| INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL | | | CASE NO. 343 |
| WORKERS, LOCAL NO. 1536, AFL-CIO, | | | REPRESENTATATION CASE |
| | | NO. 113 | |
| Petitioner, | | | |
| | | ||
| VS. | | | OPINION AND ORDER |
| | | ||
| NORRIS PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT OF | | | |
| BEATRICE, LINCOLN, HEBRON, CRETE | | | |
| and FAIRBURY, NEBRASKA, | | | |
| | | ||
| Respondent. | | |
Appearances:
For the Petitioner: C. E. Danley
For the Respondent: Steven G. Seglin
Before: Judges Kratz, Gradwohl and Orr.
GRADWOHL, P.J.:
This matter came on for trial on the Petition, Answer and Pretrial Order. The Petitioner was represented by its Attorney, C. E. Danley, and Respondent was represented by its Attorney, Steven G. Seglin. Both parties presented evidence and oral arguments. The Respondent submitted a written brief.
The parties stipulated that the previously disputed employees, Verneel E. Higgins, Arnold D. Bruns and Rodney Koch, should not be included in the proposed unit. Therefore, the unit description of employees for whom representation was sought by the Petitioner in its Petition should be:
All clerical/office personnel employed in the District's offices at Beatrice, Lincoln, Hebron, Crete and Fairbury within the following classifications: Accounting Clerk, Assistant Stores Supervisor, Billing Accountant, Billing Clerk/Computer Operator, Maintenance Mechanic, Maintenance Technician, Office Engineer, Payroll Accountant, Purchasing Agent, Secretary-Clerical Assistant to Store Supervisor and Secretary-Receptionist, Excluding all other Engineering Department personnel, all Energy Conservation Department personnel and all confidential and supervisory employees.
The Commission has jurisdiction in this matter under Section 48-810, R. R. S. Neb. 1979 Supplement, which provides:
All industrial disputes involving governmental service, service of a public utility, or other disputes as the Legislature may provide shall be settled by invoking the jurisdiction of the Commission of Industrial Relations; ....
Section 48-837, R. R. S. Neb. 1979 Supplement, provides:
Public employees shall have the right to form, join and participate in, or to refrain from forming, joining, or participating in, any employee organization of their own choosing. Public employees shall have the right to be represented by employee organizations to negotiate collectively with their public employers in the determination of their terms and conditions of employment, and the administration of grievances arising thereunder; ....
In addition, Section 48-838, R. R. S. Neb. 1979 Supplement, states:
(1) The commission shall determine questions of representation for purposes of collective bargaining for and on behalf of employees, . . .
(2) ... The commission shall also determine the appropriate unit for bargaining and for voting in the election, and in making such determination the commission shall consider established bargaining units and established policies of the employer. It shall be presumed, in the case of governmental subdivisions such as municipalities, counties, power districts, or utility districts with no previous history of collective bargaining, that units of employees of less than departmental size shall not be appropriate.
The Petition requested the Commission to order and direct an election to determine majority representation for a unit of clerical workers. The Answer and Brief of the Respondent claim that the Petitioner International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 1536, should not be entitled to represent two separate units of the Respondent's employees because of natural conflicts of interest which exist between the linemen and the clerical workers. See NAPE v. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission , 197 Neb. 178, 247 N. W. 2d 449 (1977); Retail and Professional Employees Union, Local 1015 v. Metropolitan Tech. Community College Area , 3 CIR 512 (1978); City of Grand Island v. AFSCME , 186 Neb. 711, 185 N. W. 2d 860 (1971).
The evidence shows that in the past, the Petitioner has represented the outside linemen in collective bargaining with the Respondent. This representation has resulted from an annual, voluntary recognition of the Petitioner as bargaining agent for linemen and certain maintenance personnel. There has been no written unit description of that unit and no written contract containing the provisions of the oral agreements reached through these negotiations.
Petitioner's evidence at the trial was that, instead of seeking to represent a separate unit of clerical workers, it is attempting in this proceeding to bring clerical workers and outside linemen together in a single unit. The Petition does not seek an election or certification for a single unit which would include line and clerical personnel. The administrative determinations and notices prior to trial have not been with respect to a single unit including line and clerical personnel. The question of a single inclusive unit was not properly at issue at the trial.
The Commission of Industrial Relations has authority to settle industrial disputes conceming representation. It is not within the language or the policies of the statutes for the Commission to establish a separate unit of employees which is not intended to operate as a separate unit. The Commission could not properly certify a bargaining representative expressing an intention to completely disregard the separate integrity of the unit which it seeks to have the Commission establish.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Petitioner's prayer for an election be denied and that the Petitioner's Petition herein be dismissed.
All Judges assigned to the Panel in this case join in the entry of this Opinion and Order.
Filed March 20, 1980.
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