|
|  |
|
 BackHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Committee Report
| Legislation: | HB 283 |
| Sponsor: | Spence |
| Long Title: | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT. |
| Committee: | LABOR |
| Number of Committee Members: | 9 |
| Date of Report: | 01/10/2008 |
| Committee Vote: | Favorable: | On Its Merits: | Unfavorable: |
| 5 | 0 | 0 |
Purpose of the Bill : To provide a procedure for more effective dispute resolution that arise during collective bargaining agreements. Under current law, fact-finding and the fact-finder’s recommendations are utilized but are non-binding, leaving the parties involved able to ignore the recommendations. HB 283 provides more effective dispute resolution, through binding interest arbitration, and creates a greater incentive for both the parties to arrive at a voluntary agreement. The bill provides that the decision of the interest arbitrator is to be adopted in its entirety by the Public Employees Relations Board, allowing an appeal of the decision to be just as if it is an other order of the Public Employment Relations Board to the Court of Chancery.
Committee Findings: The committee found that this bill would be more effective than the existing legislation. Similar legislation has already been passed regarding collective bargaining in other state agencies and it has been very successful. Scott Ream, from the Delaware Association of School Administrators, expressed his concern over the short time that the DASA has had to review the contents of the bill. Concern was also expressed over schools that depend on referendums for funding, however it was reported that binding arbitration is contingent on existing revenue streams.
|