Decisions and Orders Digest for 2006
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ALASKA STATE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, AFSCME LOCAL 52, AFL-CIO, VS. STATE OF ALASKA, CASE N0. 05-1350-CBA. Decision and Order No. 276 (January 26, 2006). The ALRA Board will not consider a petition to enforce an arbitration award until the parties exhaust their grievance/arbitration clause in their collective bargaining agreement. Further, the arbitration award must be relevant to the disputed grievance. The arbitration award ASEA seeks to enforce is not relevant to the specific issue in the current grievance filed on behalf of Pam Ramey.
TEACHERS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF MOUNT EDGECUMBE, NEA-ALASKA, NEA, VS. STATE OF ALASKA, CASE NO. 05-1398-CBA. Decision and Order No. 277 (January 26, 2006). The State submitted a request to the Alaska Legislature, for payment of monetary amounts awarded by an arbitrator to TEAME, in a timely manner.
STATE OF ALASKA VS. CONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, APEA/AFT, Case No. 04-1302-UC. Decision and Order No. 278 (July 5, 2006). The petition to remove the Labor Relations Analysts and Human Resource Specialist from the CEA bargaining unit and take away their collective bargaining rights is denied. The Labor Relations Analysts and the Human Resource Specialist are not a public employer under AS 23.40.250(7); they are public employees under AS 23.40.250(6), and therefore have collective bargaining rights. They are confidential employees under 8 AAC 97.990(a)(1). They share a community of interest with other employees in the CEA bargaining unit. Although they have a conflict of interest, it has not interfered with their work duties; regardless, the Alaska Legislature has not included this group of employees under an exception to "public employee" in the Public Employment Relations Act.
DEE NELSON VS. MID-LEVEL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, Case No. 05-1335-ULP , Decision and Order No. 279 (July 25, 2006). Complainant Dee Nelson failed to prove under AS 23.40.110(c) that the Mid-Level Management Association committed an unfair labor practice. The Association’s representation of Nelson, after her termination by the Matanuska Susitna Borough School District, was not arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.
CITY OF SELDOVIA VS. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 1547, AFL-CIO, CASE NO. 05-1405-UC. Decision and Order No. 280 (August 22, 2006). The petition to remove the police chief position from the City bargaining unit that the IBEW represents is denied. The police chief is not an “appointed official” under 8 AAC 97.990(b)(2), a confidential employee” under 8 AACC 97.990(a)(1), or a guard. Although previously the police chief has effectively recommended the hire of subordinates in a manner that could make him a “supervisory employee” under 8 AAC 97.990(a)(5), any supervisory duties he has under 8 AAC 97.990(a)(5) do not require his exclusion from the bargaining unit of City Employees. Removing the police chief position from the bargaining unit would reduce the size of the unit, making it not as large as is reasonable. The police chief shares a sufficient community of interest with the other employees in the bargaining unit for the position to remain where it has resided historically. City of Seldovia appealed Agency decision and order to Superior Court in case number 3-AN-06-11692-CI on September 21, 2006, over an order finding the police chief shares a sufficient community of interest with the other employees in the bargaining unit for the position to remain in the bargaining unit where it has resided historically. Superior Court issued an Order of Dismissal on December 14, 2006, after City of Seldovia filed a Motion to Dismiss Appeal and no objections were filed.
STATE OF ALASKA VS. CONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, APEA/AFT, AFL-CIO, CASE NO. 04-1312-UC. Decision and Order No. 281 (September 11, 2006).The petition to remove ten confidential employees from the confidential bargaining unit and eliminate their collective bargaining rights is denied. The ten positions do not meet the definition of “public employer” under AS 23.40.250(7). Rather, the individuals in the positions are each a “public employee” under AS 23.40.250(6) and none of them comes within any exception provided in subsection 250(6). The Alaska Legislature has not included this group of employees under an exception to the definition of “public employee” in the Public Employment Relations Act. They therefore have collective bargaining rights and are confidential employees under 8 AAC 97.990(a)(1). They share a community of interest with other employees in the CEA bargaining unit despite supervising some of those employees. Any conflict of interest they have has not interfered with their work duties. The requirement in AS 23.40.090 that “unnecessary fragmenting shall be avoided” outweighs any potential conflicts of interest these employees might have based on both confidential and supervisory duties.
FAIRBANKS FIRE FIGHTERS ASS’N, LOCAL 1324, IAFF VS. CITY OF FAIRBANKS, CASE NO. 04-1275-ULP. Decision and Order No. 282 (September 25, 2006). The City of Fairbanks did not violate the parties’ ground rules for negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. The lead negotiator for the City, Mayor Steve Thompson, did seek and did obtain ratification of the parties’ tentative agreement. The Fire Fighters failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the City committed either a per se unfair labor practice or an unfair labor practice based on the totality of the circumstances. Fairbanks Fire Fighters Association appealed Agency decision and order to Superior Court in case number 4-FA-05-1326-CI on March 31, 2005, over an order finding the City of Fairbanks did not commit an unfair labor practice. The case was dismissed on 9/23/08 after a motion to dismiss was filed.
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