An Act To Clarify That Involuntary Transfers of Teachers and Municipal Public Employees Are Subject to Collective Bargaining
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §965, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2009, c. 107, §5, is further amended to read:
C. To confer and negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, working conditions , including involuntary transfers, 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 , including involuntary transfers, or contract grievance arbitration . As used in this paragraph, "involuntary transfer" means the transfer of an employee, initiated by the employer, to another location;
summary
This bill specifies that the involuntary transfer of a teacher or other municipal employee is included in working conditions that must be collectively bargained in good faith. This bill specifies that an involuntary transfer is not considered an educational policy, which is not subject to negotiation.