105.500.  Definitions. — For purposes of sections 105.500 to 105.598, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and phrases mean:

  (1)  "Bargaining unit", a unit of public employees at any plant or installation or in a craft or in a function of a public body that establishes a clear and identifiable community of interest among the public employees concerned;

  (2)  "Board", the state board of mediation established under section 295.030;

  (3)  "Department", the department of labor and industrial relations established under section 286.010;

  (4)  "Exclusive bargaining representative", an organization that has been designated or selected, as provided in section 105.575, by a majority of the public employees in a bargaining unit as the representative of such public employees in such unit for purposes of collective bargaining;

  (5)  "Labor organization", any organization, agency, or public employee representation committee or plan, in which public employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with a public body or public bodies concerning collective bargaining, grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work;

  (6)  "Public body", the state of Missouri, or any officer, agency, department, bureau, division, board or commission of the state, or any other political subdivision or special district of or within the state.  Public body shall not include the department of corrections;

  (7)  "Public employee", any person employed by a public body;

  (8)  "Public safety labor organization", a labor organization wholly or primarily representing persons trained or authorized by law or rule to render emergency medical assistance or treatment, including, but not limited to, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, dispatchers, registered nurses and physicians, and persons who are vested with the power of arrest for criminal code violations including, but not limited to, police officers, sheriffs, and deputy sheriffs.