(a) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Code, exclusive representatives of state merit employees, who are in the classified service and not working in higher education, shall collectively bargain in the units provided pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. The scope of bargaining shall include:

(1) Compensation, which shall be defined as the payment of money in the form of hourly or annual salary, and any cash allowance or items in lieu of a cash allowance to a public employee by reason of said employee’s employment by a public employer, as defined in this chapter, whether the amount is fixed or determined by time, task or other basis of calculations. Position classification, health care and other benefit programs established pursuant to Chapters 52 and 96 of Title 29, workers compensation, disability programs and pension programs shall not be deemed to be compensation for purposes of this section; and

(2) Any items negotiable for state merit employees pursuant to § 5938 of Title 29.

To the extent or where any of these items are covered by existing collective bargaining agreements, the provisions negotiated pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall supersede those agreements.

(b) For purposes of bargaining pursuant to this section, employees shall be classified in the following bargaining units, each of which shall independently bargain compensation:

(1) Labor, maintenance, trade and service workers which is composed of generally recognized blue collar and service classes including mechanics, highway, building and natural resource maintenance, skilled craft, equipment operators, toll collectors, food service, custodial, laundry, laborers, security officers and similar classes;

(2) Nonprofessional patient care workers which is composed of institutional care classes including licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants, active treatment assistants, technicians, therapy aides and similar classes;

(3) Social services, human services, and counseling which is composed of social workers, social service specialists, family therapists, youth counselors, teacher aides, activity aides, job service personnel, income maintenance personnel, eligibility specialists, vocational counselors, correctional counselors, child support enforcement personnel and similar classes;

(4) Administrative support, technical and clerical which is composed of administrative specialists, clerks, account technicians, computer operators, office service personnel, officer workers, paralegals and similar nonprofessional classes;

(5) Engineers, and administrative professionals which is composed of civil, environmental and other engineers, accountants, management analysts, fiscal officers, program managers, business professionals, auditors and similar professionals classes exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act [29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.];

(6) Professional patient care which is composed of registered nurses, public health nurses, psychiatric nurses, therapists, dietitians and similar professional classes;

(7) Professional education and library science which is composed of state agency teachers, counselors and librarians;

(8) Regulatory licensing and inspectors which is composed of employees empowered to review certain public and business activities including regulatory inspectors, field auditors, motor vehicle inspectors and similar classes;

(9) Law-enforcement and investigative agents which is composed of agency police officers, natural resource and environmental control officers, parole and probation officers of the Department of Correction, alcoholic beverage control officers, deputy fire marshals I through V, investigators and similar occupations;

(10) Correctional officers and similar correctional occupations;

(11) Correctional supervisors and nonuniformed correctional employees who are employed in a secure Department of Correction facility or who have inmate contact which is composed of correctional lieutenants, staff lieutenants, correctional captains, nonuniformed correctional employees who are employed in a secure Department of Correction facility or who have inmate contact and similar occupations;

(12) Scientists and medical professionals which is composed of biologists, chemists, agricultural specialists, pharmacists, psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, pathologists and similar occupations.

The Board shall determine the proper assignment of job classifications to bargaining units and the bargaining unit status of individual employees and shall provide for certified bargaining representatives to combine bargaining units or portions of bargaining units of employees they represent within the bargaining units defined in this section based upon the job classifications of the employees represented.

(c) The exclusive bargaining representatives of all of the employees in each individual bargaining unit identified above shall join together in a bargaining coalition to bargain collectively for that unit. Employee organizations that are part of the coalition shall exercise authority over decisions of the coalition proportional to the number of employees exclusively represented in the coalition by the employee organization. To the extent a finalized agreement on compensation items requires legislative approval or the appropriation of funds, the Governor shall recommend the same to the General Assembly for the ensuing fiscal years and the agreement provision requiring such appropriation shall be contingent on the specific appropriation of funds by the General Assembly. In the event the General Assembly fails to appropriate the funds necessary to implement the provision of an agreement, that provision shall be returned to the parties for negotiation or the provision may be implemented to the extent consistent with or limited by appropriations from the General Assembly, at the discretion of the General Assembly. Contracts shall be timed to become effective in accordance with the State’s fiscal year.

(d) Coalition compensation agreements shall not constitute a bar to an election in accordance with § 1311(b) of this title. Such bar shall be established by the noncompensation agreement covering employees in an appropriate unit.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Code to the contrary, where no employee organization is certified to represent some or all of the employees in a bargaining unit defined in subsection (b) of this section, an employee organization desiring to be certified as the exclusive representative of the unrepresented employees in such unit shall file a petition with the Board, accompanied by a combination of the uncoerced signatures of at least 30% of the unrepresented state employees in a unit described in said subsection (b) of this section. Alternatively, an employee organization may file a petition with the Board, accompanied by the uncoerced signatures of at least 30% of the combined total of unrepresented state employees and state employees currently represented by the petitioning employee organization in a unit described in said subsection (b) of this section. The Board or its designee shall act on such petition in accordance with §§ 1310 and 1311 of this title. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to prevent a public employer from voluntarily recognizing an employee organization as the exclusive bargaining representative for a specified bargaining unit without an election so long as the following conditions have been met:

(1) A petition shall have been filed with the Board by an employee or group of employees or employee organization acting in their behalf alleging that a majority of employees in a unit identified in subsection (b) of this section above wish to be represented by an employee organization for such purposes; and

(2) The Board verifies that a majority of the employees in such unit have, within 12 months of the submission of the petition to the Board, signed authorizations designating the employee organization specified in the petition as their exclusive bargaining representative and that no other employee organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive bargaining representative of any of the employees in the unit; and

(3) The Board determines that notices have been posted, where notices to affected employees are normally posted, for a period of at least 10 calendar days, advising that exclusive recognition will be granted without an election to a named employee organization for such unit.

(f) Notwithstanding any provision in this Code to the contrary, collective bargaining pursuant to this section shall commence at least 150 days prior to the expiration date of any current collective bargaining agreement or in the case of a newly certified representative within a reasonable time after certification.

(g) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, a bargaining unit created pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, shall not bargain for compensation as defined herein until all of the eligible employees in such unit are represented by an exclusive bargaining representative. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be interpreted to deny bargaining for any items negotiable for state merit employees pursuant to § 5938 of Title 29.

76 Del. Laws, c. 178, § 1; 77 Del. Laws, c. 347, §§ 1, 2; 80 Del. Laws, c. 352, § 1; 81 Del. Laws, c. 124, § 1.