5 CIR 232 (1981)

NEBRASKA COMMISSION OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

BUTTE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, An | CASE NO. 416
Unincorporated Association, |
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Plaintiff, |
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v. | OPINION AND ORDER
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SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 5, OF BOYD |
COUNTY, NEBRASKA, Also Known as BUTTE |
PUBLIC SCHOOLS |
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Defendant. |

Appearances:

For the Plaintiff: Theodore L. Kessner.

For the Defendant: James W. Symonds.

Before: Judges Gradwohl, Berkheimer, and Davis.

GRADWOHL, J:

This matter came on for a determination of wages and other conditions of employment for Butte Public School Teachers for 1981-1982 pursuant to Section 48-818. Butte is a Class II school district having 13.5 (full-time equivalent) teachers and a student enrollment for 1980-1981 of 147 students. The parties stipulated that there were two areas of dispute:

1. Base salary.

2. Paid Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance premium for teachers with dependents.

The Commission has jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject matter.

1. Statute.

The controlling statute is Section 48-818, which states:

The findings and order or orders may establish or alter the scale of wages, hours of labor, or conditions of employment, or any one or more of the same. In making such findings and order or orders, the Commission of Industrial Relations shall establish rates of pay and conditions of employment which are comparable to the prevalent wage rates paid and conditions of employment maintained for the same or similar work of workers exhibiting like or similar skills under the same or similar working conditions. In establishing wage rates the commission shall take into consideration the overall compensation presently received by the employees, having regard not only to wages for time actually worked but also to wages for time not worked, including vacations, holidays, and other excused time, and all benefits received, including insurance and pensions, and the continuity and stability of employment enjoyed by the employees. Any order or orders entered may be modified on the commission's own motion or on application by any of the parties affected, but only upon a showing of a change in the conditions from those prevailing at the time the original order was entered.

2. Comparables.

The parties stipulated at trial that the work, skills, and working conditions of the teachers employed by the Butte Public Schools and the teachers employed at the compared to school districts are similar, and satisfy the standards set forth in Section 48-818 to permit a comparison of terms and conditions of employment if included in the array of compared to school districts by the Commission. Both parties presented evidence concerning teacher wages and conditions of employment in the public schools of Lynch, Niobrara, Orchard, Spencer, Stuart, and Verdigre. In addition, the Association presented evidence as to the public schools in Clearwater and Keya Paha. The District, likewise, presented evidence as to the public schools in Chambers, Inman, and Naper.

In selecting employments for the purpose of comparisons to arrive at comparable and prevalent wage rates and conditions of employment in accordance with Section 48-818, the question is whether, as a matter of fact, the employments selected for comparison are sufficiently similar and have enough like characteristics or qualities to make comparison appropriate in that situation. Fraternal Order of Police v. County of Adams , 205

Neb. 682, 685, 289 N.W. 2d 535, 537 (1980); Omaha Assn of Firefighters v. City of Omaha , 194 Neb. 436, 441, 231 N.W. 2d 710, 713 (1975); Crete Educ. Assn v. School Dist. of Crete , 193 Neb. 245, 255, 226 N.W. 2d 752, 758 (1975). Since this is a factual determination to be made in each case, the use of a particular array in one case does not require that the same group of employments would be appropriate in a different case. Crete Educ. Assn v. School Dist. of Crete , 193 Neb. 245, 255, 226 N.W. 2d 752, 758 (1975).

The evidence in this case as to the compared to school districts, in addition to the stipulation as to work skills and working conditions, consists of the size and ranking of the schools by student enrollment, county, geographic proximity to Butte, and community of interest of the other schools with Butte, especially concerning athletic and music competitions and affiliation with an educational service unit.

Table 1 sets out some of the information about the school districts in the proposed arrays.

From the evidence in this case, it is determined that a suitable array for the purposes of Section 48-818 should consist of teachers in the following school districts: Lynch, Niobrara, Orchard, Spencer, Stuart, and Verdigre. They were agreed to by the parties, constituting six of the eight schools presented by the Association and six of the nine schools presented by the District. They have a similarity in student enrollment, geographic proximity, and are schools which have constituted a nucleus for arrays used in prior disputes involving conference schools.

These schools are all of the other members of the Niobrara Conference except Ewing and Naper. Ewing was not presented by either party for inclusion in the array in this matter because its teachers are not compensated on an index salary schedule. See Spencer Education Association v. School District of Spencer , 3 CIR 298 (1977). Naper has also not previously compensated its teachers on an index salary schedule. For the 1981-1982 school year, Naper has applied a schedule with only a BA column and just four effective steps, 0 years experience through 3 years experience. All teachers with 3 or more years of prior experience in the Naper School District, regardless of the length of such experience, were entered into the new index salary schedule at BA Step 3. Further, Naper hired a vocal and instrumental music teacher for 1981-1982 at $13,000, roughly $1,000 in excess of the schedule. One of the factors Section 48-818 seeks to

establish is a quality of "prevalent wage rates paid and conditions of employment." Payment pursuant to an index salary schedule is, itself, a condition of employment. See Valentine Education Association v. School District No. IV of Cherry County , 2 CIR No. 66 at 66-7 and 66-8 (1973). Conference schools not paying teachers on an index salary schedule have not been included in the arrays employed in the resolution of disputes involving conference schools which do use index salary schedules. See Orchard Teachers Association v. Orchard Public Schools , 4 CIR 94 (1979); Spencer Education Association v. School District of Spencer , 3 CIR 298 (1977). We find that it would not be appropriate to include Naper in the array employed for the resolution of the present industrial dispute.

We decline to include any of the remaining four districts presented by one of the parties, Clearwater, Keya Paha, Chambers, and Inman, for the reason that to do so would detract from the quality of the array of six Conference schools agreed upon by the parties. See Rosalie Faculty Association v. Rosalie Public Schools , 5 CIR 82 (1980); Spencer Education Association v. School District of Spencer , 3 CIR 298 (1977). It is not necessary to determine whether or not in other circumstances these schools should be included in an array used to resolve that industrial dispute. See Crete Educ. Assn v. School Dist. of Crete , 193 Neb. 245, 255, 226 N.W. 2d 752, 758 (1975). There was no objection to Clearwater in the Orchard array (4 CIR at 96); Keya Paha was rejected in Orchard (4 CIR at 96) and used for limited purposes only in Spencer (3 CIR at 300); and Chambers was rejected in Spencer (3 CIR at 300).

In arriving at a determination of the array in Rosalie Faculty Association v. Rosalie Public Schools , 5 CIR 82, 86-87 (1980), the Commission reasoned:

Rather than dilute the excellent and agreed to yardsticks presented by Bancroft, Decatur, Prague, and Snyder, it is preferable to limit the comparisons to an array consisting of those four public schools alone. The evidence does not indicate any strong basis for distinguishing among the additional eight public schools. And the average total teacher compensation for Bancroft, Decatur, Prague, and Snyder ($179,460) is almost identical to that for an array consisting of all twelve schools ($180,071). An array consisting of just four schools, Bancroft, Decatur, Prague, and Snyder, is an exceptionally small array, but we find that it is appropriate for settlement of this industrial dispute.

Although Rosalie involved a Class I school district, and the Commission felt the additional eight districts had "no significant proximity or community of interest with Rosalie" (5 CIR at 86), the important element was that "the excellent and agreed to yardsticks" were not diluted by the inclusion of additional districts having lesser characteristics of comparability. Here, as in R osalie , inclusion of the four additional districts would change the mean overall compensation only slightly (for the six agreed schools, $188,581.80; for the ten schools, $188,858.41) and would not change the median overall compensation ($189,398.05).

We are mindful that Inman, Keya Paha and Naper are the only three schools submitted for consideration with a student enrollment smaller than Butte. See Tecumseh Education Association v. School District of Tecumseh , 2 CIR No. 119 (1975). Naper should not be included in the array in this case for the reasons set out above.[1] Inman is a Class I district; Keya Paha is a Class VI district. Defendant's Brief[2] recognizes that the same considerations which might cause Inman to be included in the array would also cause Keya Paha to be included in the array. The total compensation figures (Inman $177,206.80; Keya Paha $205,456.40) tend to offset each other for the calculations involved in this matter.[3]

3. Determination as to "Overall Compensation."

Section 48-818 states that "In establishing wage rates the commission shall take into consideration the overall compensation presently received by the employees, having regard not only to wages for time actually worked but also to wages for time not worked, including vacations, holidays, and other excused time, and all benefits received, including insurance and pensions, and the continuity and stability of employment enjoyed by the employees." This rule of overall compensation does not require an identity of benefits, but that the overall compensation be "comparable to the prevalent wage rates paid and conditions of employment maintained for the same or similar work of workers exhibiting like or similar skills under the same or similar working condition." These determinations must be made on the basis of the evidence introduced by the parties in the trial of the case. The determinations under Section 48-818, R.R.S. 1943, may, therefore, vary from case to case depending upon the evidence introduced by the parties.

The two items for determination by the Commission are: 1) base salary and 2) paid Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance premium for teachers with dependents.

The evidence establishes the following salary and fringe benefit comparisons as compiled in Table 2. The actual salaries currently being paid at Butte are not set out in the Table.

Table 3 compares the insurance benefits of Butte to those of the array school districts.

Applying the statutory criteria of Section 48-818 to the evidence in this case, we find that effective at the beginning of the 1981-1982 school contract year, the base salary amount for Butte teachers shall be $11,080.00 and that the employer contribution to the dependents' health insurance coverage shall be $83.48 per month. This represents a standard salary schedule of $175,950.40 (base salary amount, $11,080.00), times staff index factor, 15.88), fringe benefits of $13,018.80 and an overall compensation of $188,969.20.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:

1. The base salary amount for Butte Public School teachers shall be $11,080.00, effective at the beginning of the 1981-1982 school year.

2. The District shall pay $83.48 per month for dependents' coverage in health insurance, effective at the beginning of the 1981-1982 school year.

This Order shall be effective for wages and conditions of employment with respect to the 1981-1982 school year. The adjustments resulting from this Order shall be made ratably over the twelve months of the school contract year. The amount due for the portion of the school contract year already elapsed shall be paid as soon as feasible following the entry of this Order.

All Judges assigned to the panel in this case join in the entry of this Opinion and Order.

Entered September 11, 1981.

[1] The fact that Naper's student enrollment is less than one-half that of Butte does not preclude its consideration.

See Alliance Education Association v. School District of Alliance , 5 CIR 113 (1981).

[2] Defendant's Brief, pages 5-6, and 8-10.

[3] Both Briefs (Plaintiff's Brief, page 14, Defendant's Brief,

page 8) also appear to agree as to Chambers and Clearwater that both or neither should be included in the array. The total compensation figures for Chambers ($181,836.80) and Clearwater ($193,043.30) also tend to offset each other for the calculations involved in this matter.

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