The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Bargaining representative" means any labor organization which has as one of its primary purposes the representation of employees in their employment relations with employers, and which does currently, or has in the past represented employees as defined by this chapter.
(2) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual obligations of the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to grievance procedures and collective negotiations on personnel matters, including wages, hours, and working conditions, which may be peculiar to an appropriate bargaining unit of such employer, except that by such obligation neither party may be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
(3) "Collective bargaining agreement" means any written contract or agreement that is currently in effect, or that will be executed, between an exclusive bargaining representative and an employer, as defined by this chapter.
(4) "Commission" means the public employment relations commission.
(5)(a) "Employee" means any employee of an employer, including of a consumer directed employer as defined by RCW
74.39A.009, and is not limited to the employees of a particular employer, and includes any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute, and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment.
(b) "Employee" does not include:
(i) Any individual employed by their parent or spouse unless also employed by a third party for the work performed;
(ii) Any individual having the status of an independent contractor;
(iii) Any individual employed as a supervisor;
(iv) Any person employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or an employee as defined by RCW
49.37.010 or an employee of an employer defined in RCW
49.39.005;
(v) Any individual employed by an employer, trade, or industry that was not under the jurisdiction of the national labor relations act or any other federal labor relations law as of June 11, 2026; or
(vi) Any other person who is not employed by an employer as herein defined.
(6) "Employer" means any employer, or any person acting as an agent of an employer, except the state or political subdivision of the state, or an employer as defined by RCW
49.37.010, or an employer as defined in RCW
49.39.005.
(7) "Exclusive bargaining representatives" means a bargaining representative that has been previously certified or recognized as the representative of employees as defined by this chapter.
(8) "Labor dispute" includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure, or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.
(9) "Labor organization" means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.
