Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XXI Chapter 150E
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 150E, § 3 (2026)

Bargaining units; rules and regulations; procedures; officers excepted

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 3. The commission shall prescribe rules and regulations and establish procedures for the determination of appropriate bargaining units which shall be consistent with the purposes of providing for stable and continuing labor relations, giving due regard to such criteria as community of interest, efficiency of operations and effective dealings, and to safeguarding the rights of employees to effective representation. No unit shall include both professional and nonprofessional employees unless a majority of such professional employees votes for inclusion in such unit; provided, however, that in any fire department, or any department in whole or in part engaging in, or having the responsibility of, fire fighting, no uniformed member of the department subordinate to a fire commission, fire commissioner, public safety director, board of engineers or chief of department shall be classified as a professional, confidential, executive, administrative or other managerial employee for the purpose of this chapter.

No elected or appointed official, member of any board or commission, representative of a public employer, including the administrative officer, director or chief of a department or agency of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or clerk, temporary clerk or assistant clerk of any court, or chief probation officer or acting chief probation officer of any court or region, including, without limitation within the term, any division or department of the trial court or any other managerial or confidential employee shall be included in an appropriate bargaining unit or entitled to coverage under this chapter.

The appropriate bargaining unit in the case of the uniformed members of the state police shall be all such uniformed members in titles below the rank of lieutenant. The appropriate bargaining units for judicial employees within the provisions of this chapter shall be a public safety professional unit composed of all probation officers and court officers, and a unit composed of all nonmanagerial or nonconfidential staff and clerical personnel employed by the judiciary; provided that court officers in the superior court department for Suffolk and Middlesex counties shall be represented by such other bargaining units as they may elect.

The appropriate bargaining unit in the case of employees of the state lottery commission shall be all employees below the rank of assistant director.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases, 1977–2012 · leading case: Local 1111, Int'l Ass'n of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO v. Labor Relations Comm'n, 437 N.E.2d 1079 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982).
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Local 1111, Int'l Ass'n of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO v. Labor Relations Comm'n, 437 N.E.2d 1079 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). · cites it 5× “Each of these companion cases raises the same question: whether the Labor Relations Commission may under G. L. c. 150E, § 3, as amended by St. 1974, c.”
Massachusetts State Police Commissioned Officers Ass'n v. Commonwealth, 967 N.E.2d 626 (Mass. 2012). · cites it 2× “4 See G. L. c. 150E, § 3 (“bargaining unit in .”
Gallagher v. Metro. Dist. Comm'n, 359 N.E.2d 36 (Mass. 1977). · cites it 2× “1078, § 2A, and by G. L. c. 150E, § 3, issued on July 1, 1974, its Rules and Regulations Relating to the Administration of an Act Providing for Collective Bargaining for Public Employees.”
Collective Bargaining Reform Ass'n v. Labor Relations Comm'n, 763 N.E.2d 1036 (Mass. 2002). · cites it 2× “10 The policy directive contained in G. L. c. 150E, § 3, is unequivocal — to provide for “stable and continuing labor relations.”
Chief Just. for Admin. & Mgmt. of the Trial Court v. Commonwealth Emp. Relations Bd., 946 N.E.2d 704 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). “The public employee labor relations statute, G. L. c. 150E, § 3, as amended by St. 1978, c.”
Sch. Comm. v. Labor Relations Comm'n, 449 N.E.2d 672 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 2× “” The school committee argues that the commission has exclusive jurisdiction to determine appropriate bargaining units, see G. L. c. 150E, § 3, and that it was error to defer to the arbitrator on this point.”
Bruno v. Chief Admin. Just. of Trial Court, 401 N.E.2d 849 (Mass. 1980). “21 IB, § 9, or whether it was invalid by reason of G. L. c. 150E, § 3 (the collective bargaining law), as amended by § 76 of the Court Reorganization Act.”
Boston Police Patrolmen's Ass'n v. Labor Relations Comm'n, 451 N.E.2d 731 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 3× “1 The facts found by the commission fully support its conclusion that the association’s refusal to represent the men was not a matter of legitimate internal union discipline but was rather an attempt by the union, in violation of G. L. c. 150E, § 3, to decide for itself the…”
Carbone v. Sch. Comm., 12 Mass. App. Ct. 948 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). “It is clear from the record on remand (a) that during the eight-month period in question the plaintiff was a member of the bargaining unit (G. L. c. 150E, § 3) which was defined by and recognized under § 2 of the collective bargaining agreement executed by the defendant on March…”
Walsh v. Town of Randolph, 2005 Mass. App. Div. 85 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2005). “5, citing G.L.c. 150E, §3. The language of this article of the collective bargaining agreement is identical for the version (1999-2001) in effect when Walsh was hired in 2000, and the subsequent version (2002-2004).”
Town of Wenham v. Labor Relations Comm'n, 689 N.E.2d 840 (Mass. App. Ct. 1998). · cites it 3× “See G. L. c. 150E, §§ 3 and 4. The town refused to bargain with the union and, in response to a complaint made by the union, the commission found that the town’s refusal constituted a prohibited labor practice.”
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