Mead School District, Decision 11102 (PECB, 2011)
STATE OF WASHINGTON
BEFORE THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
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In the matter of the petition of:
mead classified public employees association
For clarification of an existing bargaining unit of employees of:
mead school district
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CASE 22946-C-10-1423
DECISION 11102 - PECB
ORDER CLARIFYING
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Jeff Dailing, President, for the union.
Kelly Shea, Director of Human Resources, for the employer.
On January 4, 2010, the Mead Classified Public Employees Association (MCPEA)[1] filed a unit clarification petition under Chapter 391-35 WAC, seeking to divide its current bargaining unit of Custodial, Maintenance and Mechanic employees into two separate bargaining units. The unit was certified on September 28, 1989, as Mead School District, Decision 3301 (PECB, 1989). The petition indicated that a majority of the employees voted in favor of the division. On January 13, 2010, the employer filed a letter with the Commission stating it had no objection to dividing the existing bargaining unit into two units. After extensive consultation with all parties, on May 23, 2011, the parties filed written stipulations.
ISSUE
Should the certification be amended to reflect the parties’ agreement to divide the existing bargaining unit into two separate units?
The Executive Director accepts the stipulations made by the parties, and the certification is amended to accurately reflect two separate bargaining unit descriptions after division of the existing bargaining unit.
APPLICABLE LEGAL PRINCIPLES
Amendment of a certification is addressed in WAC 391-35-085. Under this rule, it is appropriate to amend an existing certification to reflect changed circumstances, as long as the existing bargaining unit is not affected by the change and there is no question concerning representation.
RCW 41.56.060 states:
(2) For classified employees of school districts and educational service districts: (a) Appropriate bargaining units existing on July 24, 2005, may not be divided into more than one unit without the agreement of the public employer and the certified bargaining representative of the unit.
The written stipulations filed by the employer and MCPEA clearly show the parties are in agreement to divide the existing bargaining unit into two separate units.
ANALYSIS
The existing bargaining unit consisted of Custodial, Maintenance and Mechanic employees of the employer. The parties verified that additional positions were voluntarily added to the existing bargaining unit after the original certification by mutual agreement. The parties are now seeking to divide the existing bargaining unit into two separate units: one unit consisting of Custodians, Delivery Drivers, Mail Couriers (inter-district and postal) and Warehouse Stock Pullers (custodial and food service), and the other unit consisting of Combined Trades employees including: Maintenance, Mechanics, Warehouse and Computer Technicians.
Information was provided to establish that the Custodians and Combined Trade employees have a different community of interest and have negotiated separate bargaining agreements in the past. The Custodians and Combined Trade employees have different work shifts and have different supervisors. Any absences for the custodians are covered by substitutes while the Combined Trade employees’ absences are not covered. The Custodians are given general job duties and are normally assigned to one location (typically a specific school), while the Combined Trade employees’ work is created by work order and, unlike the custodians, they are assigned to locations throughout the district.
CONCLUSION
Nothing has come to the attention of the Commission staff or Executive Director that contradicts the propriety of the existing bargaining unit or calls into question amending the certification to divide the existing bargaining unit into two units.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Mead School District is a public employer within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(13).
2. The Mead Classified Public Employees Association is a bargaining representative within the meaning of RCW 41.56.030(2).
3. The union is the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit consisting of all Custodial, Maintenance and Mechanics of the employer.
4. At some point after the unit was certified, the parties voluntarily agreed to include additional positions of Delivery Drivers, Mail Couriers, Warehouse Stock Pullers and Computer Technicians.
5. The parties stipulated to the division of the existing bargaining unit into two separate bargaining units.
6. A majority of the employees voted in favor of the division.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
1. The Public Employment Relations Commission has jurisdiction in this matter under RCW 41.56 and Chapter 391-35 WAC.
2. The stipulations filed by the parties have been examined, and no other facts have been discovered or brought to the attention of the Executive Director which call into question the division of the existing bargaining unit represented by Mead Classified Public Employees Association.
ORDER
The existing bargaining unit shall be divided into two bargaining units and described as follows:
1. All full-time and regular part-time Custodians, Delivery Drivers of Food Service and Mail Couriers (inter-district and postal), and Warehouse Stock Pullers (custodial and food service) of the Mead School District, excluding supervisors, confidential employees, casual employees, and all other employees.
2. All full-time and regular part-time Combined Trades employees including: Maintenance, Mechanics, Warehouse, and Computer Technicians of the Mead School District, excluding supervisors, confidential employees, casual employees, and all other employees.
ISSUED at Olympia, Washington, this 6th day of July, 2011.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
CATHLEEN CALLAHAN, 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.