(a) Collective bargaining must begin no later than November 1 before the beginning of a fiscal year for which there is no agreement between the employer and the certified representative, and must be finished on or before February 1.
(b) Any provision for automatic renewal or extension of a collective bargaining agreement is void. An agreement is not valid if it extends for less than one (1) year or for more than three (3) years. All agreements take effect July 1 and end June 30.
(c) A collective bargaining agreement takes effect only after ratification by the employer and the certified representative. The certified representative may adopt its own ratification procedures.
(d) Before September 10 of any year in which the employer and the certified representative bargain collectively, the Labor Relations Administrator must appoint a mediator/arbitrator, who may be a person recommended by both parties. The mediator/arbitrator must be available from January 2 to June 30. Fees and expenses of the mediator/arbitrator must be shared equally by the employer and the certified representative.
(e) (1) During the course of collective bargaining, either party may declare an impasse and request the services of the mediator/arbitrator, or the parties may jointly request those services before an impasse is declared. If the parties do not reach an agreement by February 1, an impasse exists. Any issue regarding the negotiability of any bargaining proposal must be referred to the Labor Relations Administrator for an expedited determination.
(2) Any dispute, except a dispute involving the negotiability of a bargaining proposal, must be submitted to the mediator/arbitrator whenever an impasse has been reached, or as provided in subsection (e)(1). The mediator/arbitrator must engage in mediation by bringing the parties together voluntarily under such favorable circumstances as will encourage settlement of the dispute.
(3) If the mediator/arbitrator finds, in the mediator/arbitrator's sole discretion, that the parties are at a bona fide impasse, or as of February 1 when an impasse is automatically reached, whichever occurs earlier, the dispute must be submitted to binding arbitration.
(f) (1) If binding arbitration is invoked, the mediator/arbitrator must require each party to submit a final offer, which must consist either of a complete draft of a proposed collective bargaining agreement or a complete package proposal, as the mediator/arbitrator directs. If only complete package proposals are required, the mediator/arbitrator must require the parties to submit jointly a memorandum of all items previously agreed on.
(2) The mediator/arbitrator may require the parties to submit oral or written evidence and arguments in support of their proposals. The mediator/arbitrator may hold a hearing for this purpose at a time, date, and place selected by the mediator/arbitrator. This hearing must not be open to the public.
(3) On or before February 15, the mediator/arbitrator must select, as a whole, the more reasonable of the final offers submitted by the parties. The mediator/arbitrator must not compromise or alter a final offer. The mediator/arbitrator must not consider or receive any argument or evidence related to the history of collective bargaining in the immediate dispute, including any previous settlement offer not contained in the final offers. However, the mediator/arbitrator must consider all previously agreed-on items, integrated with the disputed items, to decide which offer is the most reasonable.
(4) In making a determination under this subsection, the mediator/arbitrator must first evaluate and give the highest priority to the ability of the County to pay for additional short-term and long-term expenditures by considering:
(A) the limits on the County’s ability to raise taxes under State law and the County Charter;
(B) the added burden on County taxpayers, if any, resulting from increases in revenues needed to fund a final offer; and
(C) the County’s ability to continue to provide the current standard of all public services.
(5) After evaluating the ability of the County to pay under paragraph (4), the mediator/arbitrator may only consider:
(A) the interest and welfare of County taxpayers and service recipients;
(B) past collective bargaining agreements between the parties, including the past bargaining history that led to each agreement;
(C) a comparison of wages, hours, benefits, and conditions of employment of similar employees of other public employers in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Maryland;
(D) a comparison of wages, hours, benefits, and conditions of employment of other Montgomery County employees; and.
(E) wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions of similar employees of private employers in Montgomery County.
(6) The offer selected by the mediator/arbitrator, integrated with all previously agreed on items, is the final agreement between the employer and the certified representative, need not be ratified by any party, and has the effect of a contract ratified by the parties under subsection (c). The parties must execute the agreement, and any provision which requires action in the County budget must be included in the budget which the employer submits to the County Council.
(g) In each proposed annual operating budget, the County Executive must describe any collective bargaining agreement or amendment to an agreement that is scheduled to take effect in the next fiscal year and estimate the cost of implementing that agreement. The employer must submit to the Council by April 1, unless extenuating circumstances require a later date, any term or condition of the collective bargaining agreement that requires an appropriation of funds, or the enactment or adoption of any County law or regulation, or which has or may have a present or future fiscal impact. If a later submission is necessary, the employer must specify the submission date and the reasons for delay to the Council President by April 1. The employer must expressly identify to the Council and the certified representative any term or condition that requires Council review. Each submission to the Council must include:
(1) all proposed legislation and regulations necessary to implement the collective bargaining agreement;
(2) all changes from the previous collective bargaining agreement, indicated by brackets and underlines or a similar notation system; and
(3) all side letters or other extraneous documents that are binding on the parties.
The employer must make a good faith effort to have the Council approve all terms of the final agreement that require Council review.
(h) The Council may hold a public hearing to enable the parties and the public to testify on the agreement.
(i) The Council may accept or reject all or part of any term or condition that requires Council review under subsection (g). On or before May 1, the Council must indicate by resolution its intention to appropriate funds for or otherwise implement the items that require Council review or its intention not to do so, and must state its reasons for any intent to reject any such item. The Council, by majority vote taken on or before May 1, may defer the May 1 deadline to any date not later than May 15.
(j) If the Council indicates its intention to reject any item that requires Council review, the Council must designate a representative to meet with the parties and present the Council’s views in the parties’ further negotiation on items that the Council has indicated its intention to reject. This representative must also participate fully in stating the Council’s position in any ensuing impasse procedure. The parties must meet as promptly as possible and attempt to negotiate an agreement acceptable to the Council. Either party may at this time initiate impasse procedures under this Section. The parties must submit the results of the negotiation, whether a complete or a partial agreement, to the Council on or before May 10. If the Council has deferred the May 1 deadline, that action automatically postpones the May 10 deadline by the same number of days. The Council then must consider the agreement as renegotiated by the parties and indicate by resolution its intention to appropriate funds for or otherwise implement the agreement, or its intention not to do so.
(k) Any agreement must provide for automatic reduction or elimination of wage or benefits adjustments if:
(1) The Council does not take action necessary to implement the agreement or a part of it; or
(2) Sufficient funds are not appropriated for any fiscal year when the agreement is in effect.
(l) The Council must take any action required by the public interest with respect to any matter still in dispute between the parties. However, any action taken by the Council is not part of the agreement between the parties unless the parties specifically incorporate it in the agreement.
(m) Later years. The process and timetable in subsections (i) and (j) apply to Council review of wage or benefits adjustments after the first year of any multi-year agreement.
(n) Out-of-cycle amendments. The process in subsections (i) and (j) applies to Council review of any amendment to a collective bargaining agreement that the Council receives after May 15 of any year, but the deadlines in those subsections do not apply. The Council President must set action deadlines which result, to the extent feasible, in a similar timetable relative to the date the Council received the amendment. (1986 L.M.C., ch. 70, § 3.; 1993 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 2; § 1; , § 1; , § 1.)
Editor's note—See County Attorney Opinion dated comparing the limits on Council authority to make changes to retirement benefits with its ability to modify health benefits.See County Attorney Opinion dated regarding the steps in the out-of-cycle collective bargaining process. See County Attorney Opinion dated regarding the steps in the collective bargaining process.
2002 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 2, states: The certified representative and the employer must bargain under Sec. 33-107 with respect to temporary, seasonal, and substitute employees who are members of a bargaining unit, including limited-scope employees, immediately after this Act becomes law [May 20, 2002]. The procedures for impasse resolution under Section 33-108 apply to this bargaining process, but the specific action deadlines in that section do not apply. An initial agreement between the certified representative and the employer with respect to temporary, seasonal, and substitute employees must expire on the same date as the existing agreements for the SLT and OPT bargaining units.
