The New Mexico Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA), (§§ 10-7E-1 through 10-7E-26 NMSA 1978), creates the Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB). The Act reinstates collective bargaining for public employees, which expired in 1999. This means that the Board has authority over all general collective bargaining matters between employee organizations or individual public employees and either state agencies or units of local government that that have not established a local labor board. The PELRB also has jurisdiction to ensure that local labor ordinances and resolutions (and in some instances, local labor boards) comply with PEBA. You have my pledge as the Board’s Executive Director that I will do my best to guarantee public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with their employers; promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between public employers and employees; and protect the public interest by assuring the orderly operation and functioning of the state and its political subdivisions as required by the PEBA, § 2.