City of Omak, Decision 12804 (PECB, 2017)
STATE OF WASHINGTON
BEFORE THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
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In the matter of the petition of:
TEAMSTERS LOCAL 760
For clarification of an existing bargaining unit of employees of:
CITY OF OMAK
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CASE 129851-C-17
DECISION 12804 - PECB
ORDER AMENDING CERTIFICATION
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Steve Bruchman, Executive Assistant, for Teamsters Local 760.
Todd McDaniel, City Administrator, for the City of Omak.
Shane Schaefer, President, for the Omak Police Guild.
On November 20, 2017, Teamsters Local 760 (Teamsters) filed a unit clarification petition seeking to amend a bargaining unit certification involving employees of the City of Omak (employer). The employees are currently in a bargaining unit represented by the Omak Police Guild (Guild). The unit comprises “all full-time and regular part-time commissioned officers and sergeants of the City of Omak police department, excluding supervisors, confidential employees, and all other employees.” City of Omak, Decision 5520 (PECB, 1996).
The employees in the bargaining unit affirmatively voted to affiliate and merge the Guild with Teamsters. The employer indicated that it is not opposed to the affiliation and merger.
ANALYSIS
When a union seeks to amend a certification due to its affiliation with another labor organization, it must show that the bargaining unit members were provided with due process prior to the filing of the petition. Due process may be satisfied through a vote of the bargaining unit members. Skagit Valley Hospital, Decision 2509-A (PECB, 1987), aff’d, Skagit Valley Hospital v. Public Employment Relations Commission, 55 Wn. App. 348 (1989).
Generally, an affiliation will not be rejected where the membership has been provided with an opportunity to vote. However, an affiliation vote may be overturned due to a lack of continuity before and after the attempted affiliation. A lack of continuity will exist if the organizational changes to the leadership structure of the existing bargaining unit have been so extensive that a certified bargaining representative has been displaced by a wholly different organization. Skagit Valley Hospital, Decision 2509-A. An affiliation vote may also be overturned if other, more traditional evidence exists that the successor organization lacks majority support. Id.
The petitioning labor organization must satisfy due process concerns by providing evidence or documentation that the employees are in favor of the affiliation. The employees must be provided with notice of the affiliation vote, be given an opportunity to discuss the matter, and be allowed to exercise their choice in a manner that maintains ballot secrecy.
The petition seeks only to affiliate and merge the Guild with Teamsters. The leadership structure in existence at Teamsters remains intact and the negotiated agreements remain in effect. Additionally, the scope of the existing bargaining unit remains unchanged. Finally, Teamsters provided a signed statement demonstrating that the bargaining unit employees were given an opportunity to vote on whether they wanted to affiliate and merge the Guild with Teamsters. Because it readily appears that continuity and due process requirements have been satisfied in this case, the existing certification is amended.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The City of Omak is a public employer within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(12).
2. Teamsters Local 760 (Teamsters) is a bargaining representative within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(2).
3. The Omak Police Guild (Guild) is a bargaining representative within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(2).
4. The employees are currently in a bargaining unit represented by the Guild. The unit comprises “all full-time and regular part-time commissioned officers and sergeants of the City of Omak police department, excluding supervisors, confidential employees, and all other employees.”
5. On November 20, 2017, Teamsters filed a unit clarification petition seeking to amend the existing certification of the bargaining unit described in Finding of Fact 4 to reflect that the employees had voted to affiliate and merge the Guild with Teamsters.
6. Teamsters provided evidence demonstrating that the employees were given an opportunity to vote on whether they wanted to affiliate and merge the Guild with Teamsters and that the employees affirmatively voted for the affiliation and merger.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Public Employment Relations Commission has jurisdiction in this matter pursuant to Chapter 41.56 RCW and Chapter 391-35 WAC.
2. Based upon Findings of Fact 4 through 6, the bargaining unit members were provided with due process and allowed to vote on whether to affiliate and merge the Guild with Teamsters.
3. Based upon Finding of Fact 6, the Guild has affiliated and merged with Teamsters.
ORDER
The certification issued in City of Omak, Decision 5520, is amended to reflect that Teamsters Local 760 is now the exclusive bargaining representative of record. The bargaining unit description remains unchanged.
ISSUED at Olympia, Washington, this 11th day of December, 2017.
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.