** WELCOME TO UNION STATION
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** NOVEMBER 20, 2020
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Note: In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not be publishing Union Station on Nov. 27. Our next issue will be released on Dec. 4.
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** MISSOURI SUPREME COURT WEIGHS CHALLENGE TO PUBLIC-SECTOR LABOR LAWS
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On Nov. 16, the Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a challenge to HB1413 ([link removed]) , a 2018 bill that made several changes to the state's public-sector labor laws.
** WHO ARE THE PARTIES TO THE SUIT?
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The plaintiffs are:
* Missouri Education Association
* Ferguson-Florissant Education Association
* Hazelwood Association of Support Personnel
* Service Employees International Union Local 1
* Laborers' International Union of North American Local 42
* International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 610
* International Union of Operating Engineers Local 148
The defendants include several state and municipal government entities, including the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the State Board of Mediation.
** WHAT'S AT ISSUE?
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On June 1, 2018, Gov. Eric Greitens ([link removed]) (R) signed HB1413 into law. The omnibus legislation made several changes to the state's public-sector labor laws:
* Requires annual authorization for union dues payroll deductions.
* Requires unions to file annual financial reports and make financial records available to the public.
* Requires unions to submit to certification elections before the State Board of Mediation in order to be recognized as the representative of a group of public employees. Requires unions to be recertified every three years.
* Makes all collective bargaining agreements subject to certain limitations, including:
* "Management reserving the right to hire, discipline, and discharge employees [and] reserving the right to make and amend reasonable work rules"
* "Prohibiting all strikes and picketing"
* "Extending the duty of fair representation to all employees of the bargaining unit"
* "Prohibiting labor organization employees from accepting paid time by a public body for conducting labor organization business with certain exceptions"
* "Providing for the modification of the agreement in the event of a budget shortfall"
The plaintiff unions sued in state court, alleging ([link removed]) "HB1413's draconian restrictions on public-sector collective bargaining are incompatible with Article I, Section 29 of the [Missouri] Constitution, which expressly guarantees the right of employees 'to organize and bargain collectively' and to do so 'through representatives of their own choosing.’" On Jan. 27, Judge Joseph Walsh ([link removed]) of the St. Louis County Circuit Court ruled in the unions' favor. The state appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.
** WHAT ARE THE ARGUMENTS?
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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt ([link removed]) (R), in his brief ([link removed]) on behalf of the state defendants, wrote:
[No] provision of HB 1413 violates employees’ right to 'bargain collectively' with 'representatives of their own choosing' under Article I, § 29. Contrary to the Constitution’s plain language and this Court’s cases, the trial court fundamentally misunderstood Section 29 by interpreting it to guarantee certain outcomes of bargaining, instead of the process of negotiation. The provisions of HB1413 do not affect any public employee’s ability to engage in collective bargaining, and they affirmatively protect employees’ ability to choose their own representatives through meaningful, democratically accountable procedures. [emphasis in the original]
Jason Walta, a National Education Association lawyer and lead counsel for the plaintiffs, wrote in his brief ([link removed]) :
Not only are HB 1413’s burdens severe, they are discriminatory. Unlike any other regulation of public-sector collective bargaining in existence, HB 1413 grants or withholds public employees’ bargaining and speech rights based entirely on the identity of the union those employees decide to associate with and select as their bargaining representative. If they select a union that the Legislature sought to favor, HB 1413 imposes no restrictions on their collective bargaining or speech rights. If they select a union the Legislature sought to penalize, HB1413 renders collective bargaining a farce and saddles them and their union with onerous restrictions on speech and association.
** CASE AND COURT INFORMATION
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The case name and number are Missouri National Education Association v. Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations ([link removed]) , SC98412.
The Missouri Supreme Court ([link removed]) is the state's court of last resort ([link removed]) . Democratic governors appointed four of the court's seven justices: Chief Justice George Draper ([link removed]) and Justices Mary Rhodes Russell ([link removed]) , Laura Denvir Stith ([link removed]) , and Paul C. Wilson ([link removed]) . Republican governors appointed the three remaining justices: Zel Fischer ([link removed]) , Patricia Breckenridge ([link removed]) , and Wesley Brent Powell ([link removed]) .
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** WHAT WE'RE READING
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* U.S. Chamber of Commerce, "Court Upholds Michigan’s Annual Dues Notification Requirement," Nov. 18, 2020 ([link removed])
* St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Unions to Missouri Supreme Court: GOP labor law 'rigged' against workers," Nov. 16, 2020 ([link removed])
* Wausau Pilot and Review, "Act 10 debated in court – again," Nov. 14, 2020 ([link removed])
** THE BIG PICTURE
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** NUMBER OF RELEVANT BILL BY STATE
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We are currently tracking 102 pieces of legislation dealing with public-sector employee union policy. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here ([link removed]) for a complete list of all the bills we're tracking.
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** NUMBER OF RELEVANT BILL BY CURRENT LEGISLATIVE STATUS
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** NUMBER OF RELEVANT BILL BY PARTISAN STATUS OF SPONSOR(S)
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** RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
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No legislative actions have been taken on relevant bills since our last issue.
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