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11 <br />MINNESOTA STATUTES 2020 179.17 <br />179.16 REPRESENTATIVES FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. <br />Subdivision 1. To be exclusive. Representatives designated or selected for the purpose of collective <br />bargaining by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes shall be the exclusive <br />representatives of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates <br />of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment, provided, that any individual <br />employee or group of employees shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer in <br />person or through representatives of their own choosing. <br />Subd. 2. Certification of group representative by commissioner. When a question concerning the <br />representative of employees is raised by an employee, group of employees, labor organization, or employer <br />the commissioner of mediation services or any person designated by the commissioner shall, at the request <br />of any of the parties, investigate such controversy and certify to the parties in writing, the name or names <br />of the representatives that have been designated or selected. The commissioner shall decide in each case <br />whether, in order to insure to employees the full benefit of their right to self -organization and to collective <br />bargaining and otherwise to effectuate the purpose of this chapter, the unit appropriate for the purpose of <br />collective bargaining shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit; provided, that any larger unit may be <br />decided upon with the consent of all employers involved, and provided that when a craft exists, composed <br />of one or more employees then such craft shall constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective <br />bargaining for such employee or employees belonging to such craft and a majority of such employees of <br />such craft may designate a representative for such unit. Two or more units may, by voluntary consent, bargain <br />through the same agent or agents with an employer or employers, their agent or agents. Supervisory employees <br />shall not be considered in the selection of a bargaining agent. In any such investigation, the commissioner <br />may provide for an appropriate hearing, and may take a secret ballot of employees or utilize any other suitable <br />method to ascertain such representatives, but the commissioner shall not certify any labor organization which <br />is dominated, controlled, or maintained by an employer. If the commissioner has certified the representatives <br />as herein provided, the commissioner shall not be required to again consider the matter for a period of one <br />year unless it appears to the commissioner that sufficient reason exists. <br />Subd. 3. Witnesses; powers of commissioner. In the investigation of any controversy concerning the <br />representative of employees for collective bargaining, the commissioner of mediation services shall have <br />power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence <br />which relates directly to any matter involved in any such hearing, and the commissioner or representative <br />may administer oaths and affirmations, and may examine witnesses. Such attendance of witnesses and the <br />production of such evidence may be required from any place in the state at any designated place of hearing, <br />but hearings shall be held in a county where the question has arisen or exists. <br />Subd. 4. Contempt of court. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued under this <br />section, the district court of the county where the proceeding is pending or in which the person guilty of <br />such contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order <br />requiring such person to appear and testify or produce evidence, as the case may require, and any failure to <br />obey such order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof. <br />History: (4254-36) 1939 c 440 s 16; 1941 c 469 s 6; 1969 c 1129 art 2 s 11,12; 1986 c 444; 1987 c <br />186s IS <br />179.17 CITATION, LABOR RELATIONS ACT. <br />Sections 179.01 to 179.17 may be cited as the Minnesota Labor Relations Act. <br />History: 1939 c 440 s 19 <br />Official Publication of the State of Minnesota <br />Revisor of Statutes <br />