 We're going to start with chip. Are you okay? All right Um, and I'm serious chip about after after you do this bill. I I Really want you to go to bed because because it's necessary The I have a mask on because I may have to go off screen for a minute we have we have a Contractor coming over and who might be poking his head in the back here, so I'm gonna go off screen and Sometime relatively soon, but I'll be I can still hear all right We are going to have a bill introduction on H308 So Damien and we have you for the rest of the more for the next hour Basically, but the focus my primary focus is on 308 And if we have to get back to 323 29 will reschedule So H308 is an act relating to authorizing card check elections, this is a labor bill and And it's primary sponsors representative triano So chip if you can give us a bill introduction and then we'll let Damien do a walkthrough that would be great Sure. Thank you chair Stevens and it will be a high overhead Summary of this bill because I know that Damien is Extremely capable of taking you through the specifics of the bill. So, you know Right now there has been a decline in labor union participation over the last 10 15 years But recently there has been a minor spike in participation and that I'm told is because That Union jobs are better protected in this COVID time than non-union jobs We hear from our own senator Sanders in criticism of Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon who is the wealthiest man in the country who in Alabama presently is fighting an organizing Union organization trying to get better conditions in their work here in their workplace So that's the that's the basis. That's what brings this bill about is that both public and private businesses can do quite a few things to block the organization of a bargaining union or labor union within their shop and This will make it a little bit easier for this organization to happen if a group Organizes and takes a legitimate vote It will require 50% plus one In the vote a positive vote in order to organize a bargaining unit in the shop so right now These type of organizations are subject to sometimes Mandatory meetings that would require them to listen to anti-union material And But put on by the employers So once a 50% plus one Vote is taken the labor relations of Montlaboration's board is then Obligated to certify this as a bargaining unit There is a requirement that a third-party Participate and it's not as and this is similar to Though we spoke about a while back If no third-party is available then labor relations board would look for a third-party, but ultimately The labor of Vermont labor relations board would certify this election and it would become a legitimate bargaining unit after that It would cut down on any interference that may exist on behalf of employers that might Try to scare people off and or any other tactic that may happen So that's a basic overview that and and you know minorities Tend to do better if they in their in their careers if they're members of unions And we would join nine states, California, New York, Massachusetts in Jersey, Maine, Illinois, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota or in New Mexico in If we were to pass this bill and help or keep from keep employers from I'm losing it here From preventing organizing of bargaining units. I think it's important You know, I watched my father as a school teacher in New York City Participated in the United Teachers UFT United Federation of Teachers under Albert Shanker Shanker gone strike and At that time in the Early 60s teachers were paid very very little even in New York City and I I saw that It changed the economic status of our family having him being paid better as a New York City school teacher He was able to retire and comfort for his remaining years And support his family of six In an adequate shape So I've been a pro-union for all my life as a result of that experience as a fairly young man So I would happily turn it over to Damien at this point because the fog is setting Thank you Question representative Murphy before we get to Damien. Thanks chair Stevens. This is a kind of a general question and I don't know It certainly I can be told I will find out the answer as we progress But it just always comes to mind for me and certainly from emails I've received on this bill as as Constituents are already reaching out. I'm just curious well Would this obligate me to as one of the 50% minus one Who didn't wish to be represented by this bargaining unit and and I think that's that's the piece that I'm most concerned about not Not that then Anyway, that that's the concern I have is just if I truly voted against being represented and now I am What am I obligated for I? Can speak I think we'll give you I thought that was probably kind of a labor law thing. So thank you. Yes. Yeah Yeah, just to be clear as we're starting I just I mean this is this this would allow Well, let me you go ahead. I'm sorry. I'm jumping ahead to the presentation already throughout so please go ahead Yeah, so maybe what makes the most sense is I will do a quick walkthrough of the bill And then I'll answer representative Murphy's question and then I'll take the other questions So let me it Is it better if I share my screen with this committee or if you look at it on your own device? I find I have to ask Now because each committee seems to have its own preference. I Actually prefer to look at it on my own I always do but I certainly don't stand the way of someone who wants it on this big screen Yeah, no, I think it would be correct. I please put it up on the screen. Okay, you got it I'm sorry representative plastic That's all right. I was just gonna agree. I hate screens Messed with me up big time but whatever. No we do We're all with you Representative Daniel Okay, so I'll do the walkthrough fairly quickly so that I can take it down off the screen for folks whose devices have have trouble or Where it's in micro print So what this bill does as Representative Troyano mentioned is it would provide for card check elections and and card check elections the name comes from The days and sometimes you still do this where you you basically would sign a card saying I Support unionizing in order to and then the union would collect the cards and submit them in order to have an election Held and the idea here is that if you already have a majority Once you get the card signed Then there's no reason to have an election because the outcome is already decided so That's that's what the card check election is Overall, so the first section section one applies to the state employees labor relations act and the judiciary employees with labor relations act so these are Two different branches of state employees the state employees labor relations act also applies to The Vermont State Colleges the University of Vermont and the state's attorneys offices So what it would basically provide if you look for those of you who are following on your On your own it's on the bottom of page two Starting at line 16 and then running down onto the top of page three It provides that notwithstanding any other provision of the subsection And the subsection governs Determining whether an election is appropriate if the Vermont Labor Relations Board because in the the state employees labor relations act and judiciary employees labor relations act When you're petitioning to have an election for a bargaining unit you submit that directly to the labor board So if the labor board finds That the petition bears the signatures of at least 50% plus one of the employees in the bargaining unit That the board is deemed appropriate The board shall certify the person or the labor organization as the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit and then Subdivision be here provides that certification would only be available When there's no other person or labor organization currently certified or recognized as the representative of the Bargaining unit and just to remind everyone here person is the broad legal sense of the term. So this includes It could include an individual Or more likely some other legal entity That is the organization representing the bargaining unit and So basically what what that gets out is that if you're Seeking to replace the current union Or to decertify the current union it requires it to go to a secret ballot Election but if you're seeking to Be represented by a union in the first place then this card check election process is open to you the changes in subdivision or subsection H are simply changes to To reconcile the existing language with the possibility of the certification of a bargaining representative By card check election Section 2 relates to the teachers labor relations act. So this covers school teachers and school administrators And currently There is a process here where the school board has 15 calendar days after it receives a petition To determine whether it's going to require or waive the the referendum which is basically the election and then There is a continued process there where if the school board decides that it's going to waive the referendum in other words It's going to recognize the union without requiring an election. There's a process where 10% of the teachers or administrators in the bargaining unit can submit another petition Asking for a secret ballot election and then requiring it and so that would be replaced with the requirement that within 10 business days After the petition is submitted the parties have to agree on it an impartial third party to examine the petition and Determine whether a majority of the teachers or administrators in the bargaining unit support being represented by the union If the parties fail to agree on an impartial third party within that 10 business day time period Then the Vermont Labor Relations Board would step in as a sort of de facto impartial third party And then again if they determine that a majority of the teachers or administrators in the bargaining unit Support being represented by the union then they would certify the union as the representative And Then again the remaining changes and subsections B and C are to reconcile the existing law with the potential that you could have the certification of Bargaining unit by card check election And then sections three and four relate to the state Labor Relations Act. So this is a unique Labor Relations Act in Vermont statute It represents a or it applies to a very very tiny subset of private sector employees Whose employers do not do business in interstate commerce? So that means no out-of-state tourists no products crossing state lines. No customers across state lines So you can imagine in this day and age. That's a very very small subset Anyone who's doing business in interstate commerce is covered by the National Labor Relations Act under federal law But for this very small subset of Employers could potentially or workplaces that could potentially be covered again. It's adding the same requirement that If there's a showing of 50% plus one to the Vermont Labor Relations Board on the petition The board would certify the union and again, it's only available for the initial certification of a union If there's subsequently a push to be represented by another union or to Desertify the existing union that would have to go to a more formal secret ballot election The final changes in section five are the Municipal Labor Relations Act And again, just as with state employees judiciary employees and state Labor Relations Act When the petition submitted to the Labor Relations Board They determine if a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit support being represented by the union And if they do there's no need to go to an election and then the Again the the certification by card check only applies with the initial recognition of a union Not to decertification or union substitution Issues and it would take effect on July 1 of this year So I'm gonna stop the share now and answer representative Murphy's question. So the question was if I Don't support a union or I'm an individual in a bargaining unit who doesn't support being represented by a union But a majority of the bargaining unit votes to be represented by the union. What happens? What are my obligations? So There I think first and foremost Our state law has an outdated provision in it, which is no longer applicable Because it was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court a few years back So some folks may have seen this on the state law It's called an agency fee or a collective bargaining service fee or a fair share fee depending on the statute or who's talking about it what it was during the Roughly four decades that it existed was basically So members of the union would be charged full dues Non-members of the union people who didn't support the union or didn't join for whatever reason Would be charged partial dues up to 85 percent of the amount of regular union dues and the catch with those partial dues was that they could only be used for Costs directly related to representing the bargaining unit. So Resolving grievances Addressing contract issues and it couldn't be used by the union for political speech Because that would have violated the First Amendment right to free speech The Supreme Court as I said struck that down a few years ago on Free speech grounds again saying that requiring people to even support the union was compelled speech