Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 243 § 243.682 — Representation questions; investigation and hearings on petitions;

Representation questions; investigation and hearings on petitions; certification without election; rules; elections. (1) If a question of representation exists, the Employment Relations Board: (a)(A)(i) Shall, upon application of a public employer, a public employee or a labor organization, designate the appropriate bargaining unit, and in making its determination shall consider such factors as community of interest, wages, hours and other working conditions of the employees involved, the history of collective bargaining, and the desires of the employees. The board may determine a unit to be the appropriate unit in a particular case even though some other unit might also be appropriate. (ii) May not designate as appropriate a bargaining unit that includes both guards at a correctional institution or mental hospital or police officers who serve in a rank equivalent to the rank of sergeant and rank-and-file subordinate employees. The limitation under this sub-subparagraph does not apply to a bargaining unit certified or recognized prior to April 4, 2024. (B) Unless a labor organization and a public employer agree otherwise, may not designate as appropriate a bargaining unit that includes: (i) A faculty member described in ORS 243.650 (23)(c)(D) who supervises one or more other faculty members; and (ii) Any faculty member who is supervised by a faculty member described in sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph. (b) Shall investigate and conduct a hearing on a petition that has been filed by: (A) A labor organization alleging that 30 percent of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit desire to be represented for collective bargaining by an exclusive representative; (B) A labor organization alleging that 30 percent of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit assert that the designated exclusive representative is no longer the representative of the majority of the employees in the unit; (C) A public employer alleging that one or more labor organizations has presented a claim to the public employer requesting recognition as the exclusive representative in an appropriate bargaining unit; or (D) An employee or group of employees alleging that 30 percent of the employees assert that the designated exclusive representative is no longer the representative of the majority of employees in the unit. (2)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, when an employee, group of employees or labor organization acting on behalf of the employees files a petition alleging that a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining wish to be represented by a labor organization for that purpose, or when a labor organization files a petition alleging that the majority in a group of unrepresented employees seek to be added to an existing bargaining unit, the board shall investigate the petition. If the board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining or a majority of employees in a group of unrepresented employees that is appropriate to add to an existing bargaining unit have signed authorizations designating the labor organization specified in the petition as the employees’ bargaining representative and that no other labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit or in the group of unrepresented employees seeking to be added to an existing bargaining unit, the board may not conduct an election but shall certify the labor organization as the exclusive representative unless a petition for a representation election is filed as provided in subsection (4) of this section. (b) The board by rule shall develop guidelines and procedures for the designation by employees of a bargaining representative in the manner described in paragraph (a) of this subsection. The guidelines and procedures must include: (A) Model collective bargaining authorization language that may be used for purposes of making the designations described in paragraph (a) of this subsection; (B) Procedures to be used by the board to establish the authenticity of signed authorizations designating bargaining representatives; (C) Procedures to be used by the board to notify affected employees of the filing of a petition requesting certification under subsection (4) of this section; (D) Procedures for filing a petition to request a representation election, including a timeline of not more than 14 days after notice has been delivered to the affected employees of a petition filed under paragraph (a) of this subsection; (E) Procedures that may be used for preparing and signing authorizations designating bargaining representatives using an electronic record and an electronic signature, as those terms are defined in ORS 84.004; and (F) Procedures for expedited resolution of any dispute about the scope of the appropriate bargaining unit. The resolution o