An Act To Preserve the Dynamic Status Quo Pending Expiration of Collective Bargaining Agreements
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1221
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: CAIN, GILBERT, HERBIG, PATRICK, SAVIELLO, CAMPBELL, FREY, GRAHAM, HAMANN, MASON, MASTRACCIO
Amends: 26 MRSA §965, 26 MRSA §979-D, 26 MRSA §1026, 26 MRSA §1285

Legislative Document 
No. 1221 
S.P. 419 
In Senate, March 26, 2013 
An Act To Preserve the Dynamic Status Quo Pending Expiration of 
Collective Bargaining Agreements 
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator CAIN of Penobscot. 
Cosponsored by Representative GILBERT of Jay, Representative HERBIG of Belfast and 
Senators: PATRICK of Oxford, SAVIELLO of Franklin, Representatives: CAMPBELL of 
Newfield, FREY of Bangor, GRAHAM of North Yarmouth, HAMANN of South Portland, 
MASON of Topsham, MASTRACCIO of Sanford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §965, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 107, §5, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  Negotiations.  It is the obligation of the public employer and the bargaining agent 
to bargain collectively.  "Collective bargaining" means, for the purposes of this chapter, 
their mutual obligation:  
A.  To meet at reasonable times; 
B.  To meet within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the other party 
requesting a meeting for collective bargaining purposes, as long as the parties have 
not otherwise agreed in a prior written contract.  This obligation is suspended during 
the period between a referendum approving a new regional school unit and the 
operational date of the regional school unit, as long as the parties meet at reasonable 
times during that period; 
C.  To confer and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, working 
conditions and contract grievance arbitration, except that by such obligation neither 
party may be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession 
and except that public employers of teachers shall meet and consult but not negotiate 
with respect to educational policies; for the purpose of this paragraph, educational 
policies may not include wages, hours, working conditions or contract grievance 
arbitration; 
D.  To execute in writing any agreements arrived at, the term of any such agreement 
to be subject to negotiation but may not exceed 3 years; and 
E.  To participate in good faith in the mediation, fact-finding and arbitration 
procedures required by this section. 
Whenever wages, rates of pay or any other matter requiring appropriation of money by 
any municipality or county are included as a matter of collective bargaining conducted 
pursuant to this chapter, it is the obligation of the bargaining agent to serve written notice 
of request for collective bargaining on the public employer at least 120 days before the 
conclusion of the current fiscal operating budget, except that this requirement is waived 
in the event that a bargaining agent of a newly formed bargaining unit is recognized or 
certified during the period not more than 120 days nor less than 30 days prior to the end 
of the fiscal period.  The 120-day notice requirement is also waived with respect to 
regional school units formed pursuant to Title 20-A, chapter 103-A, subchapter 2 prior to 
their first year of operation. 
When the established practice or the most recent collective bargaining agreement 
provides for automatic periodic increases in pay or benefits, including, but not limited to, 
increases based on length of service or merit, those increases must continue by virtue of 
the dynamic status quo doctrine during negotiations until the execution of a new 
agreement. 
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §979-D, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1997, c. 741, §6 and 
affected by §12, is further amended to read: 
1.  Negotiations. On and after January 1, 1975, it shall be is the obligation of the 
public employer and the bargaining agent to bargain collectively. "Collective bargaining" 
means, for the purpose of this chapter, their mutual obligation: 
A.  To meet at reasonable times; 
B.  To meet within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the other party 
requesting a meeting for collective bargaining purposes, provided as long as the 
parties have not otherwise agreed in a prior written contract; 
C.  To execute in writing any agreements arrived at, the term of any such agreement 
to be subject to negotiation but shall not to exceed 3 years; 
D.  To participate in good faith in the mediation, fact finding fact-finding and 
arbitration procedures required by this section; and 
E.  To confer and negotiate in good faith: 
(1)  To confer and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, working 
conditions and contract grievance arbitration, except that by such obligation 
neither party shall may be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to 
make a concession. All matters relating to the relationship between the employer 
and employees shall be are the subject of collective bargaining, except those 
matters which that are prescribed or controlled by public law. Such matters 
appropriate for collective bargaining to the extent they are not prescribed or 
controlled by public law include but are not limited to: 
(a)  Wage and salary schedules to the extent they are inconsistent with rates 
prevailing in commerce and industry for comparable work within the State; 
(b)  Work schedules relating to assigned hours and days of the week; 
(c)  Use of vacation or sick leave, or both; 
(d)  General working conditions; 
(e)  Overtime practices; 
(f)  Rules for personnel administration, except the following: Rules rules 
relating to applicants for employment in state or legislative service and state 
classified employees in an initial probationary status, including any 
extensions thereof, provided as long as such rules are not discriminatory by 
reason of an applicant's race, color, creed, sex or national origin; 
(g)  Compensation system for state and legislative employees, which is 
defined as: 
(i)  Guide charts, if any, and job evaluation factors, including factor 
language and factor weights, used to evaluate jobs for pay purposes; 
(ii)  Job point to pay grade conversion tables; 
(iii)  The number of and spread between pay steps within pay grades; 
(iv)  The number of and spread between pay grades within the system; 
and 
(v)  Temporary payment of recruitment and retention stipends, provided 
as long as the stipends are allowed under Civil Service Law; 
(h)  The nature of and procedures governing appeals of the allocation or 
reallocation of job classifications to pay grades resulting from any revisions 
to the compensation system; and 
(i)  Implementation of any revisions to the compensation system. 
(2)  Subparagraph (1), shall may not be construed to be in derogation of or 
contravene the spirit and intent of the merit system principles and personnel laws. 
(3)  Cost items shall must be submitted for inclusion in the Governor's next 
operating budget within 10 days after the date on which the agreement is ratified 
by the parties. If the Legislature rejects any of the cost items submitted to it, all 
cost items submitted shall must be returned to the parties for further bargaining.  
Cost items related to a collective bargaining agreement reached under this 
chapter and submitted to the Legislature for its approval under this subparagraph 
shall may not be submitted in the same legislation that contains cost items for 
employees exempted from the definition of "state employee" under section 979-
A, subsection 6, and employees of the legislative branch, except that cost items 
for those employees exempted under section 979-A, subsection 6, paragraphs E 
and F, need not be excluded. 
(4)  Collective bargaining over the subjects described in subparagraph (1), 
divisions (g), (h) and (i), is subject to the following. 
(a)  Subparagraph (1), division (g), shall may not be construed to authorize 
any more than one system for evaluating jobs of state employees in 
bargaining units recognized under this chapter. 
(b)  Either the public employer or the bargaining agents may compel the 
other party to bargain collectively over the subjects described in 
subparagraph (1), divisions (g), (h) and (i), provided except that bargaining 
over those subjects may not be compelled by either the public employer or 
the bargaining agents sooner than 10 years after the parties' last agreement to 
revise the compensation system made pursuant to a demand to bargain. 
(c)  During the periods of time described in division (b), when the subjects 
described in subparagraph (1), divisions (g), (h) and (i), are not mandatory 
subjects of bargaining, they shall be are permissive subjects of bargaining. 
(d)  Bargaining over the subjects described in subparagraph (1), divisions (g), 
(h) and (i), shall must be conducted separately and apart from bargaining 
with individual bargaining agents over all other negotiable subjects and shall 
must be conducted within a committee composed of representatives of 
management and of the bargaining units recognized under this chapter. 
(e)  The labor representatives on the committee shall must consist of equal 
numbers of representatives from each of the bargaining units recognized 
under this chapter.  Each bargaining unit shall have has one vote, regardless 
of the number of representatives, on any matter addressed by the committee.  
The labor position on any matter addressed by the committee shall must be 
established by majority vote of the units recognized under this chapter.  A 
majority vote of the units is necessary to initiate bargaining over the matters 
described in subparagraph (1), divisions (g), (h) and (i). 
(f)  Notwithstanding the time frame provided in subparagraph (3), cost items 
resulting from revisions to the compensation system may only be submitted 
to the Legislature for funding after all appeals from the allocation or 
reallocation of job classifications under the revised system have been finally 
decided.  The cost items relating to an individual bargaining unit shall must 
be submitted to the Legislature for funding as part of the next legislation 
submitted pursuant to  subparagraph (3) to fund a collective bargaining 
agreement between the State and that bargaining unit. 
(g)  Bargaining over the subjects described in subparagraph (1), divisions (g), 
(h) and (i), shall be is subject to the dispute resolution procedures of 
subsections 2, 3 and 4.  For purposes of subsection 4, paragraph D, 
controversies over the subjects described in subparagraph (1), divisions (g), 
(h) and (i), shall be are deemed "controversies over salaries." 
(5)  Nothing in this chapter may be construed to exclude from the scope of 
collective bargaining the subjects described in subparagraph (1), divisions (g), (h) 
and (i). 
When the established practice or the most recent collective bargaining agreement 
provides for automatic periodic increases in pay or benefits, including, but not limited to, 
increases based on length of service or merit, those increases must continue by virtue of 
the dynamic status quo doctrine during negotiations until the execution of a new 
agreement. 
Sec. 3.  26 MRSA §1026, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1993, c. 84, §1 and PL 2003, 
c. 20, Pt. OO, §2 and affected by §4, is further amended to read: 
1.  Negotiations.  It is the obligation of the university, academy, community college 
or state schools for practical nursing and the bargaining agent to bargain collectively. 
"Collective bargaining" means, for the purpose of this chapter, their mutual obligation: 
A.  To meet at reasonable times; 
B.  To meet within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the other party 
requesting a meeting for collective bargaining purposes if the parties have not 
otherwise agreed in a prior written contract; 
C.  To confer and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, working 
conditions and contract grievance arbitration, except that by such obligation neither 
party is compelled to agree to a proposal or required to make a concession; 
D.  To execute in writing any agreements arrived at, the term of any such agreement 
to be subject to negotiation, but not to exceed 3 years; and 
E.  To participate in good faith in the mediation, fact finding fact-finding and 
arbitration procedures required by this section. 
When the established practice or the most recent collective bargaining agreement 
provides for automatic periodic increases in pay or benefits, including, but not limited to, 
increases based on length of service or merit, those increases must continue by virtue of 
the dynamic status quo doctrine during negotiations until the execution of a new 
agreement. 
Sec. 4.  26 MRSA §1285, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1989, c. 596, Pt. N, §6, is 
further amended to read: 
1.  Negotiations.  On and after the effective date of this chapter, it shall be is the 
obligation of the public employer and the bargaining agent to bargain collectively.  
"Collective bargaining" means, for the purpose of this chapter, their mutual obligation: 
A.  To meet at reasonable times; 
B.  To meet within 10 days after receipt of written notice from the other party 
requesting a meeting for collective bargaining purposes, provided that as long as the 
parties have not otherwise agreed in a prior written contract; 
C.  To execute in writing any agreements arrived at, the term of any such agreement 
to be subject to negotiation shall but not to exceed 2 years; and 
D.  To participate in good faith in the mediation, fact finding fact-finding, arbitration 
and mediation-arbitration procedures required by this section; 
E.  To confer and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, working 
conditions and contract grievance arbitration, except that by such obligation neither 
party may be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession.  
All matters relating to the relationship between the employer and employees shall be 
are the subject of collective bargaining, except those matters which that are 
prescribed or controlled by law. Such matters appropriate for collective bargaining, to 
the extent they are not prescribed or controlled by law, include, but are not limited to: 
(1)  Wage and salary schedules to the extent they are inconsistent with rates 
prevailing in commerce and industry for comparable work within the State; 
(2)  Work schedules relating to assigned hours and days of the week; 
(3)  Use of vacation or sick leave, or both; 
(4)  General working conditions; 
(5)  Overtime practices; and 
(6)  Rules for personnel administration, except for rules relating to applicants for 
employment and employees in  an initial probationary status, including any 
extensions thereof, provided that as long as the rules are not discriminatory by 
reason of an applicant's race, color, creed, sex or national origin. 
Cost items shall must be included in the Judicial Department's next operating budget 
in accordance with Title 4, section 24.  If the Legislature rejects any of the cost items 
submitted to it, all cost items submitted shall must be returned to the parties for 
further bargaining.  Cost items related to a collective bargaining agreement reached 
under this chapter and submitted to the Legislature for its approval under this 
subsection shall may not be submitted in the same legislation that contains cost items 
for employees exempted from the definition of "judicial employee" under section 
1282, subsection 5, except that cost items for employees exempted under section 
1282, subsection 5, paragraphs F and G, need not be excluded. 
When the established practice or the most recent collective bargaining agreement 
provides for automatic periodic increases in pay or benefits, including, but not limited to, 
increases based on length of service or merit, those increases must continue by virtue of 
the dynamic status quo doctrine during negotiations until the execution of a new 
agreement. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the municipal public employees labor relations laws, the state 
employees labor relations laws, the University of Maine System labor relations laws and 
the judicial employees labor relations laws to specify that the provision, either as practice 
or part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement, of increases in pay or benefits, 
based on length of service or merit, must be continued during negotiations of a new 
agreement by virtue of the doctrine of dynamic status quo.