Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

352 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations

generally have exclusive jurisdiction to hear unfair labor practice suits fi led

by an employee, the employer, or the union, which is subject to limited

judicial review.

Unfair labor practice provisions are intended to protect the rights of

employees, unions, and employers by prohibiting discrimination, interfer-

ence, and coercion by both employers and unions. For unions, unlawful

activities would constitute interference with the employer ’ s management

duties and rights. Charges of employer discrimination, interference, and

coercion often pertain to the rights of employees to engage in union activ-

ity and the rights of unions to represent their members.

The Scope of Collective Bargaining

The scope of collective bargaining constitutes which subjects are negotiable.

Specifi c topics have generally been classifi ed on a case - by - case basis into

three types: mandatory, permissive, and illegal.

Mandatory Topics Mandatory topics of bargaining are topics that the

laws (whether private, nonprofi t, federal, or state) require management

and labor to bargain over. Either side can bargain to impasse on a man-

datory topic if they can demonstrate that they made a good - faith effort

to reach agreement on it. Mandatory topics in both the nonprofi t and

for - profi t sectors typically include wages, salaries, fringe benefi ts, and work-

ing conditions. Mandatory topics for federal employers and employees are

restricted to conditions of employment that affect working conditions,

including personnel policies, practices, and other matters, whether estab-

lished by rule, regulation, or otherwise. Federal employees may not bargain

over wages or fringe benefi ts.

The statutes that permit collective bargaining by public employees vary

in what they consider to be mandatory topics of bargaining. For example,

Massachusetts has a requirement that

the employer and the exclusive representative shall meet at reasonable

times, including meetings in advance of the employer ’ s budget -

making process, and shall negotiate in good faith with respect to wages,

hours, standards or productivity and performance, and any other

terms and conditions of employment, including without limitation,

in the case of teaching personnel employed by a school committee,

class size and workload but such obligation shall not compel either party

to agree to a proposal or make a concession; provided however that