WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 330
By Senators Trump, Boso and Blair
[Introduced February
16, 2017; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §21-5G-1 and §21-5G-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act; eliminating the term “state” from the definitions section of the act; eliminating provisions addressing the construction of the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act; eliminating language regarding the applicability of the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act to collective bargaining or collective bargaining agreements in the building and construction industry; clarifying dates of applicability; and specifying that changes are to be applied retroactively.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21-5G-1 and §21-5G-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5g. west virginia workplace freedom act.
§21-5G-1. Definitions.
As used in this article: the following terms have
the following definitions
(a) (1) The
term “person” means any individual, proprietorship, partnership, firm,
association, corporation, labor organization or any other legal entity.
(b) (2) The
term “labor organization” means any organization, agency, union or employee
representation committee of any kind that exists, in whole or in part, to
assist employees in negotiating with employers concerning grievances, labor
disputes, wages, rates of pay or other terms or conditions of employment.
(c) (3) The
term “employer” means any person employing at least one individual in the state
or any agent of an employer employing at least one individual in the state.
(d) The term “state” means any officer, board, branch,
commission, department, division, bureau, committee, agency, authority or other
instrumentality of the State of West Virginia
§21-5G-7. Construction;
Applicability; severability.
(a) Construction. — Except to the extent
expressly prohibited by the provisions of this article, nothing in this article
is intended, or should be construed, to change or affect any law concerning
collective bargaining or collective bargaining agreements in the building and
construction industry
(b) (a)
Applicability. — This article applies to any written or oral contract or
agreement entered into, modified, renewed or extended on or after July
1, 2016: Provided, That the provisions of this article shall do
not otherwise apply to or abrogate a written or oral contract or agreement in
effect on or before June 30, 2016. The changes made to this article during
the 2017 regular session of the Legislature shall be applied retroactively.
(c) (b)
Severability. — If any provision of this act article or the
application of any such provision of this article to any person
or circumstance should be is held invalid by a court of competent
jurisdiction, the remainder of this act article or the
application of its provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to
which it is held invalid shall is not be affected thereby.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide technical corrections to the definitions of the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act and to repeal provisions relating to the statutory construction of the act.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.