(a) The District of Columbia government finds and declares that an effective collective bargaining process is in the general public interest and will improve the morale of public employees and the quality of service to the public.

(b) Each employee of the District government has the right, freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal:

(1) To form, join, and assist a labor organization or to refrain from this activity;

(2) To engage in collective bargaining concerning terms and conditions of employment, as may be appropriate under this law and rules and regulations, through a duly designated majority representative; and

(3) To be protected in the exercise of these rights.

(c) The Mayor or appropriate personnel authority, including his or her or its duly designated representative(s), shall meet at reasonable times with exclusive representative(s) of bargaining unit employees to bargain collectively in good faith.

(d) Subsection (b) of this section does not authorize participation in the management of a labor organization or activity as a representative of such an organization by a supervisor, or management official or by an employee when the participation or activity would result in a conflict of interest or otherwise be incompatible with law or with the official duties of the employee. Supervisor means an employee having authority, in the interest of an agency, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibility to direct them, or to evaluate their performance, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment. The definition of supervisor shall include an incumbent of a position which is classified at a level higher than it would have been had the incumbent not performed some or all of the above duties.

(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-139, § 1701, 25 DCR 5740; Oct. 1, 2002, D.C. Law 14-190, § 3832(a), 49 DCR 6968.)

1981 Ed., § 1-618.1.

1973 Ed., § 1-347.1.

This section is referenced in § 1-615.52.

D.C. Law 14-190, in subsec. (c), substituted “representative(s) of bargaining unit employees” for “employee representatives”.

Employee deferred compensation program, employee eligibility, treatment of benefits, authorization of program, see 47-3601.

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3732(a) of Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-453, July 23, 2002, 49 DCR 8026).

Short title of subtitle B of title XXXVIII of Law 14-190: Section 3831 of D.C. Law 14-190 provided that subtitle B of title XXXVIII of the act may be cited as the Labor Relations Amendment Act of 2002.

Establishment of Labor Liaisons: See Mayor’s Order 88-101, April 26, 1988.

Resolution 16-347, the “Compensation Agreement Between the District of Columbia and Compensation Unit 33 Agency Counsel Approval Resolution of 2005”, was approved effective November 1, 2005.