2005 Minnesota Statutes - 179A.01 — Public policy.

     179A.01 Public policy. 


    It is the public policy of this state and the purpose of 
 sections 179A.01 to 179A.25 to promote orderly and constructive 
 relationships between all public employers and their employees. 
 This policy is subject to the paramount right of the citizens of 
 this state to keep inviolate the guarantees for their health, 
 education, safety, and welfare.  


    The relationships between the public, public employees, and 
 employer governing bodies involve responsibilities to the public 
 and a need for cooperation and employment protection which are 
 different from those found in the private sector.  The 
 importance or necessity of some services to the public can 
 create imbalances in the relative bargaining power between 
 public employees and employers.  As a result, unique approaches 
 to negotiations and resolutions of disputes between public 
 employees and employers are necessary.  


    Unresolved disputes between the public employer and its 
 employees are injurious to the public as well as to the parties. 
 Adequate means must be established for minimizing them and 
 providing for their resolution.  Within these limitations and 
 considerations, the legislature has determined that overall 
 policy is best accomplished by:  


    (1) granting public employees certain rights to organize 
 and choose freely their representatives; 


    (2) requiring public employers to meet and negotiate with 
 public employees in an appropriate bargaining unit and providing 
 that the result of bargaining be in written agreements; and 


    (3) establishing special rights, responsibilities, 
 procedures, and limitations regarding public employment 
 relationships which will provide for the protection of the 
 rights of the public employee, the public employer, and the 
 public at large.  


    Nothing in sections 179A.01 to 179A.25 impairs, modifies, 
 or alters the authority of the legislature to establish rates of 
 pay, or retirement or other benefits for its employees.  


    HIST: 1984 c 462 s 2