04/19/1994 02:47 PM Senate L&C

 SENATOR KELLY announced  SB 358  (ELIMINATE SOME STATE MULTIMEMBER            
 BODIES) to be up for consideration.                                           
                                                                               
 KRISTI LEAF said this is basically a government efficiency bill.              
 It deletes 8 boards that are no longer funded and haven't been                
 active for a number of years.                                                 
                                                                               
  TAPE 94-29, SIDE B                                                           
                                                                               
  SENATOR RIEGER said he is concerned with occupational licensing              
 boards that exist to perpetuate a closed shop more than enforce               
 high standards for members of their profession.  MS. LEAF agreed              
 with that position.                                                           
                                                                               
 SENATOR SALO asked if this would apply to new people, not the                 
 existing Board.                                                               
                                                                               
 An unidentified speaker explained that the Board is composed of 3             
 members, one a staff member.  There is a hearing officer and 2 lay            
 Board members - one from industry and one from labor.  When the               
 full Board meets it's an 11 member Board, including the                       
 Commissioner of Labor.                                                        
                                                                               
 SENATOR SALO asked if the backlog in hearings would be helped by              
 section 7.  The speaker said they saw this as broadening the pool.            
 A panel still has to meet to hear the case, whether they draw from            
 a 10 or 8 member pool wouldn't increase the cost.  They would just            
 improve the availability of members.                                          
                                                                               
 SENATOR RIEGER asked if section 14 applied to labor relations.                
                                                                               
 JAN DEYOUNG, Alaska Labor Relations Association, said it did apply            
 to the Railroad and they do have right to strike.  Section 14,                
 regarding binding arbitration, is in law because the railroad                 
 employees should be eligible to strike must exhaust any agency                
 requirement of arbitration.  At the conclusion of the mediation, if           
 they are deadlocked, the workers may strike.  The Railroad may go             
 to court to seek an injunction to bring them back.  The cost of               
 doing that is binding interest arbitration.  This is where the                
 possibility of an arbitrator becomes important.                               
                                                                               
 What this bill does to section 14, Ms. DeYoung said, is remove the            
 requirement that the individual that served as the mediator before            
 the strike also serve as the arbitrator in the later binding                  
 interest arbitration.  The reason for this change is to permit the            
 Railroad to use the federal mediation facilitation service which              
 provides trained labor mediators at no cost.  But it does not allow           
 the mediators to serve as arbitrators.                                        
                                                                               
 SENATOR RIEGER asked if this phase is required by federal law or is           
 it at the discretion of the state.  MS. DEYOUNG said these are the            
 procedures that the state adopted.                                            
                                                                               
 SENATOR RIEGER said he has not been very happy with any binding               
 arbitration awards he has seen.  He did not want to perpetuate them           
 without cleaning them up.                                                     
                                                                               
 SENATOR SHARP moved to pass CSSB 358 (STA) from committee with                
 individual recommendations.  There were no objections and it was so           
 ordered.