As used in this chapter:
"Appropriate bargaining unit" means a group of employees designated by the board for the purpose of collective bargaining.
"Board" means the city of Lovington labor management relations board.
"Certification" means the designation by the board of a labor organization as the exclusive representative for all employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.
"Collective bargaining" means the act of negotiating between the employer and an exclusive representative for the purpose of entering into a written agreement regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
"Confidential employee" means a person who devotes a majority of his/her time to assisting and acting in a confidential capacity with respect to a person who formulates, determines, and effectuates management policies.
"Emergency" means a one-time crisis that was unforeseen and unavoidable.
"Employee" means a regular, nonprobationary employee of the city of Lovington.
"Employer" means the city of Lovington.
"Exclusive representative" means a labor organization that, as a result of certification by the board, represents all employees in an appropriate bargaining unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.
"Fair share" means the payment to a labor organization, which is the exclusive representative for an appropriate bargaining unit, by an employee of that bargaining unit who is not a member of that labor organization, equal to a certain percentage of membership dues. Such figure is to be calculated based on United States and New Mexico statutes and case law identifying those expenditures by a labor organization which are permissibly chargeable to all employees in the appropriate bargaining unit under United States and New Mexico statutes and case law, including, but not limited to, all expenditures incurred by the labor organization in negotiating the contract applicable to all employees in the appropriate bargaining unit, servicing such contract, and representing all such employees in grievances and disciplinary actions.
"Governing body" means the city of Lovington council.
"Impasse" means failure of the employer and an exclusive representative, after good faith bargaining, to reach agreement in the course of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
"Labor organization" means any employee organization, one of whose purposes is the representation of public employees in collective bargaining and in otherwise meeting, consulting, and conferring with employers on matters pertaining to employment relations.
"Lockout" means an act by the employer to prevent its employees from going to work for the purpose of resisting demands of the employees' exclusive representative or for the purpose of gaining a concession from the exclusive representative.
"Management employee" means an employee who is engaged primarily in executive and management functions and is charged with the responsibility of developing, administering, or effectuating management policies. An employee shall not be deemed a management employee solely because the employee participates in cooperative decision making programs on an occasional basis.
"Mediation" means assistance by an impartial third party to resolve an impasse in contract negotiation between the employer and an exclusive representative through interpretation, suggestion and advice.
"Professional employee" means an employee whose work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character and whose work involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance and requires knowledge of an advanced nature in a field of learning customarily requiring specialized study at an institution of higher education or its equivalent. The work of a professional employee is of such character that the output or result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time.
"Strike" means an employee's refusal, in concerted action with other employees, to report for duty or his wilful absence or withholding of service in whole or in part from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of employment for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in the working conditions, compensation, rights, privileges, or obligations of employment.
"Supervisor" means an employee who devotes a majority amount of work time to supervisory duties, who customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more other employees, and who has the authority in the interest of the employer to hire, promote, or discipline other employees or to recommend such actions effectively. This definition does not include individuals who perform merely routine, incidental, or clerical duties or who occasionally assume supervisory or directory roles or whose duties are substantially similar to those of their subordinates and does not include lead employees or employees who occasionally participate in peer review or evaluation of employees. (Ord. 460 § 4, 2005)