An Act To Clarify Public Sector Employee Fair Choice in Collective Bargaining
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0934
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: JACKSON, BUTTERFIELD
Amends: 26 MRSA §967, 26 MRSA §979-F

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124thMAIN LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No. 934 
S.P.356 
In Senate, March 10, 2009 
An Act To Clarify Public Sector Employee Fair Choice in Collective 
Bargaining 
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator JACKSON of Aroostook. 
Cosponsored by Representative BUTTERFIELD of Bangor. 
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JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People ofthe State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §967, sub-§l, as enacted byPL 1969, c. 424, §1, is amended to 
read: 
1. Evidence of majority support. Any public employee organization may file a 
request with a public employer alleging that a majority of the public employees in an 
appropriate bargaining unit wish to be represented for the purpose of collective 
bargaining between the public employer and the employees' organization. Such request 
shall must describe the grouping of jobs or positions whieh that constitute the unit 
claimed to be appropriate and shall must include a demonstration of written majority 
support. Such request for recognition shall must be granted by the public employer, 
unless the public employer desires that an election inspection to determine whether the 
organization represents a majority of the members in the bargaining unit. 
A. 
When a public employer requests an inspection of the written majority 
authorization, the public employee organization and the public employer shall agree 
on a neutral party to conduct a confidential inspection of the evidence of written 
majority authorization. If within 10 days of the request the public employee 
organization and the public employer do not agree upon a neutral party, the board 
shall act as the neutral party. The neutral party shall verify the public employee 
organization's majority support within the appropriate bargaining unit and report the 
results of such inspection in writing to the parties and, if the verification was 
conducted by an agreed-upon neutral party, to the board, which shall in tum certify 
the results to the parties in writing. The board shall establish rules and procedures for 
the prompt verification of evidence of written majority authorization, including 
safeguards to protect the privacy of individual employee choice, and shall provide 
that, absent exceptional cause, the verification procedure may not last longer than 10 
days from the appointment of the neutral party or from assumption by the board of 
the duties of the neutral party. 
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §979-F, sub-§l, as enacted by PL 1973, c. 774, is amended to 
read: 
1. Evidence of majority support. Any state employee organization may file a 
request with the public employer alleging that a majority of the state employees in an 
appropriate bargaining unit wish to be represented for the purpose of collective 
bargaining between the public employer and the employees' organization. Such request 
shall must describe the grouping of jobs or positions whieh that constitute the unit 
claimed to be appropriate and shall must include a demonstration of written majority 
support. Such request for recognition shall must be granted by the public employer unless 
the public employer desires that an election inspection to determine whether the 
organization represents a majority of the members in the bargaining unit. 
A. 
When a public employer requests an inspection of the written majority 
authorization, the state employee organization and the public employer shall agree on 
a neutral party to conduct a confidential inspection of the evidence of written 
majority authorization. If within 10 days of the request the state employee 
organization and the public employer do not agree upon a neutral party, the board 
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shall act as the neutral party. The neutral party shall verify the state employee 
organization's majority support within the appropriate bargaining unit and report the 
results of such inspection in writing to the parties and, if the verification was 
conducted by an agreed-upon neutral party, to the board, which shall in tum certify 
the results to the parties in writing. The board shall establish rules and procedures for 
the prompt verification of evidence of written majority authorization, including 
safeguards to protect the privacy of individual employee choice, and shall provide 
that, absent exceptional cause, the verification procedure may not last longer than 10 
days from the appointment of the neutral party or from assumption by the board of 
the duties of the neutral party. 
SUMMARY 
Under current law, if a state employee organization or public employee organization 
files a request with a public employer alleging that a majority of the employees in an 
appropriate bargaining unit wish to be represented for the purpose of collective 
bargaining, the public employer may request an election to determine whether there exists 
majority support among the employees for such representation. This bill provides instead 
that the public employer may request an inspection of the evidence of written majority 
authorization on the part of the employees.