This section adds a new section to an existing chapter 41.58. Here is the modified chapter for context.
For the purposes of this section, the definitions in this subsection have the meanings given them.
"Employer" means a political subdivision or law enforcement agency employing law enforcement personnel.
[Empty]
(A) Any individual employed, hired, or otherwise commissioned to enforce criminal laws by any municipal, county, or state agency or department, or combination thereof, that has, as its primary function, the enforcement of criminal laws in general, rather than the implementation or enforcement of laws related to specialized subject matter areas. For the purposes of this subsection (1)(b), officers employed, hired, or otherwise commissioned by the department of fish and wildlife are considered law enforcement personnel.
(B) Corrections officers and community corrections officers employed by the department of corrections.
ii. "Law enforcement personnel" does not include any individual hired as an attorney to prosecute or litigate state or local criminal laws or ordinances, nor any civilian individuals hired to do administrative work.
iii. For the purposes of this subsection (1)(b), "primary function" means that function to which the greater allocation of resources is made.
c. "Disciplinary grievance" means a dispute or disagreement regarding any disciplinary action, discharge, or termination decision arising under a collective bargaining agreement covering law enforcement personnel.
d. "Grievance arbitration" means binding arbitration of a disciplinary grievance under the grievance procedures established in a collective bargaining agreement covering law enforcement personnel.
[Empty]
The arbitrator selection procedure established under this section applies to all grievance arbitrations for disciplinary actions, discharges, or terminations of law enforcement personnel which are heard on or after January 1, 2022.
[Empty]
The grievance procedures for all collective bargaining agreements covering law enforcement personnel negotiated or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, must include the arbitrator selection procedure established in this section if the collective bargaining agreement provides for arbitration as a means of resolving grievances for disciplinary actions, discharges, or terminations.
The provisions of grievance procedures governing the appeal of disciplinary grievances in collective bargaining agreements covering law enforcement personnel negotiated or renewed prior to January 1, 2022, that provide for arbitration but do not contain the arbitrator selection procedures established in this section expire upon the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement and may not be extended or rolled over beyond the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement.
This section does not require any party to a collective bargaining agreement in existence on the effective date of this section to reopen negotiations of the agreement or to apply any of the rights and responsibilities under this act unless and until the existing agreement is reopened or renegotiated by the parties or expires.
All fees charged by arbitrators under this section must be in accordance with a schedule of fees established by the commission on an annual basis. The parties are responsible for paying the arbitrator's fees as set forth in the parties' negotiated fee-sharing provisions of their collective bargaining agreement or, in the absence of contractual fee-sharing provisions, shall be borne equally by the parties.
The commission must appoint a roster of a minimum of nine persons and a maximum of 18 persons suited and qualified by training and experience to act as arbitrators for law enforcement personnel grievance arbitrations under this section.
The commission may only consider appointing persons who possess:
A minimum of six years' experience as a full-time labor relations advocate and who has been the principal representative of either labor or management in at least 10 arbitration proceedings;
A minimum of six years' experience as a full-time labor mediator with substantial mediation experience;
A minimum of six years' experience as an arbitrator and who has decided at least 10 cases involving collective bargaining disputes; or
A minimum of six years' experience as a practitioner or full-time instructor of labor law or industrial relations, including substantial content in the area of collective bargaining, labor agreements, and contract administration.
In making these appointments, and as applicable, the commission must consider these factors:
A candidate's familiarity, experience, and technical and theoretical understanding of and experience with labor law, the grievance process, and the field of labor arbitration;
A candidate's ability and willingness to travel through the state, conduct hearings in a fair and impartial manner, analyze and evaluate testimony and exhibits, write clear and concise awards in a timely manner, and be available for hearings within a reasonable time after the request of the parties;
A candidate's experience and training in cultural competency, racism, implicit bias, and recognizing and valuing community diversity and cultural differences; and
A candidate's familiarity and experience with the law enforcement profession, including ride-alongs with on-duty officers, participation in a citizen's academy conducted by a law enforcement agency, or other activities that provide exposure to the environments, choices, and judgments required by officers in the field.
The appointments are effective immediately upon selection by the commission. Except for appointments subject to subsection (6) of this section, appointments are for three years to expire on the first Monday in January.
The commission must make at least three of the initial appointments to the roster of arbitrators for terms to expire on the first Monday in January 2024, at least three of the appointments for terms to expire on the first Monday in January 2025, and at least three of the appointments for terms to expire on the first Monday in January 2026. The initial terms of arbitrators appointed under this subsection may be for longer than three years.
Subsequent appointments to the roster of arbitrators must be for three-year terms to expire on the first Monday in January, with the terms of no more than three arbitrators to expire in the same year.
Nothing in this section prevents roster arbitrators from issuing decisions, or retaining jurisdiction to address issues relating to remedy, after the expiration of their term, if the arbitration hearing occurred during the term of their appointment.
An arbitrator may be reappointed to the roster upon expiration of the arbitrator's term. If the arbitrator is not reappointed, the arbitrator may continue to serve until a successor is appointed, but in no case later than July 1st of the year in which the arbitrator's term expires.
The commission may remove an arbitrator from the roster through a majority vote. A vacancy on the roster caused by a removal, a resignation, or another reason must be filled by the commission as necessary to fill the remainder of the arbitrator's term. A vacancy on the roster occurring with less than six months remaining in the arbitrator's term must be filled for the existing term and the following three-year term.
A person appointed to the arbitrator roster under this section must complete training as developed, implemented, and required by the executive director. The commission may adopt rules establishing training requirements consistent with this section. The commission may also establish fees in order to cover the costs of developing and providing the training. At a minimum, an initial training must include:
At least six hours on the topics of cultural competency, racism, implicit bias, and recognizing and valuing community diversity and cultural differences; and
At least six hours on topics related to the daily experience of law enforcement personnel, which may include ride-alongs with on-duty officers, participation in a citizen's academy conducted by a law enforcement agency, shoot/don't shoot training provided by a law enforcement agency, or other activities that provide exposure to the environments, choices, and judgments required of officers in the field. For the purposes of this subsection (11)(b), "shoot/don't shoot training" means an interactive firearms training that simulates real-world scenarios to train law enforcement personnel on the use of force.
An arbitrator appointed to the roster of arbitrators must complete the required initial training within six months of the arbitrator's appointment.
[Empty]
The executive director must assign an arbitrator or panel of arbitrators from the roster to each law enforcement personnel grievance arbitration under this section on rotation through the roster alphabetically ordered by last name.
If the arbitrator is unable to hear the case within three months from the request for an arbitrator, the executive director must appoint the next arbitrator from the roster alphabetically.
If an arbitrator has a conflict of interest that may reasonably be expected to materially impact the arbitrator's impartiality, the arbitrator must disclose such conflict to the executive director. The executive director may determine whether the conflict merits assigning the next arbitrator on the roster. Either party may petition the executive director to have an assigned arbitrator removed due to a conflict of interest that may reasonably be expected to materially impact the arbitrator's impartiality. If their petition is granted by the executive director, the executive director must assign the next arbitrator or panel of arbitrators on the roster.
The arbitrator or panel of arbitrators shall decide the disciplinary grievance, and the decision is binding subject to the provisions of chapter 7.04A RCW.
The parties may not participate in, negotiate for, or agree to the selection of an arbitrator or arbitration panel under this section. Employers and law enforcement personnel, through their certified exclusive bargaining representatives, do not have the right to negotiate for or agree to a collective bargaining agreement or a grievance arbitration selection procedure that is inconsistent with this section, if the collective bargaining agreement provides for arbitration as a means of resolving grievances for disciplinary actions, discharges, or terminations.
The commission must post law enforcement grievance arbitration decisions made under this section on its website within 30 days of the date the grievance arbitration decision is made, with names of grievants and witnesses redacted.
The arbitrator selection procedure for law enforcement grievance arbitrations established under this section supersedes any inconsistent provisions in any other chapter governing employee relations and collective bargaining for law enforcement personnel.
This section modifies existing section 41.56.122. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Subject to section 1 of this act, a collective bargaining agreement may provide for binding arbitration of a labor dispute arising from the application or the interpretation of the matters contained in a collective bargaining agreement.
This section modifies existing section 41.56.125. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Except for law enforcement personnel grievance arbitrations subject to section 1 of this act, in addition to any other method for selecting arbitrators, the parties may request the public employment relations commission to, and the commission shall, appoint a qualified person who may be an employee of the commission to act as an arbitrator to assist in the resolution of a labor dispute between such public employer and such bargaining representative arising from the application of the matters contained in a collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator shall conduct such arbitration of such dispute in a manner as provided for in the collective bargaining agreement: PROVIDED, That the commission shall not collect any fees or charges from such public employer or such bargaining representative for services performed by the commission under the provisions of this chapter: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the provisions of chapter 49.08 RCW shall have no application to this chapter.
This section modifies existing section 41.56.905. Here is the modified chapter for context.
The provisions of this chapter are intended to be additional to other remedies and shall be liberally construed to accomplish their purpose. Except as provided in RCW 53.18.015 and section 1 of this act, if any provision of this chapter conflicts with any other statute, ordinance, rule or regulation of any public employer, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
This section modifies existing section 36.65.050. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Subject to the requirements of RCW 41.56.100 and section 1 of this act, if the city-county government includes a fire protection or law enforcement unit that was, prior to the formation of the city-county, governed by a state statute providing for binding arbitration in collective bargaining, then the entire fire protection or law enforcement unit of the city-county shall be governed by that statute.
This section modifies existing section 41.80.020. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the matters subject to bargaining include wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, and the negotiation of any question arising under a collective bargaining agreement.
The employer is not required to bargain over matters pertaining to:
Health care benefits or other employee insurance benefits, except as required in subsection (3) of this section;
Any retirement system or retirement benefit; or
Rules of the director of financial management, the director of enterprise services, or the Washington personnel resources board adopted under RCW 41.06.157.
Matters subject to bargaining include the number of names to be certified for vacancies, promotional preferences, and the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits. However, except as provided otherwise in this subsection for institutions of higher education, negotiations regarding the number of names to be certified for vacancies, promotional preferences, and the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits shall be conducted between the employer and one coalition of all the exclusive bargaining representatives subject to this chapter. The exclusive bargaining representatives for employees that are subject to chapter 47.64 RCW shall bargain the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits with the employer as part of the coalition under this subsection. Any such provision agreed to by the employer and the coalition shall be included in all master collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the parties. For institutions of higher education, promotional preferences and the number of names to be certified for vacancies shall be bargained under the provisions of RCW 41.80.010(4). For agreements covering the 2013‑2015 fiscal biennium, any agreement between the employer and the coalition regarding the dollar amount expended on behalf of each employee for health care benefits is a separate agreement and shall not be included in the master collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the parties.
The employer and the exclusive bargaining representative shall not agree to any proposal that would prevent the implementation of approved affirmative action plans or that would be inconsistent with the comparable worth agreement that provided the basis for the salary changes implemented beginning with the 1983-1985 biennium to achieve comparable worth.
The employer and the exclusive bargaining representative shall not bargain over matters pertaining to management rights established in RCW 41.80.040.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, if a conflict exists between an executive order, administrative rule, or agency policy relating to wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment and a collective bargaining agreement negotiated under this chapter, the collective bargaining agreement shall prevail. A provision of a collective bargaining agreement that conflicts with the terms of a statute is invalid and unenforceable.
This section does not prohibit bargaining that affects contracts authorized by RCW 41.06.142.
Section 1 of this act applies to uniformed personnel.
This section modifies existing section 41.80.030. Here is the modified chapter for context.
The parties to a collective bargaining agreement shall reduce the agreement to writing and both shall execute it.
Except as provided in section 1 of this act and RCW 41.80.020, a collective bargaining agreement shall contain provisions that:
Provide for a grievance procedure that culminates with final and binding arbitration of all disputes arising over the interpretation or application of the collective bargaining agreement and that is valid and enforceable under its terms when entered into in accordance with this chapter; and
Require processing of disciplinary actions or terminations of employment of employees covered by the collective bargaining agreement entirely under the procedures of the collective bargaining agreement. Any employee, when fully reinstated, shall be guaranteed all employee rights and benefits, including back pay, sick leave, vacation accrual, and retirement and federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance act credits, but without back pay for any period of suspension.
[Empty]
If a collective bargaining agreement between an employer and an exclusive bargaining representative is concluded after the termination date of the previous collective bargaining agreement between the employer and an employee organization representing the same bargaining units, the effective date of the collective bargaining agreement may be the day after the termination of the previous collective bargaining agreement, and all benefits included in the new collective bargaining agreement, including wage or salary increases, may accrue beginning with that effective date.
If a collective bargaining agreement between an employer and an exclusive bargaining representative is concluded after the termination date of the previous collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative representing different bargaining units, the effective date of the collective bargaining agreement may be the day after the termination date of whichever previous collective bargaining agreement covering one or more of the units terminated first, and all benefits included in the new collective bargaining agreement, including wage or salary increases, may accrue beginning with that effective date.