Chapter 111

111.55   Conciliator unable to effect settlement; appointment of arbitrators.

111.56   Existing state of affairs to be maintained.

111.57   Arbitrator to hold hearings.

111.58   Standards for arbitration.

111.59   Filing order with clerk of circuit court; period effective; retroactivity.

111.60   Judicial review of order of arbitrator.

111.61   Commission to establish rules.

111.62   Strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns, lockouts, unlawful; penalty.

111.63   Enforcement.

111.64   Construction.

SUBCHAPTER IV

MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

111.70   Municipal employment.

111.71   General provisions.

111.77   Settlement of disputes.

SUBCHAPTER V

STATE EMPLOYMENT LABOR RELATIONS

111.81   Definitions.

111.815   Duties of state.

111.82   Rights of employees.

111.825   Collective bargaining units.

111.83   Representatives and elections.

111.84   Unfair labor practices.

111.845   Wage deduction prohibition.

111.85   Fair-share and maintenance of membership agreements.

111.86   Grievance arbitration.

111.87   Mediation.

111.88   Fact-finding.

111.89   Strike prohibited.

111.90   Management rights.

111.91   Subjects of bargaining.

111.915   Labor proposals.

111.92   Agreements.

111.93   Effect of labor organization; status of existing benefits and rights.

111.935   Representatives and elections for research assistants.

111.94   Rules, transcripts, training programs, fees.

subch. I of ch. 111 SUBCHAPTER I

EMPLOYMENT PEACE

Subch. I of ch. 111 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ERC, Wis. adm. code.

111.02 111.02 Definitions. When used in this subchapter:

111.02(1) (1) “All-union agreement” means an agreement between an employer and the representative of the employer’s employees in a collective bargaining unit whereby all or any of the employees in such unit are required to be members of a single labor organization.

111.02(2) (2) “Collective bargaining” means the negotiation by an employer and a majority of the employer’s employees in a collective bargaining unit, or their representatives, concerning representation or terms and conditions of employment of such employees, in a mutually genuine effort to reach an agreement with reference to the subject under negotiation.

111.02(3) (3) “Collective bargaining unit” means all of the employees of one employer, employed within the state, except that where a majority of the employees engaged in a single craft, division, department or plant have voted by secret ballot as provided in s. 111.05 (2) to constitute such group a separate bargaining unit they shall be so considered, but, in appropriate cases, and to aid in the more efficient administration of this subchapter, the commission may find, where agreeable to all parties affected in any way thereby, an industry, trade or business comprising more than one employer in an association in any geographical area to be a “collective bargaining unit”. A collective bargaining unit thus established by the commission shall be subject to all rights by termination or modification given by this subchapter in reference to collective bargaining units otherwise established under this subchapter. Two or more collective bargaining units may bargain collectively through the same representative where a majority of the employees in each separate unit have voted by secret ballot as provided in s. 111.05 (2) so to do.

111.02(4) (4) “Commission” means the employment relations commission.

111.02(5) (5) The term “election” shall mean a proceeding in which the employees in a collective bargaining unit cast a secret ballot for collective bargaining representatives or for any other purpose specified in this subchapter and shall include elections conducted by the commission, or, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, by any tribunal having competent jurisdiction or whose jurisdiction was accepted by the parties.

111.02(6) (6) 

111.02(6)(a) (a) “Employee” shall include any person, other than an independent contractor, working for another for hire in the state of Wisconsin in a nonconfidential, nonmanagerial, nonexecutive and nonsupervisory capacity, and shall not be limited to the employees of a particular employer unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

111.02(6)(b) (b) “Employee” shall include any individual whose work has ceased solely as a consequence of or in connection with any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice on the part of an employer and who has not:

111.02(6)(b)1. 1. Refused or failed to return to work upon the final disposition of a labor dispute or a charge of an unfair labor practice by a tribunal having competent jurisdiction of the same or whose jurisdiction was accepted by the employee or the employee’s representative;

111.02(6)(b)2. 2. Been found to have committed or to have been a party to any unfair labor practice hereunder;

111.02(6)(b)3. 3. Obtained regular and substantially equivalent employment elsewhere; or

111.02(6)(b)4. 4. Been absent from his or her employment for a substantial period of time during which reasonable expectancy of settlement has ceased (except by an employer’s unlawful refusal to bargain) and whose place has been filled by another engaged in the regular manner for an indefinite or protracted period and not merely for the duration of a strike or lockout.

111.02(6)(c) (c) “Employee” shall not include any individual employed in the domestic service of a family or person at the person’s home or any individual employed by his or her parent or spouse or any employee who is subject to the federal railway labor act.

111.02(7) (7) 

111.02(7)(a) (a) “Employer” means a person who engages the services of an employee, and includes a person acting on behalf of an employer within the scope of his or her authority, express or implied.

111.02(7)(b) (b) “Employer” does not include any of the following:

111.02(7)(b)1. 1. The state or any political subdivision thereof.

111.02(7)(b)2. 2. Any labor organization or anyone acting in behalf of such organization other than when it is acting as an employer in fact.

111.02(8) (8) The term “jurisdictional strike” shall mean a strike growing out of a dispute between 2 or more employees or representatives of employees as to the appropriate unit for collective bargaining, or as to which representative is entitled to act as collective bargaining representative, or as to whether employees represented by one or the other representative are entitled to perform particular work.

111.02(9) (9) The term “labor dispute” means any controversy between an employer and the majority of the employer’s employees in a collective bargaining unit concerning the right or process or details of collective bargaining or the designation of representatives. Any organization with which either the employer or such majority is affiliated may be considered a party to the labor dispute.

111.02(9g) (9g) “Labor organization” means any employee organization in which employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of engaging in collective bargaining with any employer concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, benefits, or other terms or conditions of employment.

111.02(10) (10) The term “person” includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, limited liability companies, legal representatives, trustees or receivers.

111.02(11) (11) The term “representative” includes any person chosen by an employee to represent the employee.

111.02(12) (12) The term “secondary boycott” shall include combining or conspiring to cause or threaten to cause injury to a person with whom no labor dispute exists in order to bring that person, against that person’s will, into a concerted plan to coerce or inflict damage upon another, whether by:

111.02(12)(a) (a) Withholding patronage, labor or other beneficial business intercourse;

111.02(12)(b) (b) Picketing;

111.02(12)(c) (c) Refusing to handle, install, use or work on particular materials, equipment or supplies; or

111.02(12)(d) (d) Any other unlawful means.

111.02(13) (13) The term “unfair labor practice” means any unfair labor practice as defined in s. 111.06.

111.02 History History: 1979 c. 89; 1983 a. 189; 1993 a. 112, 492; 1995 a. 27, 225; 1999 a. 65, 83; 2009 a. 28, 185; 2011 a. 10; 2015 a. 1.

111.04 111.04 Rights of employees.

111.04(1) (1) Employees shall have the right of self-organization and the right to form, join or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in lawful, concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

111.04(2) (2) Employees shall have the right to refrain from self-organization; forming, joining, or assisting labor organizations; bargaining collectively through representatives; or engaging in activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

111.04(3) (3) 

111.04(3)(a) (a) No person may require, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, an individual to do any of the following:

111.04(3)(a)1. 1. Refrain or resign from membership in, voluntary affiliation with, or voluntary financial support of a labor organization.

111.04(3)(a)2. 2. Become or remain a member of a labor organization.

111.04(3)(a)3. 3. Pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges or expenses of any kind or amount, or provide anything of value, to a labor organization.

111.04(3)(a)4. 4. Pay to any 3rd party an amount that is in place of, equivalent to, or any portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges or expenses required of members of, or employees represented by, a labor organization.

111.04(3)(b) (b) This subsection applies to the extent permitted under federal law. If a provision of a contract violates this subsection, that provision is void.

111.04 History History: 2015 a. 1.

111.04 Annotation Congress specifically reserved to the individual states the right to prohibit agreements that require employees to pay representative fees as a condition of employment. Passage of the right-to-work law in Wisconsin was within the province of the legislature. Sub. (3), as created by 2015 Wis. Act 1, does not appropriate, transfer, or encumber money. Act 1 does not require labor organizations to provide services to anyone. Act 1 merely prohibits employers from requiring union membership or the payment of fees as a condition of employment. Unions have no constitutional entitlement to the fees of non-member employees. Machinists Local Lodge 1061 v. Walker, 2017 WI App 66, 378 Wis. 2d 243, 903 N.W.2d 141, 16-0820.

111.04 Annotation Under the holding and reasoning of Sweeney, 767 F.3d 654 (2014), 2015 Wis. Act 1, and specifically sub. (3) (a) 3., is not preempted by the National Labor Relations Act and does not work an unconstitutional taking. International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 v. Schimel, 210 F. Supp. 3d 1088 (2016).

111.04 Annotation Affirmed. 863 F.3d 674 (2017).

111.05 111.05 Representatives and elections.

111.05(1) (1) Representatives chosen for the purposes of collective bargaining by a majority of the employees voting in a collective bargaining unit shall be the exclusive representatives of all of the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, provided that any individual employee or any minority group of employees in any collective bargaining unit shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer in person or through representatives of their own choosing, and the employer shall confer with them in relation thereto.

111.05(2) (2) Whenever a question arises concerning the determination of a collective bargaining unit, it shall be determined by secret ballot, and the commission, upon request, shall cause the ballot to be taken in such manner as to show separately the wishes of the employees in any craft, division, department or plant as to the determination of the collective bargaining unit.

111.05(3) (3) Whenever a question arises concerning the representation of employees in a collective bargaining unit the commission shall determine the representatives thereof by taking a secret ballot of employees and certifying in writing the results thereof to the interested parties and to their employer or employers. There shall be included on any ballot for the election of representatives the names of all persons submitted by an employee or group of employees participating in the election, except that the commission may, in its discretion, exclude from the ballot a person who, at the time of the election, stands deprived of the person’s rights under this subchapter by reason of a prior adjudication of the person’s having engaged in an unfair labor practice. The ballot shall be so prepared as to permit of a vote against representation by anyone named on the ballot. The commission’s certification of the results of any election shall be conclusive as to the findings included therein unless reviewed in the same manner as provided by s. 111.07 (8) for review of orders of the commission.