To repeal sections 105.500, 105.510, 105.520, 105.525 and 105.530, RSMo 1994, and to enact in lieu thereof twenty new sections to provide for bargaining in good faith, with penalty provisions and an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI,

AS FOLLOWS:

Section A. Sections 105.500, 105.510, 105.520, 105.525 and 105.530, RSMo 1994, are repealed and twenty new sections enacted in lieu thereof to be known as sections 105.500, 105.510, 105.520, 105.525, 105.530, 105.532, 105.534, 105.536, 105.538, 105.540, 105.542, 105.544, 105.546, 105.548, 105.550, 105.552, 105.554, 105.556, 105.558 and 105.560, to read as follows:

105.500. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and phrases mean:

(1) "Appropriate unit" means a unit of employees at any plant or installation or in a craft or in a function of a public body which establishes a clear and identifiable community of interest among the employees concerned;

(2) "Board", the state board of mediation established under section 295.030, RSMo;

(3) "Collective bargaining", "bargain collectively" or "negotiate", to perform the mutual obligation of the public body, by its representatives, and the representatives of its employees to negotiate in good faith at reasonable times and places with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and the continuation, modification, or deletion of an existing provision of a collective bargaining agreement, with the intention of reaching an agreement, or to resolve questions arising under the agreement. This includes executing a written contract incorporating the terms of any agreement reached. The obligation to bargain collectively does not mean that either party is compelled to agree to a proposal nor does it require the making of a concession;

(4) "Confidential employee", any public employee who works in the personnel offices of a public body and deals with information to be used by the public body in collective bargaining, or any employee who works in a close, continuing relationship with public officers or representatives directly participating in collective bargaining on behalf of the employer, including their personal secretaries;

(5) "Employee organization", an organization in which public employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with public employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment;

[(2)] (6) "Exclusive bargaining representative" means an organization which has been designated or selected by majority of employees in an appropriate unit as the representative of such employees in such unit for purposes of collective bargaining;

(7) "Professional employee", any employee engaged in work predominantly intellectual and varied in character rather than routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work, involving the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance, of such a character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time, and requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, as distinguished from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship or from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes, or any employee who has completed the courses of specialized intellectual instruction and study described in this subdivision and is performing related work under the supervision of a professional person to qualify to become a professional employee as defined in this subdivision;

(8) "Public employee", any individual employed by a public body, except individuals exempted under the provisions of sections 105.510 and 105.544;

[(3)] (9) "Public body" means the state of Missouri, or any officer, agency, department, bureau, division, board or commission of the state, or any other political subdivision of or within the state[.];

(10) "Supervisor", an employee who devotes a substantial 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 but 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, employees who participate in peer review or occasional employee evaluation programs.

105.510. Employees, except [police, deputy sheriffs, Missouri state highway patrolmen,] Missouri national guard[,] and all teachers of [all Missouri schools,] colleges and universities, [of any public body] shall have the right to form and join labor organizations and to present proposals to any public body relative to salaries and other conditions of employment through the representative of their own choosing. No such employee shall be discharged or discriminated against because of his exercise of such right, nor shall any person or group of persons, directly or indirectly, by intimidation or coercion, compel or attempt to compel any such employee to join or refrain from joining a labor organization, except that the above excepted employees have the right to form benevolent, social, or fraternal associations. Membership in such associations may not be restricted on the basis of race, creed, color, religion or ancestry.

105.520. Whenever such proposals are presented by the exclusive bargaining representative to a public body, the public body or its designated representative or representatives shall [meet, confer and discuss such proposals relative to] bargain collectively in good faith regarding salaries and other conditions of employment of the employees of the public body with the labor organization which is the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees in a unit appropriate. Upon the completion of discussions, the results shall be reduced to writing and be presented to the appropriate administrative, legislative or other governing body in the form of an ordinance, resolution, bill or other form required for adoption, modification or rejection.

105.525. 1. Issues with respect to appropriateness of bargaining units and majority representative status shall be resolved by the state board of mediation. In the event that the appropriate [administrative] public body or any of the bargaining units shall be aggrieved by the decision of the state board of mediation, an appeal may be had to the circuit court of the county where the administrative body is located or in the circuit court of Cole County. The state board of mediation shall use the services of the state hearing officer in all contested cases.

2. The board shall make a determination as to the designation of an appropriate unit according to procedures established under the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 151 et. seq., and the board shall provide notice of same to all interested parties. When following federal guidelines to designate an appropriate unit, the board shall take into consideration, along with other relevant factors, the following:

(1) The desires of the employees;

(2) The community interest;

(3) The effect of over-fragmentation; and

(4) The operations and structure of the public body.

3. Whenever a petition is filed by an employee or employee organization containing the signatures of at least thirty percent of the public employees in an appropriate unit, the board shall conduct a secret ballot representation election to determine whether the public employees in the appropriate unit wish to be represented by an exclusive bargaining representative. The ballot shall contain the names of the petitioner and any employee organization submitting a petition containing signatures of at least ten percent of the public employees within the appropriate unit. The ballot shall also contain a choice of no representation.

4. If none of the choices on the ballot receives the vote of a majority of the public employees voting, the board shall, within fifteen days, conduct a runoff election among the two choices receiving the greatest number of votes.

5. Upon written objections filed by any party to the election within ten days after notice of the results of the election, if the board finds that misconduct or other circumstances prevented the public employees eligible to vote from freely expressing their preferences, the board may invalidate the election and hold a second or subsequent election for the public employees.

6. Upon completion of a valid election in which the majority choice of the appropriate unit employees voting is determined, the board shall certify the results of the election, and shall give reasonable notice of the order to all employee organizations listed on the ballot, the public body and the public employees in the appropriate unit. An exclusive bargaining representative which is the majority choice of the appropriate unit of employees voting in a valid election under this section shall be certified by the board as the exclusive bargaining representative for the appropriate unit employees.

7. A new petition for certification as an exclusive bargaining representative shall not be considered by the board for a period of one year from the date of the certification or noncertification of an exclusive bargaining representative or during the duration of a collective bargaining agreement not to exceed three years. If a petition for decertification is filed during the duration of a collective bargaining agreement, the board shall order an election under this section not more than one hundred eighty days and not less than one hundred fifty days prior to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.

8. Every exclusive bargaining representative which is certified as a representative of public employees under the provisions of this act shall file with the board two copies of the representative's constitution and bylaws. Filing by a national or international employee organization of its constitution and bylaws shall be accepted in lieu of a filing of such documents by each subordinate organization. All changes or amendments to such constitutions and bylaws shall be promptly reported to the board.

9. Exclusive bargaining representatives, employee organizations and appropriate units recognized by the public body or certified by the board prior to the effective date of this act, shall continue to be recognized as appropriate for purposes of this act.

10. Professional and nonprofessional employees shall not be included in the same exclusive bargaining representative unless a majority of both agree.

11. Bargaining by a coalition of all exclusive bargaining representatives concerning wages, fringe benefits and those matters which have uniform applicability to all employees of public bodies may be conducted by the parties. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit supplementary bargaining on behalf of public employees in an appropriate unit or part of an appropriate unit concerning matters uniquely affecting those public employees, or coordinated or consolidated bargaining between two or more appropriate units concerning matters uniquely affecting those public employees.

12. For the purpose of decertification, the petition of a public employee shall allege that an employee organization which has been certified as the bargaining representative of an appropriate unit does not represent a majority of such public employees and that the petitioners do not want to be represented by an employee organization or seek certification of a different employee organization. Such petition shall be accompanied by written evidence that thirty percent of such employees do not want to be represented by an employee organization or seek certification of a different employee organization.

13. The board shall investigate the allegations of any petition and shall give reasonable notice of the receipt of such petition to all public employees, employee organizations, and public employers named or described in such petitions or interested in the representation questioned. The board shall call an election within thirty days of receipt of a petition unless it finds that less than thirty percent of the public employees in the appropriate unit for collective bargaining support the petition for decertification or for certification or the exclusive bargaining representative has not been determined.

14. Nothing in this act shall be construed to annul or modify any collective bargaining agreement entered into between an employer and exclusive bargaining representative prior to the effective date of this act.

15. The board of mediation shall adopt rules and regulations pertaining to the following:

(1) The certification and decertification of exclusive bargaining representatives;

(2) Impasse procedures;

(3) Grievance procedures;

(4) The payment of fees and assessments;

(5) The holding of hearings, administering of oaths, receiving of evidence and examining of witnesses;

(6) The collection of data relating to wages, hours and benefits of public employees;

(7) The maintenance of a list of qualified mediators and arbitrators and respective compensation rates of such persons; and

(8) Any other matters pertaining to matters of collective bargaining procedures established by law.

16. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of this act shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.

105.530. Nothing contained in sections 105.500 to 105.530 shall be construed as granting a right to employees covered in sections 105.500 to 105.530 to strike.

105.532. 1. Public employees may refuse to join or participate in the activities of an employee organization, including the payment of any dues, fees or assessments or service fees of any type except to the extent that such right may be affected by agreements between the public body and the employee organization which is the exclusive bargaining representative requiring, as a condition of employment, the payment of a service fee in lieu of, and in an amount not greater than, dues which are payable by members of the employee organization to cover the cost of negotiation, contract administration and other activities of the employee organization which are germane to its functions as the exclusive bargaining representative. The exclusive bargaining representative shall, as a condition of receiving such service fees, establish a procedure which provides the following protections to nonmembers of the exclusive bargaining representative who are required to pay such fees and object to paying all or a portion thereof:

(1) Notice, in writing, of the fee which will be payable, which may be expressed in a dollar amount or a percentage of the dues payable by members, and the basis upon which the exclusive bargaining representative has determined such fee;

(2) An opportunity to challenge such determination and receive a prompt decision from an impartial arbitrator, provided, however, that the selection of such arbitrator may not represent the unrestricted choice of the exclusive bargaining representative; and

(3) Escrowing of any portion of the service fee paid by a challenging employee which is reasonably in dispute pending the arbitrator's determination.

2. Such agreement may require the payment of a service fee commencing thirty days after the beginning of employment or the effective date of such agreement, whichever is later.

3. The collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative may include a provision for the checkoff of initiation fees and dues to the exclusive bargaining representative and the payment of a service fee in lieu thereof as authorized by this section.

105.534. 1. It shall be unlawful for public employees to strike. If a strike occurs, the public body may initiate in the circuit court of jurisdiction where the strike occurs, an action for injunctive relief.

2. It shall be unlawful for any public body to authorize, consent to or condone an illegal strike; or to pay or agree to pay any public employee for any day in which the employee participates in an illegal strike; or to pay or agree to pay any increase in compensation or benefits to any public employee in response to or as a result of any illegal strike or any act which violates this act. It shall be unlawful for any official, director or representative of any public body to authorize, ratify or participate in any violation of this subsection. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent new or renewed bargaining and agreement within the scope of negotiations as defined by this act, at any time after a violation of this subsection has ceased.

3. In the event of any violation or imminently threatened violation of subsection 1 of this section, any citizen domiciled within the jurisdictional boundaries of the public body may petition the circuit court of the county in which the violation occurs for an injunction restraining such violation or imminently threatened violation. The court shall only grant a temporary injunction if it appears to the court that a violation has occurred or is imminently threatened; but the plaintiff need not show that the violation or threatened violation would greatly or irreparably injure him; and no bond shall be required of the plaintiff unless the court determines that a bond is necessary in the public interest. Failure to comply with any temporary or permanent injunction granted pursuant to this subsection shall constitute criminal contempt. The punishment for such contempt shall consist of a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars for an individual, or ten thousand dollars for an employee organization or public employer, for each day during which the failure to comply continues, or confinement in a county jail not exceeding six months, or both such fine and confinement.

4. If an employee organization or any of its officers is held to be in contempt of court for failure to comply with an injunction issued pursuant to this section, the employee organization shall be immediately decertified as the exclusive bargaining representative and shall cease to receive any dues by payroll deduction. The penalties provided in this section may be suspended or modified by the court, but only upon the joint request of the public employer and the employee organization and only if the court determines the suspension or modification is in the public interest.

5. If a public employee is held to be in criminal contempt of court for failure to comply with an injunction issued pursuant to this section, or is convicted of violating any provision of this section, notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 168, RSMo, the court may order that the public employee be immediately discharged from his employment, or that notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 36, RSMo, the public employee forfeit all seniority rights or any tenure acquired pursuant to sections 168.102 to 168.130, RSMo, or that the public employee be ineligible for any employment by the same public employer for a period of twelve months or any combination of such sanctions.

6. Any person who violates any provision of subsection 1 of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

7. Each of the remedies and penalties provided by this section is separate and several, and is in addition to any other legal or equitable remedy or penalty.

105.536. For purposes of this act the following words and phrases mean:

(1) "Arbitration", the procedure whereby the parties involved in an impasse or grievance dispute submit their differences to a third party for a final and determinative decision;

(2) "Impasse", the failure of a public body and the exclusive bargaining representative to reach agreement in the course of negotiations;

(3) "Mediation", assistance by an impartial third party to reconcile an impasse between the public body and the exclusive bargaining representative regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment through interpretation, suggestion and advice to resolve the impasse;

(4) "Strike", a public employee's refusal in concerted action with others, to report to duty, or the willful absence from one's position, the stoppage of work, or the abstinence 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 conditions, or compensations, or the rights, privileges or obligations of public employment. Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to limit, impair or affect the right of any public employee to the expression or communication of a view, grievance, complaint or opinion on any matter related to the conditions or compensation of public employment or their betterment, so long as the same is not designed to and does not interfere with the full, faithful and proper performance of the duties of employment.

105.538. 1. A request for negotiations shall be filed in writing by the exclusive bargaining representative to the state no later than September first for collective bargaining agreements effective on July first of the following year. Negotiations shall begin no later than October first in the year the request was filed.

2. If an impasse occurs during negotiations, and if no agreement is reached by the parties by January first of the following year, either party may submit a request for mediation to the state board of mediation. The parties involved shall mutually agree upon a mediator or request the board to appoint an impartial mediator.

3. The mediator shall provide services to the parties until the parties reach agreement, the mediator believes that mediation services are no longer helpful or January twenty-first, whichever occurs first. If the mediator determines that mediation services are no longer helpful or if the January twenty-first deadline occurs, either party shall submit the unresolved issues to final and determinative arbitration by an arbitrator. The board shall provide the parties with a list of seven qualified arbitrators. Each party shall alternately strike one name from the list with the party submitting the impasse to arbitration making the first strike until one name remains who shall be the arbitrator for the parties involved in the dispute.

4. Each party shall submit a final offer on each separate item remaining at impasse to the arbitrator and the other party. The arbitrator shall determine that either the final offer of the employer or the final offer of the exclusive representative on each separate issue shall be incorporated into the final collective bargaining agreement, provided that the arbitration panel shall not amend the offer of either party on any issue.

5. The arbitrator shall begin his hearings no later than February fifteenth in accordance with procedures prescribed by the board and the provisions of sections 435.350 to 435.470, RSMo, except section 435.460, RSMo, shall be applicable to the proceedings of the arbitrator. The arbitrator shall render a decision in writing no later than March fifteenth. The costs of such arbitrations shall be borne equally by the parties.

6. The procedures set forth in this section for collective bargaining and the resolutions of impasses reached in collective bargaining shall be followed by local public bodies provided that local public bodies and exclusive bargaining representatives shall determine collective bargaining time tables by mutual agreement of the parties, depending upon the fiscal year of the local public body.

7. In making any decision under the impasse procedures authorized by this section, the arbitrator shall give weight to the following factors:

(1) The lawful authority of the public body;

(2) Stipulations of the parties;

(3) The interests and welfare of the public;

(4) The financial ability of the public body to meet the costs of any items to be included in the contract;

(5) Comparison of wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment of the employees involved in the arbitration proceedings with the wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment of other persons performing similar services in the public and private sectors;

(6) The average consumer prices for goods and services, commonly known as the "cost of living" or the consumer price index;

(7) The overall compensation presently received by the employees involved in the arbitration, including, but not limited to, wages, health and life insurance, vacations, holidays and similar benefits;

(8) Changes in any of the foregoing circumstances during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings;

(9) Such other factors which are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment through voluntary collective bargaining, mediation, fact finding, arbitration or otherwise between the parties, in the public service or in private employment.

8. Any collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the public body and the exclusive bargaining representative shall contain a grievance resolution procedure which shall apply to all disputes arising under the collective bargaining agreement and which shall culminate in final and binding arbitration.

105.540. 1. After a negotiated agreement has been agreed to by the state and the exclusive bargaining representative of an appropriate unit of state employees, if any portion of the final agreement is found to be in conflict with provisions of the state personnel law, the terms of the final agreement shall prevail. That portion of the final agreement which does not require funds to be appropriated by the public body shall take effect immediately upon the agreement being reduced to writing and signed by the parties to the agreement. That portion of the final agreement which requires the public body to appropriate public funds shall take effect only upon approval of the legislative body of the public body.

2. After a negotiated agreement has been agreed to by a public body other than the state and the exclusive bargaining representative of an appropriate unit of employees of that public body, that portion of the final agreement which requires the local public body to appropriate public funds, and any portion of the final agreement found to be in conflict with an ordinance or order of the local public body shall take effect only upon approval of the legislative body of the public body of the appropriation of such funds or enactment of an order or ordinance intended to remove any conflict with any ordinance or order as a result of the final agreement. That portion of the final agreement which does not require funds to be expended by the local public body or does not conflict with any ordinance or order of the local public body shall take effect immediately upon the agreement being reduced to writing and signed by the parties to the agreement.

3. In case of any conflict between the provisions of this act and any other law, executive order or administrative regulation, the provisions of this act shall prevail and control.

4. Failure of a legislative body to approve any portion of a collective bargaining agreement submitted to it shall not be in conflict with the good faith bargaining requirements of this act.

5. The agreement shall remain in effect for the term specified therein. Upon the expiration of an agreement, the terms of such agreement shall remain in effect until superseded by a new agreement.

105.542. It shall be unlawful for public employees to strike. If a strike occurs, the public body may initiate in the circuit court of jurisdiction where the strike occurs, an action for injunctive relief. It shall be unlawful for any public body to authorize, consent to or condone any strikes, or to pay or agree to pay a public employee for any day in which the employee participates in a strike.

105.544. The following public employees shall be excluded from the provisions of this act:

(1) Elected officials and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elected offices, and members of any board or commission;

(2) Representatives of a public body, including the administrative officer, director, or chief executive officer of a public body, or major division thereof as well as his or her deputy, first assistant, and any supervisory employees, provided that nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit a public body from recognizing, bargaining with, and entering into a contract with an exclusive bargaining representative of an appropriate unit comprised solely of supervisors;

(3) Confidential employees;

(4) Students working as part-time public employees twenty hours per week or less and graduate or other postgraduate students in preparation for a profession who are engaged in academically related employment as a teaching, research or service assistant;

(5) Temporary public employees employed for a fixed period of four months or less;

(6) Judges of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, circuit judges and associate circuit judges;

(7) Employees of any legislative body of the public employer whose principal duties are directly related to the legislative functions of the body;

(8) Patients and inmates employed, sentenced or committed to any state or local institution.

105.546. Unless limited by the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement or by other statutory provisions, a public body may:

(1) Direct the work of, hire, promote, assign, transfer, demote, suspend, discharge or terminate public employees;

(2) Determine qualifications for employment and the nature and content of personnel examinations; and

(3) Take actions as may be necessary to carry out the mission of the public body in emergencies.

105.548. Public employees may:

(1) Organize, form, join, or assist any exclusive bargaining representative;

(2) Negotiate collectively through representatives of their own choosing;

(3) Engage in other concerted activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection insofar as any such activity is not prohibited by this act or any other law of the state.

105.550. 1. It shall be a prohibited practice for any public body or exclusive bargaining representative to refuse to negotiate in good faith with respect to the scope of negotiations intended to culminate in a collective bargaining agreement.

2. It shall be a prohibited practice for a public body or its designated representative to:

(1) Interfere with, restrain or coerce public employees in the exercise of rights granted by this act;

(2) Dominate or interfere in the administration of any exclusive bargaining representative;

(3) Encourage or discourage membership in any employee organization, committee, or association by discrimination in hiring, or other terms or conditions of employment;

(4) Refuse to negotiate collectively with representatives of any exclusive bargaining representative;

(5) Refuse to reduce a collective bargaining agreement to writing and sign such agreement.

3. It shall be a prohibited practice for an exclusive bargaining representative or its agents willfully to:

(1) Interfere with, restrain, coerce, or harass any public employee with respect to any of the rights under this act or in order to prevent or discourage his exercise of any such right, including, without limitation, all rights under this act;

(2) Interfere, restrain, or coerce a public employee with respect to rights granted in this act or with respect to selecting a representative for purposes of negotiating collectively on the adjustment of grievances;

(3) Refuse to bargain collectively with the public body as required in this act.

4. The expressing of any views, argument, or opinion or the dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic or visual form, shall not constitute or be evidence of any unfair labor practice under any provisions of this act if such expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit.

105.552. 1. A complaint against a party that alleges a violation of section 105.550 of this act shall be commenced by filing a charge with the board within six months of the alleged violation, or knowledge thereof, causing a copy of the charge to be served upon the accused party in the manner of an original notice as provided in section 105.558 of this act. The accused party shall have ten days within which to file a written answer to the charge. The board may conduct a preliminary investigation of the alleged violation, and if the board determines that the charge has no legal or factual basis, it may dismiss the charge. If it does not dismiss the charge, the board shall promptly thereafter set a time and place for a hearing in the county where the alleged violation occurred or in the county where the board maintains its principal office. The parties shall be permitted to be represented by counsel or other designated representative, summon witnesses, and request the board to subpoena witnesses on the requester's behalf. Compliance with the technical rules of pleading and evidence shall not be required.

2. The board may designate a hearing officer to conduct the hearing. The hearing officer shall have such powers as may be exercised by the board for conducting the hearing and shall follow the procedures adopted by the board for conducting the hearing. The decision of the hearing officer may be appealed to the board and the board may hear the case de novo or upon the record as submitted before the hearing officer.

3. The board shall appoint a certified reporter to report the proceedings and the board shall affix the reasonable amount of compensation for such service, which amount shall be taxed as other costs.

4. The board shall file its findings of fact and conclusions of law. If the board finds that the party accused has committed a prohibited practice, the board may issue an order directing the party to cease and desist engaging in the prohibited practice and may order such other affirmative relief as is necessary to remedy the unfair labor practice. The board may petition the circuit court for enforcement of its orders.

5. Any party aggrieved by any decision or order of the board may, within ten days from the date such decision or order is filed, apply for and obtain judicial review of an order of the board entered under this act, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, except that such judicial review shall be afforded directly in the appellate court of the judicial district in which the board maintains its principal office, the judicial district in which the public body maintains its principal office, or the judicial district in which the charge arose. The board and all parties of record in the proceedings before the board shall be named as parties to the appeal. In any judicial review proceeding, the exclusive bargaining representative may sue or be sued as an entity and in behalf of the employees whom it represents. The service of legal process, summons or subpoena upon an officer or agent of the exclusive bargaining representative in his capacity as such shall constitute service upon such representative.

6. Within thirty days after a notice of appeal is filed with the board, it shall make, certify, and file in the office of the clerk of the court to which the appeal is taken, a full and complete transcript of all documents in the case, including any depositions and a transcript or certificate of the evidence together with the notice of appeal.

7. The transcript as certified and filed by the board shall be the record on which the appeal shall be heard, and no additional evidence shall be heard. In the absence of fraud, the findings of fact made by the board shall be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole.

8. Any order or decision of the board may be modified, reversed, or set aside on one or more of the following grounds and on no other:

(1) If the board acts without or in excess of its power;

(2) If the order was procured by fraud or is contrary to law;

(3) If the facts found by the board do not support the order; or

(4) If the order is not supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole.

9. When the appellate court, on appeal, reverses or sets aside an order or decision of the board, it may remand the case to the board for further proceedings in harmony with the holdings of the court, or it may enter the proper judgment, as the case may be. Such judgment or decree shall have the same force and effect as if action had been originally brought and tried in such court. The assessment of costs in such appeals shall be in the discretion of the court.

105.554. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the following shall be exempt from the provisions of sections 610.010 to 610.030, RSMo:

(1) All discussions between the chief executive officers of the public body, or its representative, and the legislative body of the public body relative to collective bargaining;

(2) The collective bargaining negotiations between the chief executive officer, or his representative, and an exclusive bargaining representative; and

(3) All work products developed by the public body in preparation for negotiations, and during negotiations.

105.556. Any employee organization and public body may sue or be sued as an entity under the provisions of this act. Service upon the public body or upon the employee organization shall be in accordance with law or the rules of civil procedure, except that for purposes of actions and proceedings by or against employee organizations under this act, the circuit courts shall be deemed to have jurisdiction of an employee organization in the circuit in which such organization maintains its principal office, or in the circuit in which the claim on which the suit is based arose. Nothing in this act shall be construed to make any individual or his assets liable for any judgment against a public body or an employee organization.

105.558. Any notice required under the provisions of this act shall be in writing, but service thereof shall be sufficient if mailed by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known address of the parties, unless otherwise provided in this act. Refusal of registered or certified mail by any party shall be considered service. Prescribed time periods shall commence from the date of the receipt of the notice. Any party may at any time execute and deliver an acceptance of service in lieu of mailed notice.

105.560. The provisions of this act are hereby declared to be severable. Should any of the provisions of this act be declared unconstitutional or in conflict with some other provisions of law, the remaining provisions of this act shall continue to be the law of the state relative to public employment relations.

Section B. The provisions of this act shall become effective January 1, 1997.