Upon a petition filed under RCW 41.56.060 of the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Act, herein called the Act, a hearing was held before the undersigned, a hearing officer for the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC).

Upon the entire record in this case, the undersigned finds and concludes:

1.                  Quincy School District No. 144-101, herein called the Employer, is a public employer within the meaning of the Act.

2.                  The Public School Employees of Quincy School District, an affiliate of the Public School Employees of Washington, herein called the Intervener, is a labor organization within the meaning of the Act.

3.                  The Quincy Association of Educational Secretaries, herein called the Petitioner, is a labor organization within the meaning of the Act.

4.                  The Petitioner seeks to carve out a portion of an existing bargaining unit. In such instances, RCW 41.56.060 requires consideration of:

"the duties, skills, and working conditions of the public employees; the history of collective bargaining by the public employees and their bargaining representatives; the extent of organization among the public employees; and the desire of the public employees..."

The supplementing rule, WAC 391-20-145 requires consideration of:

"(1) Whether the proposed unit consists of employees having a unique community of interest separate from employees in the existing unit;

(2) Whether the proposed unit consists of employees having a functionally distinct and separate identity from other employees in the existing unit;

(3) Whether a tradition of separate representation exists;

(4) Whether severance would unduly disrupt the stability of labor relations with the employer."

The Petitioner requests that all building secretaries employed by the Employer be deemed an appropriate bargaining unit, and severed from an existing bargaining unit which also includes custodians, grounds maintenance personnel, mechanics, laundry personnel, food service personnel and teacher aides. (Administrative secretaries had been part of the bargaining unit up to the 1976/77 contract year when they were excluded by mutual agreement of the parties.)

The Intervenor contends that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inappropriate in that the existing unit should not be fragmented. The Employer takes no position on this question of unit.

The Public School Employee bargaining unit has existed in the Quincy School District since 1968. The unit covers all classified employees except those specifically excluded based on supervisory duties or a confidential relationship. Teacher aides were added to the unit by mutual agreement a year or so ago. While it is recognized that the duties of all classified employees differ to some degree, this difference does not appear to constitute a distinct community of interest for severance purposes. All classified employees generally enjoy the same fringe benefits and working conditions and receive equal treatment from the employer. Fragmenting a bargaining unit into small special interest groupings would certainly cause labor relation problems to already overburdened district management personnel. It is not inconceivable that an employer such as Quincy School District could have a requirement to negotiate seven or eight separate contracts for classified personnel with as many labor organizations. This certainly would not be in keeping with good labor relations.

1.                  I find no compelling reason to award severance to the seven (7) building secretaries.

ORDER

It is hereby ordered that the petition for severance of Building Secretaries by the Quincy Association of Educational Secretaries is dismissed.

DATED November 22, 1977

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION

[SIGNED]

GEORGE G. MILLER, Hearing Officer