§ 204 — Recognition and certification of employee organizations

§ 204. Recognition and certification of employee organizations. 1.\nPublic employers are hereby empowered to recognize employee\norganizations for the purpose of negotiating collectively in the\ndetermination of, and administration of grievances arising under, the\nterms and conditions of employment of their public employees as provided\nin this article, and to negotiate and enter into written agreements with\nsuch employee organizations in determining such terms and conditions of\nemployment.\n 2. Where an employee organization has been certified or recognized\npursuant to the provisions of this article, it shall be the exclusive\nrepresentative, for the purposes of this article, of all the employees\nin the appropriate negotiating unit, and the appropriate public employer\nshall be, and hereby is, required to negotiate collectively with such\nemployee organization in the determination of, and administration of\ngrievances arising under, the terms and conditions of employment of the\npublic employees as provided in this article, and to negotiate and enter\ninto written agreements with such employee organizations in determining\nsuch terms and conditions of employment.\n 3. For the purpose of this article, to negotiate collectively is the\nperformance of the mutual obligation of the public employer and a\nrecognized or certified employee organization to meet at reasonable\ntimes and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other\nterms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement,\nor any question arising thereunder, and the execution of a written\nagreement incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either\nparty, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a\nproposal or require the making of a concession.\n