2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 10 - Education and Culture › Chapter 166 - Teachers and Superintendents › Section 10-153a. - Rights concerning professional organization and negotiations. Duty of fair representation. Annual service fees negotiable item.

(a) Members of the teaching profession shall have and shall be protected in the exercise of the right to form, join or assist, or refuse to form, join or assist, any organization for professional or economic improvement and to negotiate in good faith through representatives of their own choosing with respect to salaries, hours and other conditions of employment free from interference, restraint, coercion or discriminatory practices by any employing board of education or administrative agents or representatives thereof in derogation of the rights guaranteed by this section and sections 10-153b to 10-153n, inclusive.
(b) The organization designated as the exclusive representative of a teachers' or administrators' unit shall have a duty of fair representation to the members of such unit.
(c) Nothing in this section or in any other section of the general statutes shall preclude a local or regional board of education from making an agreement with an exclusive bargaining representative to require as a condition of employment that all employees in a bargaining unit pay to the exclusive bargaining representative of such employees an annual service fee, not greater than the amount of dues uniformly required of members of the exclusive bargaining representative organization, which represents the costs of collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance adjustment; and that such service fee be collected by means of a payroll deduction from each employee in the bargaining unit.
(1961, P.A. 562; 1969, P.A. 811, S. 1; P.A. 76-403, S. 1, 11; P.A. 79-422; P.A. 83-72, S. 1, 9; P.A. 87-250, S. 2, 11; P.A. 93-426, S. 6.)
History: 1969 act substituted for “without prejudice”, “free from interference, restraint, coercion or discriminatory practices by any employing board of education ...”; P.A. 76-403 included rights to form or assist and to refuse to form or assist organizations as well as rights to join or not join and included protection in the exercise of rights mentioned and bestowed right to negotiate in good faith; P.A. 79-422 added Subsec. (b) re annual service fees for bargaining representation; P.A. 83-72 amended Subsec. (a) to include all statutory references to provisions of teacher negotiation law, Secs. 10-153b to 10-153n, inclusive; P.A. 87-250 amended Subsec. (a) to include hours as a subject to be negotiated in good faith; P.A. 93-426 inserted new Subsec. (b) to impose a duty of fair representation on teachers' and educational administrators' collective bargaining representatives and redesignated existing Subsec. (b) as (c).
See Sec. 10-153k re applicability of this section to incorporated or endowed high schools or academies.
Cited. 162 C. 393; Id., 575, 578. By agreement on submission of question to arbitrator, Waterbury Board of Education waived objection to procedural limits of arbitration in teacher contract. 168 C. 54. Secs. 10-153a–10-153j include coverage of teachers employed in summer school programs. 177 C. 68. Agency shop clause in collective bargaining agreement prior to 1979 amendment expressly authorizing such clauses was valid and did not offend public policy. 180 C. 459. Cited. 184 C. 116; 190 C. 235; 200 C. 376; 201 C. 685; 202 C. 492; 205 C. 116; 206 C. 113; 210 C. 286; 216 C. 253; 217 C. 110; 231 C. 922; 234 C. 704; 239 C. 32.
Cited. 5 CA 253; 23 CA 727; 35 CA 111; 42 CA 700; judgment reversed, see 240 C. 835; 43 CA 133. Arbitration award granting certain teachers compensatory damages for missed preparation periods did not violate public policy requiring salaries and other conditions of employment to be collectively bargained because grievance arbitrations are not collective bargaining arbitrations subject to Teacher Negotiation Act and compensatory damages are not synonymous with compensation. 196 CA 463.
Cited. 38 CS 80.
Subsec. (c) (former Subsec. (b)):
Not a violation for local organization to allocate part of service fee to the state and national organizations. 206 C. 25.