City of Sunnyside, Decision 12242 (PECB, 2015)
STATE OF WASHINGTON
BEFORE THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
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In the matter of the joint petition of:
CITY OF SUNNYSIDE
and
TEAMSTERS LOCAL 760
For clarification of an existing bargaining unit.
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CASE 26770-C-14-1606
DECISION 12242 - PECB
ORDER CLARIFYING
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Wayne Johnson, Business Representative, for the union.
Donald Day, City Manager, for the employer.
The Teamsters Local 760 (union) represents a bargaining unit of all of the non-supervisory office clerical employees at the City of Sunnyside. That bargaining unit includes the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Works Supervisor positions. The Assistant Court Administrator position is required to discipline and direct the work of the office clerical court employees that are included in the union’s bargaining unit. The Public Works Supervisor positions are required to discipline and direct the work of the public works employees in a public works bargaining unit that is also represented by the union.
The parties’ most recent collective bargaining agreement expired December 31, 2014. On October 6, 2014, the parties jointly filed a petition to remove the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Works Supervisor positions from the non-supervisory office clerical bargaining unit and to place those employees in a newly created supervisory bargaining unit. The union also requested that the unrepresented Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor be included in the newly created supervisory bargaining unit.
Hearing Officer Dario de la Rosa conducted a pre-hearing conference and issued a statement of pre-hearing results on November 14, 2014. That statement indicated that the parties stipulated that the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Works Supervisor no longer share a community of interest with the office clerical or public works bargaining unit represented by the Teamsters. The parties also stipulated that the Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor position should also be included in the newly created bargaining unit.
The issue to be presented is whether the parties’ stipulations that the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Works Superintendent positions no longer share a community of interest with the existing non-supervisory bargaining units and belong in a newly created supervisors bargaining unit should be accepted. The parties’ stipulation and agreement to remove the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Works Supervisor from their respective bargaining units is accepted. The parties’ stipulation to add the Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor to the newly created bargaining unit with the Assistant Court Administrator and Public Works Supervisor is also accepted.
DISCUSSION
The determination of appropriate bargaining units is a function delegated to this agency by the legislature. City of Richland, Decision 279-A (PECB, 1978), aff’d, IAFF, Local 1052 v. PERC, 29 Wn. App. 599 (1981), review denied, 96 Wn.2d 1004 (1981). The goal in making bargaining unit determinations is to group together employees who have sufficient similarities (community of interest) to indicate that they will be able to bargain effectively with their employer. Quincy School District, Decision 3962-A (PECB, 1993).
In making bargaining unit determinations, RCW 41.56.060(1) directs this agency to consider “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 criteria are not applied on a strictly mathematical basis. King County, Decision 5910-A (PECB, 1997). Not all of the factors will arise in every case, and where they do exist, any one factor could be more important than another, depending on the facts. Renton School District, Decision 379-A (EDUC, 1978), aff’d, Renton Education Association v. PERC, 101 Wn.2d 435 (1984).
Here, the parties stipulated that the Assistant Court Administrator, Public Works Supervisor, and Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor positions do not share a community of interest with the employees in the Teamsters non-supervisory office clerical bargaining unit. These employees have working conditions different from the other employees in the non-supervisory bargaining unit. The Assistant Court Administrator, Public Works Supervisor, and Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor positions are responsible for planning, coordinating, and assigning the activities of the employees they oversee as well as evaluating those employees. The positions also are responsible for scheduling employees, including approving leave. The parties’ ask that these positions be in a separate bargaining unit from the non-supervisory employees. The parties’ stipulations are accepted, the positions are removed from their respective bargaining unit, and the positions are placed in a newly created bargaining unit containing just those positions.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The City of Sunnyside is a public employer within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(12).
2. The Teamsters Local 760 is a bargaining representative within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(2).
3. The Teamsters currently represents two bargaining units of non-supervisory employees who work for the City of Sunnyside: a Office-Clerical bargaining unit and a Public Works bargaining unit. Those bargaining units include the Assistant Court Administrator and the Public Works Supervisor positions.
4. The Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor is a non-uniformed, unrepresented employee working at the City of Sunnyside.
5. The parties agree that the Assistant Court Administrator, the Public Works Supervisor, and the Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor positions do not share a community of interest with the employees in the bargaining units described in Finding of Fact 3.
6. The Teamsters Local 760 continues to represent a majority of employees described in Findings of Fact 5.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Public Employment Relations Commission has jurisdiction in this matter under Chapter 41.56 RCW and Chapter 391-35 WAC.
2. Based upon Findings of Fact 5 and 6, the Assistant Court Administrator, the Public Works Supervisor, and the Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor positions do not share a community of interest with the employees described in Finding of Fact 3.
ORDERED
The Assistant Court Administrator, the Public Works Supervisor, and the Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor positions are placed in a newly created supervisory bargaining unit described as follows:
All Assistant Court Administrator, Public Works Supervisor, and Detention Sergeant/Police Support Unit Supervisor positions working at the City of Sunnyside, excluding non-supervisory employees, confidential employees, and all other employees.
ISSUED at Olympia, Washington, this 28th day of January, 2015.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
MICHAEL P. SELLARS, Executive Director
This order will be the final order of the
agency unless a notice of appeal is filed
with the Commission under WAC 391-35-210.