(a) Employees shall have the right:
(1) To form, join, support, contribute to, or participate in, or to refrain from forming, joining, supporting, contributing to, or participating in, any employee organization or its lawful activities; and
(2) To be fairly represented by their certified representative, if any.
(b) The employer must extend to the certified representative the exclusive right to represent the employees for the purposes of collective bargaining, including the orderly processing and settlement of grievances as agreed by the parties.
(c) Except as provided in subsections (e) and (f), a certified representative must serve as the bargaining agent for all employees and must represent fairly and without discrimination all employees without regard to whether the employees are members of the employee organization, pay dues or other contributions to it, or participate in its affairs.
(d) The right of the certified representative to receive membership dues deductions must be determined through negotiations, unless the authority to negotiate such provisions has been suspended under section 33-84. No collective bargaining agreement may include a provision requiring membership in, participation in the affairs of, or contributions to an employee organization.
(e) A certified representative may require an employee who does not pay membership dues or equivalent fees to pay:
(1) the reasonable costs and fees, including expenses for staff time and materials, arbitrator fees, and related attorney’s fees, for filing a grievance or arbitrating a matter that arises under a collective bargaining agreement brought by the certified representative at the request of the employee; and
(2) any anticipated proportional costs and fees before a grievance is filed or arbitration is pursued.
(f) If an employee fails to pay the reasonable costs to file a grievance or pursue arbitration imposed under subsection (e), the certified representative may refuse to file the grievance or pursue arbitration on behalf of the employee. A dispute concerning the reasonableness of the fees imposed by the certified representative under subsection (e) may be submitted to the permanent umpire as a prohibited practice under Section 33-82. (1982 L.M.C., ch. 53, § 3; 2000 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 2020 L.M.C., ch. 3, §1.)
Editor’s note—Sections 33-75 through 33-85 and Sections 33-101 through 33-112 are cited, and Section 33-80 is quoted, in Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 v. Montgomery County, 436 Md. 1, 80 A.3d 686 (2013).
Sections 33-81 and 33-83 are cited and quoted, and Sections 33-75, 33-76, 33-77, 33-78, 33-79, 33-80, 33-82, 33-84 & 33-85 are cited in Fraternal Order of Police, Montgomery County Lodge 35, Inc., v. Montgomery County Executive, 210 Md. App. 117, 62 A.3d 238 (2013). The Court interpreted Section 33-80 regarding collective bargaining agreements and the funding of future County budgets.