This past legislative session brought significant changes to Minnesota Statutes Chapter 179A, the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA). The statute provides that sections 179A.01 to 179A.25 “may be cited as the ‘Public Employment Labor Relations Act.’” (Minn. Stat. § 179A.02, available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/179A.02.) The biggest change was the reemergence of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the most significant development since PELRA was enacted in the 1970s. Minnesota had a Public Employment Relations Board before: it was created under the 1971 state labor relations act to hear appeals of Bureau of Mediation Services decisions, maintain a roster of arbitrators, and provide independent grievance reviews. In 1991, its duties were transferred to the Department of Administration (a department, not a bureau), and the board ceased to exist as a functioning entity until the Legislature reestablished it in 2014. (Minn. Stat. § 179A.041, available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/179A.041.)
The PERB is tasked with hearing unfair labor practice cases that fall under Minn. Stat. § 179A.13 (available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/179A.13). The board itself does not decide these cases in the first instance; it hears and decides appeals from recommended decisions and orders relating to an unfair labor practice under section 179A.13. (Minn. Stat. § 179A.041, available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/179A.041.) The board consists of three members. The governor appoints two of them: one who is an officer or employee of an exclusive representative of public employees, and one who represents public employers. The third member, who represents the public at large, is appointed by the other two members. (Minn. Stat. § 179A.041, subd. 1.)
In the private sector, unfair labor practice disputes are resolved through the National Labor Relations Board. Administrative law judges within the National Labor Relations Board decide complaints of unfair labor practices that regional directors issue and that do not settle. (National Labor Relations Act § 10, 29 U.S.C. § 160, available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/160.)
After the judge issues a decision, the Board in Washington, D.C. reviews it on any timely exceptions a party files. A final Board order may be reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals (29 U.S.C. § 160(f)), whose judgment is in turn subject to review by the U.S. Supreme Court on a writ of certiorari (28 U.S.C. § 1254).
If a PERB hearing officer determines, by a preponderance of the evidence, that an unfair labor practice has occurred, a recommended decision and order is issued stating findings of fact and conclusions and requiring the party to cease and desist from the unfair labor practice, to post a cease-and-desist notice in the workplace, and to provide any appropriate relief that makes the charging party whole, including reinstatement and back pay (with interest at seven percent per annum). (Minn. Stat. § 179A.13, subd. 1(i).) This remedial authority comes from the statute itself, not merely an administrative rule; the board’s procedures are implemented through Minnesota Rules chapter 7325. Any monetary award is limited to making the charging party whole; the statute does not authorize the multiplied (treble) damages available under some other Minnesota statutes. After the hearing officer issues a recommended decision and order, a party aggrieved by it may appeal to the board, which hears and decides the appeal. (Minn. Stat. § 179A.041, available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/179A.041.) Like National Labor Relations Board decisions, Minnesota’s PERB decisions may be reviewed by the Court of Appeals: on a writ of certiorari, with the petition filed and served within 30 days of the date the board mails its decision. (Minn. Stat. § 179A.052, available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/179A.052.)
