Title: Westly v. BOARD OF CITY COM'RS, ETC.

State: utah

Issuer: Utah Supreme Court

Document:

573 P.2d 1279 (1978) David WESTLY and the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 470, a Labor Organization, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. BOARD OF CITY COMMISSIONERS OF SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION, Defendant and Respondent. No. 14842. Supreme Court of Utah. January 4, 1978. Robert Van Sciver, Salt Lake City, for plaintiffs and appellants. Roger F. Cutler, City Atty., Salt Lake City, for defendant and respondent. PER CURIAM: Plaintiffs filed an action seeking a declaration of their rights to collective bargaining under U.C.A. 1953, 34-19-1. The trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that the statute relied upon was not intended and did not vest any collective bargaining rights in municipal employees. Plaintiff, David Westly, is a police officer employed by Salt Lake City Corporation and is president of plaintiff, International Brotherhood of Police Officers, a labor union. Plaintiffs assert the trial court misinterpreted the statute, Utah's so-called "Little Norris-La Guardia Act," which reads as follows: The foregoing section is simply the preamble to the Labor Disputes Act and it is nothing more than its title states, i.e. a "declaration of policy." It clearly confers no substantive rights and is only a manifestation of legislative intent. It does not constitute an enlargement of authority or power in excess of that contained in succeeding sections. Plaintiffs cite the Washington case of Krystad v. Lau[1] in support of their contention but failed to note that the same court rejected such an interpretation in a subsequent case[2] wherein it was stated: Numerous jurisdictions, construing statutes similar to ours, have uniformly rejected the concept that such policy statements contained therein apply to public employees.[3] In the absence of explicit legislative language, statutes governing labor relations between employers and employees apply only to private industry and not to the sovereign or its political subdivisions.[4] Affirmed. No costs awarded. [1] 65 Wash. 2d 827, 400 P.2d 72 (1965). [2] International U. of Op. Eng., L. 286 v. Sand Point C. Cl., 83 Wash. 2d 498, 519 P.2d 985 (1974). [3] See Retail Clerks Local 187 v. University of Wyoming, Wyo., 531 P.2d 884 (1975), citing a number of jurisdictions in accord. [4] Ibid.