Introduction
2011 Wisconsin Act 10 established an annual recertification requirement for unions representing general employee bargaining units in the municipal and state sectors to continue as the exclusive collective bargaining representative. General employee units include all employee groups except public safety and transit. To meet the annual recertification requirement, continuation of the union’s status as the exclusive representative must be favored in a secret ballot election conducted by the Commission by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the employees in the bargaining unit who are eligible to vote.
The Commission conducts two sets of simultaneous secret ballot annual elections each year: one for non-school district and non-state employees no later than May 1 (typically in April) and another for school district and State of Wisconsin employees no later than December 1 (typically in November). Employees vote by telephone or online.
How to File for an Annual Recertification Election
The Commission’s administrative rules require that a general employee union seeking to continue as representative must provide the applicable annual election filing fee to the Commission’s Madison office no later than 4:30 p.m. on September 15 for state and school district general employee bargaining units and no later than 4:30 p.m. on January 30 for non-school and non-state general employee bargaining units. When the union submits either a completed annual election petition form or an information sheet, together with the applicable filing fee, to the Commission, it should also submit a copy to the employer. The employer then has ten (10) business days to provide the Commission with a list of employees it believes are eligible to vote, including the employees’ home addresses and the last four digits of the employees’ Social Security number. View Annual Election Eligibility List Guidelines. This information is used to insure that the voter can vote in the correct election. At the same time, the employer should send the union a name only version of the same list. If agreement cannot be reached over the eligibility list, the party disputing the list will promptly send to the Commission and to the other party a list of names of the challenged voters. Employees whose eligibility is disputed by one of the parties are permitted to vote by challenged ballot. Challenged ballots are not counted in the initial tally reported by the Commission.
How Annual Recertification Elections Are Conducted
The Commission sends the union and employer a Direction of Election and Notice of Election. The cover letter accompanying these documents directs the employer to distribute / post the Notice of Election so that employees are aware of how / when they can vote. The cover letter also reminds the employer to submit the list of employees eligible to vote in the election if it has not already done so.
During a twenty (20) calendar day voting period, voters cast their ballots 24/7 either online or by toll-free telephone. A help desk is available to assist voters. At the conclusion of the voting period, the Commission posts on its website a summary of ballots cast for and against the union in each of the elections conducted. Shortly thereafter, the Commission also sends the union and employer a tally of votes cast in each election. The union and employer have a period of eight (8) calendar days after receipt of the tally to file with the Commission any objections concerning the conduct of the election. Where objections and/or voter challenges that could affect the election outcome are timely filed, the Commission gathers pertinent information from the union and employer either informally or through a formal hearing, and then resolves the objections/challenges before certifying the election result.
If there are no objections after the eight days have passed, the Commission issues a Certification of Results of Election. If the union prevails in the election, it becomes recertified on the date the Certification of Results of Election is issued. If the union does not prevail, it becomes decertified on the date the Certification of Results of Election is issued or when their current collective bargaining agreement expires (whichever is later).
Dates, procedures and results of scheduled annual recertification elections are posted on the Commission’s website on the Elections Updates page.
The above summary is intended to provide an unofficial guide regarding the annual election process, but that process is ultimately governed by the applicable statutes and administrative rules.