2.29 Collective Bargaining Administration

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ERB -Collective Bargaining Page 2 of 4 former Civil Service Commission and administering the collective bargaining law for the state and the units of local government that had opted to be covered by state law procedures. (From 1969 to 1973, approximately 40 local governments chose to become subject to the state law.) The 19691aw also transferred the State Conciliation Service, which mediates labor disputes, from the State Bureau of - Labor to the PERB. 1969 Or Laws ch 671. .The 1971 Legislative Assembly amended the "meet and confer" law for public school teachers to require consultation over "salaries and related economic issues and grievance procedures" and placed classified employees of school districts under a similar meet-and-confer law. 1971 Or Laws ch 582. 1 By 1971, a number of local governments were bargaining with labor organizations representing their ~ employees. Other local governments refused to bargain, creating a potential for serious problems that could have impaired the effective operation of units of government. In June 1971, Jim Redden, then chair of the PERB, informed Governor Tom McCall that public employee collective bargaining was occurring and that the state should take the initiative in developing a framework of law and regulation that would permit orderly collective bargaining. Redden suggested to the governor that a task force be appointed to develop legislation for submission to the 1973 Legislature. Governor McCall agreed and appointed Redden, University of Oregon economics professor Paul Kleinsorge, and former Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service mediator Leroy Smith to the task force. The task force held numerous meetings, conducted several public hearings, and prepared a ~ comprehensive proposed amendment to the existing state collective bargaining law. The task force formally presented its draft bill to the House Labor Committee on January 31, 1973, and asked the committee to introduce the bill. Most of the major changes to the draft bill were made in the House Labor Committee. Ted Kulongoski, who was counsel to the committee, was instrumental in drafting the changes. One provision increased the ERB from three to five part-time members. The collective bargaining bill passed the house, but a group of senators actively opposed it in the senate. The bill ultimately passed the senate by one vote. The opposing senators filed an initiative petition with the secretary of state to submit the bill to a vote of the people and started collecting signatures. Former PERB Chair Redden filed a challenge to the senators' ballot title. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the title was defective. Redden v. MyeYS, 266 Or 322, 513 P2d 767 (1973). The petitioners failed to submit enough signatures under the new title in time to include the petition on the ballot. The Public Employe Collective Bargaining Act became effective on October 5, 1973. 1973 Or Laws ch 536. Within two months, over 200 representation petitions and unfair labor practice complaints were filed. In 1975, the legislature transferred all responsibilities of the private sector Labor-Management Relations Board (which regulated collective bargaining with private employers not involved in interstate commerce) to the PERB and then renamed it the Employment Relations Board. 1975 Or Laws ch 147. In 1977, the legislature replaced the five-member, part-time, citizen board and its full-time administrator with the present structure, athree-member, full-time board on which the chair also serves as the administrator. 1977 Or Laws ch 808. In 1987, the legislature incorporated mass transit districts into the definition of "public employer." 1987 Or Laws ch 792. In 1989, the legislature eliminated the requirement that, before commencing a strike, a labor organization must exhaust the unfair labor practice complaint procedure for outstanding claims against http://www.erb.state.or.us/histrylc.htm 3/11/2004