South Puget Sound Community College, Decision 10385 (PSRA, 2009)
STATE OF WASHINGTON
BEFORE THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
In the matter of the petition of: )
)
WASHINGTON FEDERATION OF STATE )
EMPLOYEES ) CASE 21850-C-08-1372
)
For clarification of an existing ) DECISION 10385 - PSRA
bargaining unit of employees of: )
)
SOUTH PUGET SOUND COMMUNITY COLLEGE ) ORDER CLARIFYING
(COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT 24) ) BARGAINING UNIT
____________________________________)
Washington Federation of State Employees, by Gladys Burbank,
Director of PERC Activities, for the union.
Office of Financial Management, by Tina Peterson, Labor
Negotiator, for the employer.
On July 7, 2008, the Washington Federation of State Employees
(union) filed a unit clarification petition under Chapter 391-35
WAC, concerning certain employees of South Puget Sound Community
College. The union seeks to include certain regular part-time
employees in an existing bargaining unit it already represents.
Hearing Officer Christy Yoshitomi conducted a pre-hearing conference
on September 11, 2008. During this pre-hearing conference, the
parties agreed to submit written stipulations in lieu of a hearing.
The parties submitted their stipulations on February 2, 2009.
ISSUE
Should the existing bargaining unit be clarified to include regular
part-time employees?
The Executive Director accepts the parties' stipulations and
modifies the bargaining unit represented by the union to include the
petitioned-for employees.
APPLICABLE LEGAL PRINCIPLES
Unit placement of part-time state civil service employees is
addressed in WAC 391-35-356. Under this rule, it is presumptively
appropriate for employees covered by Chapter 41.06 RCW who work less
than full-time to be included in the same bargaining unit as
full-time employees who perform similar work.
The Personnel Resources Board (PRB) is the agency authorized to
interpret Chapter 41.06 RCW, the applicable statute. On July 1,
2005, a revised rule, WAC 357-04-045, was adopted by the PRB
addressing part-time or temporary employees:
WHICH PART-TIME OR TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES OF HIGHER EDUCATION
EMPLOYERS ARE EXEMPT FROM CIVIL SERVICE RULES?
Persons employed to work one thousand fifty hours or less (1050
hours or less) in any twelve consecutive month period from the
original date of hire or October 1, 1989, whichever is later,
are exempt from civil service rules.
Employees who are either exempt under this subsection or
exceptions authorized under WAC 357-19-440, and who work more
than three hundred fifty (350) hours in any twelve consecutive
month period from the original date of hire or January 1, 2004,
whichever is later, may be included in an appropriate
bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining, as
determined by the public employment relations commission.
Overtime and time worked as a student employee under the
provision of WAC 357-04-040 are not counted in the
three-hundred fifty (350) hours.
ANALYSIS
The union currently represents a unit of all nonsupervisory civil
service employees of South Puget Sound Community College, excluding
confidential employees, internal auditors, supervisors, employees in
other bargaining units and all other employees. There are
approximately 114 employees in the unit. The current bargaining
unit does not include regular part-time employees working less than
1050 hours. The parties have stipulated to a list of approximately
81 employees who have worked at least 350 hours during the previous
12 months. Although the employees may not perform all the duties of
the equivalent full-time positions, they do perform work similar to
the full-time positions in the existing bargaining unit.
CONCLUSION
The Executive Director finds that the stipulations filed by the
parties are sufficient to constitute a basis for a ruling, and
nothing has come to the attention of the Commission staff or
Executive Director that contradicts the propriety of the
clarification requested by the union. The employer does not oppose
clarifying the bargaining units to include the employees working
between 350 and 1050 hours annually. The existing bargaining unit
appears to be the only appropriate unit placement for the
petitioned-for employees. The stipulations by the parties are
therefore accepted and incorporated into the findings of facts
below.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. South Puget Sound Community College (Community College District
24) is a state institution of higher education within the
meaning of RCW 41.80.005(10).
2. The Washington Federation of State Employees is an employee
organization within the meaning of RCW 41.80.005(7).
3. The union is the exclusive bargaining representative of a
bargaining unit encompassing all nonsupervisory civil service
employees of South Puget Sound Community College, excluding
confidential employees, internal auditors, supervisors,
employees in other bargaining units and all other employees.
4. The parties stipulate that the petition was timely filed.
5. The parties stipulate that there are approximately 114
employees included in the bargaining unit described in Finding
of Fact 3 above.
6. The parties stipulate that the list of approximately 81
petitioned-for employees includes those who perform work
similar to that performed by the employees in the existing
bargaining unit described in Finding of Fact 3 and who have
worked at least 350 hours in the previous 12 months.
7. The parties stipulate that the individuals within the group
described in Finding of Fact 6 do not include students.
8. The parties stipulate that no other employee organization is
known to claim or be seeking to represent any of the part-time
employees at issue in this proceeding, and that no other cases
pending before the Public Employment Relations Commission could
affect the composition of the bargaining unit.
9. The parties stipulate that the Commission has jurisdiction to
determine whether the proposed individuals can be included in
the bargaining unit.
10. The parties stipulate that the petitioned-for employees in
Finding of Fact 6 are appropriately included in the existing
bargaining unit described in Finding of Fact 3.
11. The parties have waived their rights to a hearing and their
rights to file an appeal.
12. No other facts have been discovered or brought to the attention
of the parties that call into question the propriety of the
proposed bargaining unit.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Public Employment Relations Commission has jurisdiction in
this matter under Chapter 41.80 RCW and Chapter 391-35 WAC.
2. Employees described in Finding of Fact 6 are regular part-time
employees for the purpose of collective bargaining and are
appropriately included in the existing bargaining unit
described in Finding of Fact 3.
ORDER
1. The description of the existing bargaining unit is modified to
read as follows:
All full-time and regular part-time nonsupervisory civil
service employees of South Puget Sound Community
College, excluding confidential employees, internal
auditors, supervisors, and all other employees.
2. Employees who work for the employer more than 350 hours during
any consecutive 12-month period are included in that unit as
regular part-time employees.
Issued at Olympia, Washington, on the 1st day of May, 2009.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
CATHLEEN CALLAHAN, Executive Director