| NEBRASKA ASSOCIATION | | | CASE NOS. 720, 721, 722, 723 |
| OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, | | | REP. DOCS. NOS. 240, 241, 242, |
| LOCAL 61 OF THE AMERICAN | | | |
| FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY | | | |
| AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, | | | |
| | | ||
| Petitioner, | | | |
| | | ||
| v. | | | ORDER |
| | | ||
| STATE OF NEBRASKA, | | | |
| | | ||
| Respondent. | | |
Before Judges: Mullin, Peetz, and Kratz
MULLIN, J:
On June 21, 1988, the State filed four Petitions for Clarification or Amendment of Bargaining Units as well as four Applications for Temporary Orders. On June 27, 1988, a hearing was held on the State's Applications for Temporary Orders. The State is requesting that the Commission authorize the State to implement specified pay raises for certain employees to be effective July 1, 1988.
The employees at issue are currently included in certain certified bargaining units organized pursuant to the State Employees Collective Bargaining Act 81-1369 et. seq. More specifically, the employees at issue are members of the Social Services & Counseling Unit (Case No. 720); the Health & Human Care Non-Professional Unit (Case No. 721); the Trades & Technical Unit (Case No. 722); and, the Engineering, Science & Resources Unit (Case No. 723). The State, in it's Petitions for Clarification or Amendment of Bargaining Units, is seeking to have employees excluded from these bargaining units because the employees are supervisory and are thus not in the appropriate units. The State contends that since there is a pending industrial dispute as to whether or not these employees are in the appropriate bargaining units the Commission must issue a temporary order authorizing the State to give certain pay raises so as to allow the State to comply with both Section 48-811 and the Supreme Courts directive in AFSCME v. Douglas County , 208 Neb. 511, Supplemented 209 Neb. 597 (1981).
It does not appear that the facts are in dispute. The State introduced two exhibits; the Labor Contract between the State and the four units specified above and LB 1040. The Contract was signed February 9, 1988, and governs the year July 1, 1988, through June 30, 1989. Under the contract employees in the Health & Human Care Non-Professional Unit shall receive a three percent (3%) pay increase; the employees in the Maintenance, Trade & Technical Unit and the Social Services and Counseling Unit shall receive a four percent (4%) pay increase and the employees in the Engineering, Science and Resources Unit shall receive a six percent (6%) pay increase, all effective July 1, 1988. LB 1040 was approved by the Governor March 31, 1988, and provides that:
Except as provided for by collective bargaining agreements at the close of business on June 30, 1988, the Director of Personnel shall revise the State of Nebraska Classification and Pay Plan by increasing all annual rates of each salary grade, by four percent to the nearest dollar....
The State is arguing that Section 48-811, which provides in part that;
...No adverse action by threat or harassment shall be taken against any employee because of any petition filing by such employee, and the employment status of such employee shall not be altered in any way pending disposition of the petition by the Commission.
together with the Supreme Court's finding in AFSCME v. Douglas County, supra , requires that the State either give no pay raise at all or the same pay raise to the employees in dispute as it will give the State employees not covered by any bargaining agreement.
At the hearing the State was given leave to interlineate an amendment to the Application for Temporary Order concerning the Health and Human Care Non-Professinal Unit so that the application requests that the Commission order a three percent (3%) pay raise. By this amendment it is clear that the State is requesting that the Commission authorize the State to implement either the pay increase specified in the contract between the State and the bargaining units or the pay increase set out in LB 1040, which sets out the pay raise applicable to all State Employees not covered by a bargaining agreement, whichever is smaller.
The employees in dispute are currently members of the respective bargaining units that have been certified by this Commission. Those units bargained for and reached agreement with the State as evidenced by Exhibit 1 - the Labor Contract. The contract is controlling for fiscal year July 1, 1988, to June 30, 1989. The Commission has no jurisdiction or authority to alter or modify the terms and conditions of the contract. Transport Workers of America v. Transit Authority of the City of Omaha , 286 N.W.2d 102 (1979).
For these reasons the States Applications for Temporary Orders are denied.
Entered July 1, 1988.
_______________________________