SENATE STATE MANAGEMENT, INVESTMENT AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 788

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 12, 1997

      The Senate State Management, Investment and Financial Institutions Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 788.

      This bill makes it an unlawful practice under the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act" for a public employer to unilaterally change the terms and conditions of employment before agreement is reached with a majority representative of a public employee group. It prohibits public employers from unilaterally changing such terms and conditions notwithstanding that: (1) a collective bargaining agreement may have expired; (2) the parties are at impasse in negotiations; or (3) the parties have exhausted the impasse procedures under the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The committee amended the bill to conform it to the latest version of the law and to Assembly Bill No. 980 (1R).