§ 215.3 Employees represented by a labor organization.

(a)

(1) If affected employees are represented by a labor organization, it is expected that where appropriate, protective arrangements shall be the product of negotiation/discussion, pursuant to these guidelines.

(2) In instances where states or political subdivisions are subject to legal restrictions on bargaining with employee organizations, the Department of Labor will utilize special procedures to satisfy the Federal statute in a manner which does not contravene state or local law. For example, employee protective terms and conditions, acceptable to both employee and applicant representatives, may be incorporated into a resolution adopted by the involved local government.

(3) If an application involves a grant to a state administrative agency or designated recipient that will pass assistance through to subrecipients, the Department will refer and process each subrecipient's respective portion of the project in accordance with this section. If a state administrative agency or designated recipient has previously provided employee protections on behalf of subrecipients in accordance with the terms of a negotiated agreement, the referral will be based on those terms and conditions.

(4) The referral procedures set forth in paragraphs (b) through (h) of this section are not applicable to the following grants:

(i) Grants to applicants for the Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program, and grant applications for the Other Than Urbanized Program; a special warranty will be applied to such grants under the procedures in § 215.7.

(ii) Grants to applicants serving populations under 200,000 under the Job Access and Reverse Commute Program or grants to capitalize State Infrastructure Bank accounts under the State Infrastructure Bank Program.

(iii) Grants involving only capital assistance for replacement of equipment and/or facilities of like-kind; these will be certified by the Department without referral on the basis of existing agreements or the Unified Protective Arrangement as referenced in paragraphs (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section. Where application of the existing protective agreement(s) or the Unified Protective Arrangement would not satisfy the requirements of the statute in the circumstances presented, the Department will make necessary modifications to the existing protections to ensure that the requirements of the statute are satisfied.