SUBCHAPTER IV
MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
111.70 Municipal employment.
111.71 General provisions.
111.77 Settlement of disputes.
SUBCHAPTER V
STATE EMPLOYMENT LABOR RELATIONS
111.82 Rights of employees.
111.825 Collective bargaining units.
111.83 Representatives and elections.
111.84 Unfair labor practices.
111.845 Wage deduction prohibition.
111.85 Fair-share and maintenance of membership agreements.
111.86 Grievance arbitration.
111.89 Strike prohibited.
111.90 Management rights.
111.91 Subjects of bargaining.
111.93 Effect of labor organization; status of existing benefits and rights.
111.935 Representatives and elections for research assistants.
111.94 Rules, transcripts, training programs, fees.
EMPLOYMENT PEACE
Subch. I of ch. 111 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also
ERC, Wis. adm. code.
111.01
111.01
Declaration of policy. The public policy of the state as to employment relations and collective bargaining, in the furtherance of which this subchapter is enacted, is declared to be as follows:
111.01(1)
(1) It recognizes that there are 3 major interests involved, namely: the public, the employee and the employer. These 3 interests are to a considerable extent interrelated. It is the policy of the state to protect and promote each of these interests with due regard to the situation and to the rights of the others.
111.01(2)
(2) Industrial peace, regular and adequate income for the employee, and uninterrupted production of goods and services are promotive of all of these interests. They are largely dependent upon the maintenance of fair, friendly, and mutually satisfactory employment relations and the availability of suitable machinery for the peaceful adjustment of whatever controversies may arise. It is recognized that certain employers, including farmers, farmer cooperatives, and unincorporated farmer cooperative associations, in addition to their general employer problems, face special problems arising from perishable commodities and seasonal production which require adequate consideration. It is also recognized that whatever may be the rights of disputants with respect to each other in any controversy regarding employment relations, they should not be permitted, in the conduct of their controversy, to intrude directly into the primary rights of 3rd parties to earn a livelihood, transact business, and engage in the ordinary affairs of life by any lawful means and free from molestation, interference, restraint, or coercion.
111.01(3)
(3) Negotiations of terms and conditions of work should result from voluntary agreement between employer and employee. For the purpose of such negotiation an employee has the right, if the employee desires, to associate with others in organizing and bargaining collectively through representatives of the employee's own choosing, without intimidation or coercion from any source.
111.01(4)
(4) It is the policy of the state, in order to preserve and promote the interests of the public, the employee, and the employer alike, to establish standards of fair conduct in employment relations and to provide a convenient, expeditious and impartial tribunal by which these interests may have their respective rights and obligations adjudicated. While limiting individual and group rights of aggression and defense, the state substitutes processes of justice for the more primitive methods of trial by combat.
111.01 Annotation
A labor agreement offering special parking privileges to county employees in a county ramp did not violate this section. Dane Co. v. McManus,
55 Wis. 2d 413,
198 N.W.2d 667 (1972).
111.01 Annotation
This section does not create substantive rights for employees. Ward v. Frito-Lay, Inc.
95 Wis. 2d 372,
290 N.W.2d 536 (Ct. App. 1980).
111.01 Annotation
The application of the open meetings law to the duties of WERC is discussed. 68 Atty. Gen. 171.
111.02
111.02
Definitions. When used in this subchapter:
111.02(1)
(1) "All-union agreement" means an agreement between an employer and the representative of the employer's employees in a collective bargaining unit whereby all or any of the employees in such unit are required to be members of a single labor organization.
111.02(2)
(2) "Collective bargaining" means the negotiation by an employer and a majority of the employer's employees in a collective bargaining unit, or their representatives, concerning representation or terms and conditions of employment of such employees, in a mutually genuine effort to reach an agreement with reference to the subject under negotiation.
111.02(3)
(3) "Collective bargaining unit" means all of the employees of one employer, employed within the state, except that where a majority of the employees engaged in a single craft, division, department or plant have voted by secret ballot as provided in
s. 111.05 (2) to constitute such group a separate bargaining unit they shall be so considered, but, in appropriate cases, and to aid in the more efficient administration of
ss. 111.01 to
111.19, the commission may find, where agreeable to all parties affected in any way thereby, an industry, trade or business comprising more than one employer in an association in any geographical area to be a "collective bargaining unit". A collective bargaining unit thus established by the commission shall be subject to all rights by termination or modification given by
ss. 111.01 to
111.19 in reference to collective bargaining units otherwise established under
ss. 111.01 to
111.19. Two or more collective bargaining units may bargain collectively through the same representative where a majority of the employees in each separate unit have voted by secret ballot as provided in
s. 111.05 (2) so to do.
111.02(4)
(4) "Commission" means the employment relations commission.
111.02(5)
(5) The term "election" shall mean a proceeding in which the employees in a collective bargaining unit cast a secret ballot for collective bargaining representatives or for any other purpose specified in this subchapter and shall include elections conducted by the commission, or, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, by any tribunal having competent jurisdiction or whose jurisdiction was accepted by the parties.
111.02(6)(a)(a) "Employee" shall include any person, other than an independent contractor, working for another for hire in the state of Wisconsin in a nonconfidential, nonmanagerial, nonexecutive and nonsupervisory capacity, and shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
111.02(6)(b)
(b) "Employee" shall include any individual whose work has ceased solely as a consequence of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice on the part of an employer and who has not:
111.02(6)(b)1.
1. Refused or failed to return to work upon the final disposition of a labor dispute or a charge of an unfair labor practice by a tribunal having competent jurisdiction of the same or whose jurisdiction was accepted by the employee or the employee's representative;
111.02(6)(b)2.
2. Been found to have committed or to have been a party to any unfair labor practice hereunder;
111.02(6)(b)3.
3. Obtained regular and substantially equivalent employment elsewhere; or
111.02(6)(b)4.
4. Been absent from his or her employment for a substantial period of time during which reasonable expectancy of settlement has ceased (except by an employer's unlawful refusal to bargain) and whose place has been filled by another engaged in the regular manner for an indefinite or protracted period and not merely for the duration of a strike or lockout.
111.02(6)(c)
(c) "Employee" shall not include any individual employed in the domestic service of a family or person at the person's home or any individual employed by his or her parent or spouse or any employee who is subject to the federal railway labor act.
111.02(7)(a)(a) "Employer" means a person who engages the services of an employee, and includes a person acting on behalf of an employer within the scope of his or her authority, express or implied.
111.02(7)(b)
(b) "Employer" does not include any of the following:
111.02(7)(b)2.
2. Any labor organization or anyone acting in behalf of such organization other than when it is acting as an employer in fact.
111.02(8)
(8) The term "jurisdictional strike" shall mean a strike growing out of a dispute between 2 or more employees or representatives of employees as to the appropriate unit for collective bargaining, or as to which representative is entitled to act as collective bargaining representative, or as to whether employees represented by one or the other representative are entitled to perform particular work.
111.02(9)
(9) The term "labor dispute" means any controversy between an employer and the majority of the employer's employees in a collective bargaining unit concerning the right or process or details of collective bargaining or the designation of representatives. Any organization with which either the employer or such majority is affiliated may be considered a party to the labor dispute.
111.02(10)
(10) The term "person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, limited liability companies, legal representatives, trustees or receivers.
111.02(11)
(11) The term "representative" includes any person chosen by an employee to represent the employee.
111.02(12)
(12) The term "secondary boycott" shall include combining or conspiring to cause or threaten to cause injury to a person with whom no labor dispute exists in order to bring that person, against that person's will, into a concerted plan to coerce or inflict damage upon another, whether by:
111.02(12)(a)
(a) Withholding patronage, labor or other beneficial business intercourse;
111.02(12)(c)
(c) Refusing to handle, install, use or work on particular materials, equipment or supplies; or
111.02(13)
(13) The term "unfair labor practice" means any unfair labor practice as defined in
s. 111.06.
111.04
111.04
Rights of employees. Employees shall have the right of self-organization and the right to form, join or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in lawful, concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; and such employees shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities.
111.05
111.05
Representatives and elections. 111.05(1)
(1) Representatives chosen for the purposes of collective bargaining by a majority of the employees voting in a collective bargaining unit shall be the exclusive representatives of all of the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, provided that any individual employee or any minority group of employees in any collective bargaining unit shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer in person or through representatives of their own choosing, and the employer shall confer with them in relation thereto.
111.05(2)
(2) Whenever a question arises concerning the determination of a collective bargaining unit, it shall be determined by secret ballot, and the commission, upon request, shall cause the ballot to be taken in such manner as to show separately the wishes of the employees in any craft, division, department or plant as to the determination of the collective bargaining unit.
111.05(3)
(3) Whenever a question arises concerning the representation of employees in a collective bargaining unit the commission shall determine the representatives thereof by taking a secret ballot of employees and certifying in writing the results thereof to the interested parties and to their employer or employers. There shall be included on any ballot for the election of representatives the names of all persons submitted by an employee or group of employees participating in the election, except that the commission may, in its discretion, exclude from the ballot a person who, at the time of the election, stands deprived of the person's rights under this subchapter by reason of a prior adjudication of the person's having engaged in an unfair labor practice. The ballot shall be so prepared as to permit of a vote against representation by anyone named on the ballot. The commission's certification of the results of any election shall be conclusive as to the findings included therein unless reviewed in the same manner as provided by
s. 111.07 (8) for review of orders of the commission.
111.05(3m)
(3m) Whenever an election has been conducted pursuant to
sub. (3) in which the name of more than one proposed representative appears on the ballot and results in no conclusion, the commission may, in its discretion, if requested by any party to the proceeding within 30 days from the date of the certification of the results of such election, conduct a runoff election. In such runoff election, the commission may drop from the ballot the name of the representative that received the least number of votes at the original election, or the privilege of voting against any representative when the least number of votes cast at the first election was against representation by any named representative.
111.05(4)
(4) Questions concerning the determination of collective bargaining units or representation of employees may be raised by petition of any employee or the employee's employer, or the representative of either of them. Where it appears by the petition that any emergency exists requiring prompt action, the commission shall act on the petition immediately and hold the election requested within such time as will meet the requirements of the emergency presented. The fact that one election has been held does not prevent the holding of another election among the same group of employees, provided that it appears to the commission that sufficient reason for another election exists.
111.05 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also chs.
ERC 3,
7, and
17, Wis. adm. code.
111.06
111.06
What are unfair labor practices. 111.06(1)
(1) It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer individually or in concert with others:
111.06(1)(a)
(a) To interfere with, restrain or coerce the employer's employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in
s. 111.04.
111.06(1)(b)
(b) To initiate, create, dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial support to it, provided that an employer shall not be prohibited from reimbursing employees at their prevailing wage rate for the time spent conferring with the employer, nor from cooperating with representatives of at least a majority of the employer's employees in a collective bargaining unit, at their request, by permitting employee organizational activities on company premises or the use of company property facilities where such activities or use create no additional expense to the company, provided, however, that it shall not be an unfair labor practice for an employer to become a member of the same labor organization of which the employer's employees are members, when the employer and the employer's employees work at the same trade.
111.06(1)(c)1.1. To encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization, employee agency, committee, association or representation plan by discrimination in regard to hiring, tenure or other terms or conditions of employment except in a collective bargaining unit where an all-union agreement is in effect. Any all-union agreement in effect on October 4, 1975, made in accordance with the law in effect at the time it is made is valid.
111.06(1)(c)2.
2. It is not a violation of this subchapter for an employer engaged primarily in the building and construction industry where the employees of such employer in a collective bargaining unit usually perform their duties on building and construction sites, to negotiate, execute and enforce an all-union agreement with a labor organization which has not been subjected to a referendum vote as provided in this subchapter.
111.06(1)(c)3.
3. It is not a violation of this subchapter for an employer engaged in the truck transportation of freight in the motor freight industry as a common or contract carrier of property as defined in
s. 194.01 (1) and
(2) to negotiate, execute and enforce an all-union agreement with a labor organization representing employees in a multi-state bargaining unit which has not been subjected to a referendum vote as provided in this subchapter; except that an election shall be held if a petition requesting such election is signed by 30% of the employees affected.
111.06(1)(c)4.
4. It is not a violation of this subchapter for an orchestra or band leader engaged to provide live musical entertainment to enter into or comply with a policy, practice or contract in which all of the musicians must be members of a labor organization as a condition of hire or employment without such policy, practice or contract being subject to a referendum vote as provided in this subchapter.
