Public workers outside public safety would have a conditional strike option

Public employees and their unions outside public safety would have a conditional option to strike. These rules would cover Massachusetts public employees and their unions negotiating a union contract. The proposed ban would apply before six months of contract talks. Filing a petition asking officials to confirm a bargaining deadlock would make section 9A’s restrictions inapplicable, unless the talks concern public safety employees. Public safety employees and their unions would be barred from strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns, and withholding services in all circumstances. The six-month threshold would be measured by the length of contract negotiations.

Mediation, where a neutral person helps resolve a bargaining dispute, would last no more than six months. The limits would apply within Massachusetts public employee bargaining rules. The proposal would also replace “a reasonable period” with six months. The surrounding sentence needed to explain that period is not included.