees in a municipal emergency service who previously represented or was entitled to represent the employees or group of employees in a municipal emergency service under 1947 PA 336,

MCL 423.201 to 423.217, shall continue to represent the employees or group of employees after those employees or group of employees are transferred to the authority's emergency service.

     (7) This section does not limit the rights of employees, under applicable law, to assert that a bargaining representative protected

by subsection (6) is no longer their representative. The employees of

the authority are eligible as of the day the authority becomes

effective through its articles of incorporation to choose their representative under 1947 PA 336, MCL 423.201 to 423.217. This

subsection does not extend the time limits as provided in subsection

(4).

     (8) If multiple labor organizations assert the right to

 represent all or part of the authority's workforce or where a substantial portion of the transferred employees were not previously represented, in the absence of a voluntary mutual agreement, at the request of any party or on the initiative of the Michigan employment relations commission, the Michigan employment relations commission

shall conduct a representation election.

     (9) In the absence of a voluntary mutual agreement, the

authority's workforce shall be merged by using a single seniority

list for each of the same or similar classifications. The single seniority list shall be

composed of all employees from each incorporating municipality

employed or having recall rights on the date of transfer and shall

be used for

purposes that include, but are not limited to, initial assignments, layoffs, recalls, and job bidding. Disputes concerning the single seniority list or use of the single seniority list shall be heard by

a single arbitrator appointed by the Michigan employment relations commission.

     (10) Nothing in this section requires a municipality or an authority to assume a collective bargaining agreement between

another municipality and its employees.

(11)>> (4) An employee who left the employ of the municipal

emergency response service to enter the military service of the

United States shall have the same employment rights as to the

emergency service as they would have had under the municipal

emergency response service pursuant to Act No. 263 of the Public

Acts of 1951, being sections 35.351 to 35.356 of the Michigan

Compiled Laws.under 1951 PA 263, MCL 35.351 to 35.356.