ORS Chapter 663

Chapter 663 — LaborRelations Generally

 

2009 EDITION

 

 

LABORRELATIONS GENERALLY

 

LABOR,EMPLOYMENT; UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION

 

ELECTIONS

 

663.005     Definitions

 

663.010     “Collectivebargaining” defined

 

663.015     Designatedcollective bargaining representatives to be exclusive; grievances excepted

 

663.020     Determinationof appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining

 

663.025     Filingof representation petition; investigation; hearing; election

 

663.030     Conductof representation election

 

663.035     Filingof deauthorization petition; election; limitation

 

663.040     Filingcharge of illegal election practice; investigation; new election

 

663.045     Obtainingadvisory opinions on assertion of federal jurisdiction; findings of board to bepublic records

 

UNFAIRLABOR PRACTICES

 

663.100     Determinationof agent

 

663.105     Supervisorypersonnel as union members

 

663.110     Employeeorganization, bargaining rights; union security agreements; payments tocharitable institutions in lieu of union dues and other fees

 

663.115     Rightto strike

 

663.120     Employerunfair labor practices

 

663.125     Otheremployer unfair labor practices

 

663.130     Unionunfair labor practices

 

663.135     Excessivemembership fee

 

663.140     Encouragingcertain strikes; refusals to handle products

 

663.145     Refusalto enter upon premises where strike in progress; truthful strike publicity notprohibited

 

663.150     Picketingto force recognition of or bargaining with union

 

663.155     Contractwith employer to refrain from dealing in products of another employer

 

663.160     Expressionof views not containing threats or promises of benefit not unfair laborpractice

 

663.165     Procedurefor terminating or modifying existing collective bargaining contract; notice;negotiation meetings

 

663.170     Unfairlabor practice provisions not retroactive

 

REMEDIES

 

663.175     Authorityof board to prevent unfair labor practices; authority not to affect otherlawful adjustment means

 

663.180     Filingof charges of unfair practice; fees; board investigation; issuance ofcomplaints; complaints not to issue on certain practices occurring more thansix months before filing of charges

 

663.185     Amendmentof complaint; filing answer; intervenors; fees; conduct of proceedings

 

663.190     Recordof testimony at hearings

 

663.195     Ordersand findings of board

 

663.200     Employeereinstatement orders; reports showing compliance with orders

 

663.205     Modification,setting aside orders by board; contents of record in certain representationmatters

 

663.210     Enforcementof orders by Court of Appeals; injunctive relief; notice of filing enforcementpetition; authority of court in reviewing order

 

663.215     Scopeof court review of order; additional evidence; modification of findings byboard

 

663.220     Appealof board’s order to Court of Appeals; authority of court in reviewing order

 

663.225     Hearingof petitions; review proceedings not to stay board’s order

 

663.230     Courtjurisdiction in granting injunctive relief or reviewing order not limited byORS 662.010 to 662.130

 

663.235     Injunctiverelief authorized upon issuance of unfair labor practice complaint; notice todefendant; court jurisdiction

 

663.240     Priorityof hearing certain unfair labor practice cases

 

663.245     Hearingunfair labor practice cases involving jurisdictional disputes; dismissal ofcharges upon voluntary adjustment of dispute

 

663.250     Priorityof investigating certain unfair labor practice charges; injunctive reliefpending disposition of case; notice of petition; court authority

 

663.255     Injunctiverelief without notice; when board not to apply for injunctive relief

 

663.260     Serviceof process on union; making union party to suit

 

663.265     Applicationof ORS 663.270 to 663.295 to hearings and investigations

 

663.270     Accessof board to evidence relating to subject matter of investigation orproceedings; revocation of subpoenas requiring improper information;administration of oaths; taking testimony and evidence

 

663.275     Refusalto obey subpoenas punished as contempt of court

 

663.280     Immunityfrom punishment of persons testifying, producing evidence required by subpoena

 

663.285     Methodof serving process of board; fees for witnesses summoned by board

 

663.290     Placeof service of court process

 

663.295     Governmentalofficers and agencies to furnish evidence related to board proceedings

 

ELECTIONS

 

      663.005Definitions.As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

      (1)“Board” means the Employment Relations Board.

      (2)“Conciliator” means the head of the State Conciliation Service.

      (3)“Employee” includes any employee, and is not limited to the employees of aparticular employer unless this chapter explicitly states otherwise, andincludes any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or inconnection with, a current labor dispute and who has not obtained any otherregular and substantially equivalent employment, but does not include anindividual:

      (a)Employed in agricultural labor as defined in ORS 657.045;

      (b)Employed by the parent or spouse of the individual;

      (c)Employed in the domestic service of any family or person at home;

      (d)Having the status of an independent contractor;

      (e)Employed as a supervisor;

      (f)Employed by an employer subject to the Railway Labor Act, as amended (45 U.S.C.151 to 163 and 181 to 188);

      (g)Employed in the building and construction industry;

      (h)Employed by any other person who is not an employer as defined in subsection(4) of this section; or

      (i)Employed by an employer subject to the jurisdiction of the National LaborRelations Board under its existing jurisdictional standards, pursuant to the LaborManagement Relations Act of 1947, as amended (29 U.S.C. 141 to 187).

      (4)“Employer” includes any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly orindirectly, but does not include:

      (a)The United States or any wholly owned government corporation, or any FederalReserve Bank.

      (b)This state, or any county, city or political subdivision or agency thereof.

      (c)Any person subject to the Railway Labor Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. 151 to 163and 181 to 188).

      (d)Any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer), or anyoneacting in the capacity of officer or agent of a labor organization.

      (e)Any person involved in the building and construction industry.

      (f)Any person subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Boardunder its existing jurisdictional standards, pursuant to the Labor ManagementRelations Act of 1947, as amended (29 U.S.C. 141 to 187).

      (5)“Labor dispute” includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure or conditionsof employment or concerning the association or representation of persons innegotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or seeking to arrange terms orconditions of employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in theproximate relation of employer and employee.

      (6)“Labor organization” means an organization of any kind, or an agency or anemployee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate andwhich exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employersconcerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employmentor conditions of work.

      (7)“Professional employee” means:

      (a)An employee engaged in work:

      (A)Predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routinemental, manual, mechanical or physical work;

      (B)Involving the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in itsperformance;

      (C)Of such a character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannotbe standardized in relation to a given period of time;

      (D)Requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learningcustomarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectualinstruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, asdistinguished from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship orfrom training in the performance of routine mental, manual or physicalprocesses; or

      (b)An employee who:

      (A)Has completed the courses of specialized intellectual instruction and studydescribed in paragraph (a)(D) of this subsection; and

      (B)Is performing related work under the supervision of a professional person toqualify the employee to become a professional employee as defined in paragraph(a) of this subsection.

      (8)“Representative” includes an individual or labor organization.

      (9)“Supervisor” means any individual, other than a licensed professional orpractical nurse, having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire,transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward ordiscipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust theirgrievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with theforegoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clericalnature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

      (10)“Unfair labor practice” means any unfair labor practice listed in ORS 663.120to 663.165. [Formerly 662.505; 1975 c.147 §12; 1975 c.163 §2; 2003 c.14 §408]

 

      663.010“Collective bargaining” defined. For the purposes of this chapter, “collectivebargaining” is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and therepresentative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in goodfaith with respect to wages, hours and other terms and conditions ofemployment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arisingthereunder, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreementreached if requested by either party. However, this obligation does not compeleither party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession. [Formerly662.515]

 

      663.015Designated collective bargaining representatives to be exclusive; grievancesexcepted.Representatives designated or selected for the purposes of collectivebargaining, by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for suchpurposes, are the exclusive representatives of all the employees in that unitfor the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages,hours of employment or other conditions of employment. However, an individualemployee or a group of employees may at any time present grievances to theiremployer and have such grievances adjusted, without the intervention of thebargaining representative, if:

      (1)The adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of a collective-bargainingcontract or agreement then in effect; and

      (2)The bargaining representative has been given opportunity to be present at theadjustment. [Formerly 662.525]

 

      663.020Determination of appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. (1) TheEmployment Relations Board shall decide in each case whether the unitappropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining is the employer unit,craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision thereof. However, the board shall notdecide that:

      (a)A unit is appropriate for such purposes if the unit includes both professionalemployees and employees who are not professional employees, unless a majorityof the professional employees vote for inclusion in the unit;

      (b)A craft unit is inappropriate for such purposes on the ground that a differentunit has been established by a prior determination of the board unless amajority of the employees in the proposed craft unit vote against separaterepresentation; or

      (c)A unit is appropriate for such purposes if it includes, together with otheremployees, an individual employed as a guard to enforce against employees andother persons rules to protect property of the employer or to protect thesafety of persons on the employer’s premises. However, no labor organizationshall be certified as the representative of employees in a bargaining unit ofguards if such organization admits to membership, or is affiliated directly orindirectly with an organization which admits to membership, employees otherthan guards.

      (2)In determining whether a unit is appropriate for the purposes specified insubsection (1) of this section, the extent to which the employees haveorganized is not controlling. [Formerly 662.545]

 

      663.025Filing of representation petition; investigation; hearing; election. (1) A petitionmay be filed with the Employment Relations Board, in accordance withregulations prescribed by the board:

      (a)By an employee or group of employees, or any individual or labor organizationacting in their behalf, alleging that a substantial number of employees:

      (A)Wish to be represented for collective bargaining and that their employerdeclines to recognize their representative as the representative defined in ORS663.015; or

      (B)Assert that the individual or labor organization that has been certified or isbeing currently recognized by their employer as the bargaining representativeis no longer a representative as defined in ORS 663.015; or

      (b)By an employer, alleging that one or more individuals or labor organizations havepresented to the employer a claim to be recognized as the representativedefined in ORS 663.015.

      (2)The board shall investigate the petition and if, upon the basis of itsfindings, the board has reasonable cause to believe that a question ofrepresentation exists, it shall provide for an appropriate hearing before theboard itself, a member thereof or its agent appointed for that purpose. Writtennotice of the hearing shall be mailed by certified mail to the parties named inthe petition not less than seven days before the hearing. If the board findsupon the record of the hearing that a question of representation exists, itshall conduct an election by secret ballot marked at the place of election andcertify the results thereof.

      (3)In determining whether or not a question of representation exists, the sameregulations and rules of decision apply irrespective of the identity of thepersons filing the petition or the kind of relief sought.

      (4)Nothing in this chapter prohibits the waiving of hearings by stipulation forthe purpose of a consent election in conformity with regulations and rules ofdecision of the board. [Formerly 662.555; 1975 c.147 §13; 2003 c.14 §409]

 

      663.030Conduct of representation election. No election shall be directed in any bargainingunit or any subdivision within which, in the preceding 12 months, a validelection has been held. Employees engaged in an economic strike who are notentitled to reinstatement are eligible to vote, under regulations of theEmployment Relations Board consistent with the purposes and provisions of thischapter, in any election conducted within 12 months after the commencement ofthe strike. In any election where none of the choices on the ballot receives amajority, a run-off shall be conducted by the board, the ballot providing for aselection between the two choices receiving the largest and second largestnumber of valid votes cast in the election. [Formerly 662.565; 1975 c.147 §13a]

 

      663.035Filing of deauthorization petition; election; limitation. (1) Upon thefiling with the Employment Relations Board by 40 percent or more of theemployees in a bargaining unit covered by an agreement between their employerand a labor organization requiring membership as a condition of employment, ofa petition alleging that they desire that the authority of the labororganization to make such an agreement be rescinded, the board shall direct theconciliator to take a secret ballot, marked at the place of election, of theemployees in the unit and to certify the results thereof to the labororganization and to the employer.

      (2)No election shall be conducted pursuant to this section in a bargaining unit ora subdivision within which, in the preceding 12 months, a valid election hasbeen held. [Formerly 662.575]

 

      663.040Filing charge of illegal election practice; investigation; new election. Any person mayfile with the Employment Relations Board a charge that employees eligible tovote in an election under this chapter have been coerced or restrained in theexercise of this right. The board shall investigate the charge. If, upon thebasis of its findings, the board concludes that employees eligible to vote inthe election were so coerced or restrained, the board may order anotherelection. [Formerly 662.585; 1975 c.147 §14]

 

      663.045Obtaining advisory opinions on assertion of federal jurisdiction; findings of boardto be public records.(1) In carrying out this chapter, the Employment Relations Board may, pursuantto any applicable federal law, rule or regulation, petition the National LaborRelations Board for an advisory opinion as to whether that agency will assertjurisdiction over a labor dispute which is the subject of a proceeding thenpending before the board.

      (2)All findings, conclusions, and determinations of the board under this chaptershall be public records. [Formerly 662.595]<