PURPOSE: This rule sets out definitions used in the rules of the State Board of Mediation.

1. (1) The following definitions are listed to clarify the terminology applicable to these rules unless otherwise specifically provided or unless plainly repugnant to the intent of the law or the context:

   1. (A) Board means the Missouri State Board of Mediation;
   2. (B) Chairman means the chief administrator of the State Board of Mediation;
   3. (C) Certification means the designation by the chairman or the board of an employee organization selected as the majority representative of employees through an election in an appropriate unit;
   4. (D) Mediator means the board members, employees of the board or any officer so designated by the board to perform the functions and duties of mediation;
   5. (E) Officer means any member, counsel, election officer, chairman or any other individual or employee specifically designated as an officer of the board to act on the board’s behalf. The board may delegate to such officer all of the powers conferred upon the board in connection with the discharge of the duty(ies) so delegated;
   6. (F) Party means any person, employee, group of employees, organization or public employer filing a petition, request or application under these rules; any person, organization or public employer named as a party in a complaint, request, application or petition filed under these rules; any incumbent majority representative; or any other person, organization or public employer whose intervention in a proceeding has been permitted or directed by the board, but nothing in this rule shall be construed to prevent the board or any designated officer, from limiting any party’s participation in the proceedings to the extent of his/her interest;
   7. (G) Showing of interest means a designated percentage of employees in an allegedly appropriate bargaining unit or a bargaining unit determined to be appropriate, who are members of a labor organization or have designated it as their exclusive bargaining representative or have signed a petition requesting an election for certification or decertification of employee representatives; and
   8. (H) Voluntary recognition means an employer has recognized an employee organization as the majority representative of an appropriate unit of its employees. The granting of such recognition is at the discretion of the employer and has been granted outside the authority of the State Board of Mediation and the certification process.

AUTHORITY: section 295.070, RSMo 1994.* Original rule filed Dec. 31, 1975, effective Jan. 10, 1976. Amended: Filed May 3, 1999, effective Nov. 30, 1999.

*Original authority 295.070, RSMo 1947.