§ 13A-109. Negotiations.

(a)

The employer and the exclusive representative shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings in advance of the employer's budget-making process, and shall negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment which are subject to negotiation under this law and which are to be embodied in a written agreement, or any question arising thereunder, but such obligation shall not compel either the employer or the exclusive representative to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession. The County Executive, or his designated authorized representative(s), shall represent the employer in collective bargaining, except as otherwise provided herein. Where a collective bargaining agreement pertains to fire fighters, the President of the Prince George's County Volunteer Fire Association and the Chairman of the Prince George's Fire Commission shall be notified of all negotiations between the County and the fire fighters union and the County Executive or his designated representative shall, prior to concluding negotiations, meet and confer with the President of the Volunteer Fire Association or his representative and the Chairman of the Fire Commission or his representative who shall be a Fire Commissioner. The purpose of said conference or conferences shall be to apprise the President and Chairman of the terms of the proposed contract so that an opportunity is afforded the Volunteer representatives to advise the Executive of any concerns the proposed contract may have on the volunteer service.

(b)

The employer shall not be obligated to negotiate with respect to those Countywide matters which must necessarily be uniform for all employees, such as a Countywide pension plan or reductions-in-force, unless a labor organization or council or group of labor organizations represent more than 50 percent of all employees, within the meaning of this law, subject to such uniform rules. However, the foregoing shall not prevent the employer from meeting with any other labor organization for the purpose of hearing the views and requests of its members on such matters, provided that the organization or council or group designated as representing more than 50 percent of such employees is informed in advance of the meeting, and any changes in the terms of such Countywide matters is effected only through negotiations with it; or be construed to deny to the employer or an exclusive representative the right to bargain for a variation of a particular application of any Countywide policy or variation of an agreement reached pursuant to these provisions, where considerations are special and unique to the class of employees or unit involved. Disputes over the identification of matters "which must necessarily be uniform" may be resolved pursuant to the procedures provided in Section 13A-111.

(c)

Because effective and orderly operations of government are essential to the public, it is declared to be in the public interest that in the course of collective bargaining, the employer and the exclusive representative shall make every reasonable effort to conclude negotiations no later than March 1 of each year, and shall include provisions for an effective date, a reopening date, and an expiration date. Where an agreement is a multiyear agreement, negotiations thereon should be concluded by March 1 of the year in which the existing agreement will expire. With respect to matters requiring the appropriation of funds, the effective date of an agreement shall coincide with the employer's fiscal year.

(d)

An agreement may contain a grievance procedure culminating in final and binding arbitration of grievances and disputed interpretations of such agreement. The grievance procedure shall set forth requirements for an election of remedies where other avenues of appeal may be equally available. The employer is authorized to agree, in his discretion, to voluntary binding arbitration with respect to negotiation impasse, which involves employees other than protective service employees. Negotiation impasses involving protective service employees are covered separately by the procedures contained in Section 13A-111.01.

(e)

Any agreement reached by the negotiators shall be reduced to writing and shall be executed by both parties. Such agreement shall be valid and enforced under its terms when entered into, in accordance with the provisions of this law and County Charter.

(f)

A request for funds necessary to implement such written agreement and for approval of any provision of the agreement which is in conflict with any County Law, Ordinance, Rule or Regulation, including those adopted by its agents such as the Personnel Board, or other action adopted by the employer with the force of law, shall be submitted to the County Council by the employer within the time schedule provided in the agreement. The County Council, except for agreements covering protective service employees governed by Section 13A-111.01 and Section 908 of the County Charter, may approve or reject such request as a whole. If the submission is rejected, the entire agreement shall be returned to the parties for further bargaining and either party may reopen all or part of the agreement. Rejection shall be accompanied by a detailed statement of the reasons therefor, so that the parties may be properly guided when they resume bargaining. Such request shall be considered rejected if the Council fails within ninety (90) days after submission to said body to take final action thereon. Failure by the bargaining representative of the employer to submit request within the designated time period shall be considered an unfair labor practice committed by the employer.

(g)

If upon approval of the County Council, there is a conflict between the collective bargaining agreement and any rule or regulation adopted by the employer, including merit system or other personnel regulations, the terms of such agreement shall prevail, except where specifically precluded by Charter or State law. Similarly, County Council, upon approval of such agreement, shall enact such legislation and appropriate whatever funds are required to comply with the collective bargaining agreement.

(h)

The employer shall have the obligation to bargain on matters which, although otherwise within the scope of bargaining, require action by a body, agency, or official other than the County Executive or the County Council. In addition, the employer shall have the obligation to bargain on the question of whether it should request such body, agency or official to take such action or support such request, provided, however, that no impasse panel or other third party neutral utilized for impasse resolution shall be empowered to recommend that the employer make or support such a request.

(i)

If the provisions of the Constitution or By-Laws of the exclusive representative require ratification of a collective bargaining agreement by its membership, only those members who belong to the bargaining unit involved shall be entitled to vote on such ratification notwithstanding such provisions.

(j)

At least one representative of the exclusive representative shall be given reasonable time off without loss of compensation during normal working hours to participate in collective bargaining, subject to such terms as an agreement between the parties may provide.

(CB-1-1973; CB-172-1974; CB-24-1981; CB-24-1995)