| SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 BOONE COUNTY, | | | CASE NO. 483 |
| NEBRASKA, a/k/a ALBION CITY SCHOOLS, | | | |
| a Political Subdivision of the State | | | |
| of Nebraska, | | | |
| | | ||
| Plaintiff, | | | |
| | | ||
| v. | | | OPINION AND ORDER |
| | | ||
| ALBION EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, an | | | |
| Unincorporated Association, | | | |
| | | ||
| Defendant. | | |
Appearances:
For the Plaintiff: Kelley Baker
Nelson & Harding
P.O. Box 82028
Lincoln. Nebraska
For the Defendant: Theodore L. Kessner
Crosby, Guenzel, Davis Kessner & Kuester
400 Lincoln Benefit Building
Lincoln, Nebraska
Before: Judges Orr, Berkheimer and Davis.
DAVIS, J:
This matter came on for a determination of wages and other conditions of employment for the Albion City Schools teachers for the 1982-1983 school year pursuant to Section 48-818. Albion is a Class III school district employing 43 teachers (41.75 full-time equivalent) and had a student enrollment for the 1981-1982 school year of 546 students. No agreement was reached by the parties as to unresolved issues for Commission determination. 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. Comparable School Districts .
The Association and the School District both presented comparisons with the following five school districts: Adams Central, Central City, Columbus Lakeview, Ord, and Schuyler Central. The Association also presented comparisons with the school districts of Aurora, Grand Island Northwest, and York. The School District in addition presented comparisons with Fullerton, Genoa, Madison, Neligh, Plainview, and St. Paul. The parties agreed that the work skills and working conditions of the teachers employed by Albion and the teachers employed in all of the compared to districts offered by the Association and District 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.
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 districts by student enrollment, county, distance from Albion, community of interest of the other districts with Albion, especially concerning athletic contacts, and some further testimony presented at the hearing.
Table 1 sets out some of the information about the school districts in the proposed arrays.
In Fraternal Order of Police v. County of Adams , 205 Neb. 682, 685, 289 N.W.2d 535, 537 (1980), the Supreme Court stated that "In selecting employment units in reasonably similar labor markets for the purpose of comparison as to wage rates and other benefits, the question is whether, as a matter of fact, the units selected for comparison are sufficiently similar and have enough like characteristics or qualities to make comparison appropriate." From the evidence in this case, it is determined that a suitable array for the purpose of Section 48-818 should consist of teachers in the following school districts: Adams Central, Central City, Columbus Lakeview, Ord, and Schuyler Central. They were agreed to by the parties and constitute five of the eight schools presented by the Association and five of the eleven schools presented by the District. They have a similarity in student enrollment and in geographic proximity, as well as being members of the same athletic conference. The school districts not selected for comparison were excluded for the reasons of size of student enrollment or number of athletic, scholastic and academic contacts with Albion.
The five school districts presented by both parties are individually suitable for the purposes of Section 48-818 and collectively comprise an appropriate array. See Hastings Education Association v. School District of Hastings , 6 CIR 317 (1982); Brule Teachers Association v. School District Number 17 , 5 CIR 319 (1981); Butte Education Association v. School District Number 5 , 5 CIR 232 (1981); 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 in other circumstances different schools could be included in an array used to resolve another industrial dispute. See Crete Education Association v. School District of Crete , 193 Neb. 245, 255, 226 N.W.2d 752, 758 (1975).
3. Index Salary Schedule .
The Association argues that at issue in this case is not only base salary, but the salary schedule structure which includes the index factors, the salary schedule captions, and lengths of columns. The Association requests that the present index factors of 4 x 4 should be changed to 5 x 4, 4.5 x 4.5, or 4 x 5. In addition, the Association requests that the present BA + 45/MA column be changed to BA + 36/MA. Also, the Association points out to the Commission that the lengths of columns are shorter at Albion than at the compared to school districts.
The District presented testimony from Albion's School Superintendent that an index salary schedule with factors of 4 x 5 would be good for Albion City Schools. This would require a change in the present factor of 4 percent to 5 percent for additional hours attained beyond the bachelor's degree. The District presented an exhibit setting out the index factors for Albion's staff on a 4 x 5 schedule with varying numbers of steps and columns.
In West Holt Faculty Association v. School District 25 of Holt County , 5 CIR 301, 309 (1981), the Commission found:
"It is the Commission's experience that because of varying effects of different schedules upon teachers within the bargaining group, changes in the structure of the schedule are best achieved through collective bargaining and that past practice should not be disturbed in the absence of substantial variances from prevalent practice. . ."
The following Table 2 shows the index factors, educational columns, and number of longevity steps in each column of the school districts selected for comparison.
In reviewing the index factors of the compared to schools districts shown in Table 2 there is only one of the five schools that has a 4% factor for vertical longevity increases and the other four schools have a 4.5% factor or 5% factor. For the horizontal factor of educational attainment, two of the five schools have 4% and the other three schools have 4.5% or 5%. The Commission finds that the present index factors of 4 x 4 should be changed to 4 x 5 since both parties sought this change and we find it to be comparable to the prevalent practice.
Albion is unique for its BA + 45/MA educational column because
none of the five compared to school districts have that column. Also, three of the five school districts have a BA + 36/MA column and Albion does not. The Commission finds that the present column caption of BA+ 45/MA at Albion is not prevalent among the compared to school districts and should be changed to BA + 36/MA in order to achieve comparability.
Albion's number of longevity steps in each column when compared to the other school districts selected were fewer for the columns of BA,BA + 9, and BA + 18. Albion's columns of BA + 27, MA + 9, and MA + 18 had the same or greater number of steps when compared to the schools selected in Table 2. For the same reasons as in West Holt , we decline to adjust the number of longevity steps in Albion's index salary schedule.
4. Determinations 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 conditions." 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 evidence presented by the parties of the salary and fringe
benefits comparisons for the school districts selected is conflicting. The parties waived foundation for the exhibits presented and stipulated that the placement of Albion's teachers is as shown on the Association's Exhibit 7. However, the District's placement of Albion City Schools teachers on four of the five compared to school districts' salary schedules results in a higher dollar figure for no apparent reason. The parties also stipulated that: "[t]here are twelve teachers receiving single health insurance coverage and twenty-nine teachers receiving family health insurance coverage. In addition, there are two staff members married to two of the twenty-nine receiving family coverage." The District in making its fringe benefit calculations prorated the amount given to the part-time teachers employed at Albion and the Association did not. (73:15-75:7). The Commission in Table 3 has compiled the salary comparisons using the District's computations and the fringe benefit comparisons taking into account a proration of fringe benefits for Albion's part-time teachers where that is appropriate at the compared to school districts.
Applying the statutory criteria of Section 48-818 to the evidence in the case, we find that effective at the beginning of the 1982-83 school contract year the base salary amount for Albion teachers shall be $12,210.00. This represents a standard salary schedule of $722,801.48 (base salary amount of $12,210.00 multiplied by a staff index factor of 59.1975), plus fringe benefits of $61,363.45 which makes the total teacher compensation for the purposes of these calculations: $784,164.93.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that:
1. The base salary amount for Albion City Schools teachers shall be $12,210.00 effective at the beginning of the 1982-1983 school contract year.
2. The index salary schedule structure shall have a 4% vertical factor and a 5% horizontal factor.
3. The index salary schedule structure shall include a BA + 36/MA column and no BA + 45/MA column.
4. This Order shall be effective for wages and conditions of employment with respect to the 1982-1983 school contract 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.
Filed December 8, 1982.
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