Representation

A cornerstone of the state’s collective bargaining laws is the right of employees to decide whether to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining.

Representation activity increased following the United States Supreme Court’s June 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The representation filings in 2022 continued that trend. In the years since Janus, there has been a 33% increase in the average number of election petitions.

Organizing of Unrepresented Employees Continued to Be High

The number of election petitions filed in 2022 was the highest since at least 2012. Of those petitions, over 75% sought to represent unrepresented employees

PERC Continued to Meet Its Goals for Time to Election

PERC strives to conduct elections within 45 days for cases without contested issues and within 180 days for cases with contested issues. PERC continued to meet those goals. In 2022, the 106-day average was the quickest that cases with contested issues moved to election since PERC began tracking this data in 2016.

The number of days to election for cases with contested issues is influenced by whether challenges that impact an election go to hearing, whether there are challenges in obtaining a list of eligible employees, or other factors.