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Participating Employer Council (PEC): Charter & Governance

This specification establishes the charter, operational divisions, democratic voting procedures, and fiduciary responsibilities of the Participating Employer Council (PEC).

1. Institutional Mandate & Purpose

The Participating Employer Council (PEC) serves as the official multi-employer association representing businesses, enterprises, Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), and Licensed Trade Contractors that employ trade labor and sponsor registered apprentices.

Modeled after established skilled trade employer associations (such as the National Electrical Contractors Association / NECA):

  1. Bilateral Training Trust Administration: Co-manages the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) trusts with the Craft Guild under Section 302(c) of the Taft-Hartley Act, remitting hourly training trust contributions ($1.00/hr) to fund community college labs and tuition-free instruction.
  2. Standardized Master Service Agreements: Negotiates baseline Master Agreements governing wage floors, on-shift supervisory ratios (2:1), and on-call standby standards, establishing a fair, transparent commercial baseline.
  3. Direct Hiring Hall Pipeline: Sources pre-vetted Journeymen and registered Apprentices directly through the JATC Talent Clearinghouse, eliminating third-party staffing agency fees.
  4. Management Representation on the National Board: Democratically elects the two management trustees seated on the National Cybersecurity Trade Board (NCTB).

2. Two-Division Membership Structure (Protecting Small Business)

To prevent large multi-billion-dollar technology conglomerates from monopolizing employer governance and setting cost-prohibitive compliance mandates that crush small businesses, the PEC operates under a Two-Division Symmetrical Model:

+─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────+
| PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER COUNCIL (PEC) TWO-DIVISION STRUCTURE                 |
+─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────+
  │
  ├─► DIVISION 1: LARGE ENTERPRISE & CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
  │   • Eligibility: Enterprises with >1,000 employees, public utilities,
  │     defense prime contractors, and Fortune 500 organizations.
  │   • Focus: Complex multi-cloud scale, corporate risk governance,
  │     high-velocity CI/CD automation, and commercial risk transfer.
  │   • Board Representation: Elects the Large Enterprise CISO Trustee (Seat 1).
  │
  └─► DIVISION 2: SMALL-TO-MEDIUM BUSINESS (SMB) & TRADE CONTRACTORS
      • Eligibility: Organizations with <1,000 employees, regional MSSPs,
        boutique consultancies, and independent Trade Contractor LLCs.
      • Focus: Protecting fractional vMoR models, keeping logbook tooling
        affordable, and eliminating small-business barriers to cyber insurability.
      • Board Representation: Elects the SMB / Contractor Executive Trustee (Seat 2).

3. Democratic Election of Management Board Trustees

Every employer in good standing (having executed a JATC Trust Agreement and actively employing trade labor or retaining an MoR) holds one vote in their respective division:

  • Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV): Both Division 1 and Division 2 elect their designated Board Trustee using Instant-Runoff Ranked-Choice Voting to ensure winning executives command majority consensus within their peer division.
  • Staggered 3-Year Terms: Division 1 and Division 2 trustee terms are staggered to maintain institutional continuity.
  • Term Limits: Management trustees may serve a maximum of two consecutive 3-year terms (6 years total) followed by a mandatory 3-year cooling-off period.

4. Fiduciary Independence & Anti-Parochial Guardrails

Management trustees represent the systemic stability of the defensive ecosystem, not the private commercial interests of their individual employer:

  • Statutory Public Safety Fiduciary Oath: Prior to seating, management trustees execute a binding legal oath placing public safety, system integrity, and objective technical standards above corporate commercial profits.
  • Mandatory Conflict Recusal: A management trustee must formally recuse themselves from any Board compliance review, grievance appeal, or disciplinary inquiry involving their specific corporate employer or active commercial partner.
  • Ban on Proprietary Vendor Mandates: Trustees are legally prohibited from introducing or voting on standard-setting motions that mandate or favor proprietary commercial software tools in which they hold equity, executive roles, or vendor partnerships.

5. Participation Standards & Multi-Employer Portability

To maintain accredited standing within the Participating Employer Council:

  1. Timely Trust Remittance: Employers remit required hourly JATC training contributions ($1.00/hr) and Health/Pension trust contributions by the 15th calendar day of each month.
  2. Supervisory Ratio Compliance: Maintain verifiable 2:1 on-shift operational ratios for human-in-the-loop seats, verifiable via automated logbook telemetry.
  3. Ethical Non-Interference: Strict adherence to Ethical Canon 5, prohibiting supervisory coercion, voter intimidation, or retaliation against workers exercising the Right of Technical Refusal.