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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 2747 By: Ford
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to cities and towns; amending 11 O.S.
2011, Section 51-103, which relates to collecti ve
bargaining; eliminating creation of Public Employees
Relations Board; eliminating petition, hearing and
election processes; directing a municipal employer to
recognize association as the exclusive bargaining
agent for the firefighters or police officers ;
determining association by a majority vote;
establishing election procedures; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 11 O.S. 2011, Section 51 -103, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 51-103. A. Firefighters and police officers in any
municipality shall have the separate right to bargain collectively
with their municipality and to be represented by a bargaining agent
in such collective bargain ing with respect to wages, salaries,
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hours, rates of pay, grievances, working conditions and all other
terms and conditions of employment.
B. Whenever, conformable to regulations that may be prescribed
by the Public Employees Relations Board, herein creat ed, a petition
is filed by:
1. A labor organization alleging that thirty percent (30%) of
the firefighters or police officers in a municipality:
a. wish to be represented for collective bargaining by an
exclusive employee representative, or
b. assert that the designated exclusive employee
representative is no longer the representative of the
majority of employees in the unit; or
2. The employer alleging that one or more labor organizations
has presented to it a claim to be recognized as the exclusive
employee representative in an appropriate unit;
the Board shall investigate the facts alleged therein and if it has
reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation
exists, it shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
If the Board finds upon the record of such hearing that such a
question of representation exists, it shall direct an election by
secret ballot and shall certify the results thereof. The Board may
also certify a labor organization as an exclusive employee
representative if it determines that a free and untrammelled
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election cannot be conducted because of the employer's unfair labor
practices.
C. Only those labor organizations which have been designated by
more than ten percent (10%) of the employees in the unit found t o be
appropriate shall be placed on the ballot. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit the waiving of hearing by stipulation
for the purpose of a consent election, in conformity with the rules
and regulations of the Board.
D. In order to assure to firefighters and police officers of
any municipality the fullest freedom in exercising the rights
guaranteed by this article, the Board shall decide in each case
before it in which the issue is raised the unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and shall consider such factors
as community of interest, wages, hours and other working conditions
of the employees involved, the history of collective bargaining, and
the desires of the employees.
E. An election shall not be directed in any bargaining unit or
in any subdivision thereof within which, in the preceding twelve -
month period, a valid election has been held. The Board shall
determine who is eligible to vote in the election and shall
establish rules governing the election. I n any election where none
of the choices on the ballot receives a majority, but a majority of
all votes cast are for representation by some labor organization, a
run-off election shall be conducted. A labor organization which
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receives the majority of the votes cast in an election shall be
certified by the Board as the exclusive employee representative A
municipal employer shall recognize an association selected by a
majority of the firefighters of the fire department or police
officers of the police depart ment of that municipality as the
exclusive bargaining agent for the firefighters or police officers
of that municipality until a majority of the firefighters or police
officers withdraw the recognition.
1. The association representing the department as th e
exclusive bargaining agent shall be determined by a majority vote of
the police or firefighters of the department.
2. A question of whether an association is the exclusive
bargaining agent of the respective police or firefighters of a
department shall be resolved by a fair election conducted according
to procedures agreed on by the parties. The bargaining agent
seeking to represent the members of the department and the
municipality shall each be entitled to select one person to observe
the counting and tabulating of ballots cast in the election.
3. If the parties are unable to agree on election procedures
under paragraph 2 of this subsection, either party may request the
American Arbitration Association to conduct the election and certify
the results. Certification of the results of an election under this
paragraph shall resolve the question regarding representation. Any
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expenses of the election imposed by the American Arbitration
Association shall be borne in equal shares by both parties .
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2021.
58-1-7820 LRB 02/25/21