Case Name: LOCAL NO. 214, TEAMSTERS v. CITY OF DETROIT
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1979-07-10
Citations: 91 Mich. App. 273
Docket Number: Docket No. 78-2301
Parties: LOCAL NO. 214, TEAMSTERS v CITY OF DETROIT
Judges: Before: D. C. Riley, P.J., and M. J. Kelly and Beasley, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 91
Pages: 273–283

Head Matter:
LOCAL NO. 214, TEAMSTERS v CITY OF DETROIT
Docket No. 78-2301.
Submitted March 19, 1979, at Detroit.
Decided July 10, 1979.
Leave to appeal applied for.
Teamsters, Local No. 214, as union representative of correctional officers employed at the Detroit House of Correction (DeHoCo), petitioned the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) for a formal determination as to whether the officers were eligible for arbitration under a statute providing for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and fire departments. MERC held that it possessed the requisite jurisdiction necessary to effect a settlement of a controversy, and in addition ruled that the prison guards were within the act’s coverage and therefore entitled to compulsory arbitration. The City of Detroit and DeHoCo appeal that determination alleging that MERC lacks the jurisdiction and authority to hear and decide the question of plaintiff’s eligibility for compulsory arbitration, that MERC erred in determining that DeHoCo is a state rather than a city facility and that the correctional guards were subject to the same or similar hazards faced by Detroit policemen. Held:
1. MERC has jurisdiction and authority to hear and decide eligibility of public police and fire department employees for the compulsory arbitration of labor disputes.
2. Correctional guards at DeHoCo are employed by the City of Detroit; therefore, they are city employees and come, in that respect, within the ambit of the statute providing for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and fire departments.
3. The statute providing for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and fire departments applies to public employees engaged as policemen, or firemen or subject to the hazards thereof. The guards at DeHoCo are not part of the public police department and to be eligible for compulsory arbitration they must be subject to the risks and hazards faced by City of Detroit policemen. A MERC decision is conclusive if supported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole. Where the Court of Appeals is unable to say that an agency’s findings are devoid of the necessary record support in a close case, due deference should be given to the agency’s administrative expertise and the Court should not invade the province of exclusive administrative fact-finding by displacing the agency’s choice between two reasonably differing views.
References for Points in Headnotes
48A Am Jur 2d, Labor and Labor Relations §§ 1764, 1773-1775, 2026.
Validity and construction of statutes or ordinances providing for arbitration of labor disputes involving public employees. 68 ALR3d 885.
48 Am Jur 2d, Labor and Labor Relations §§ 1368, 1420, 1421.
Affirmed.
M. J. Kelly, J., dissented. He would hold, from his review of the evidence presented, that plaintiffs failed to carry their burden of establishing that correctional guards at DeHoCo were, and are, subject to the same risks and hazards as members of the Detroit Police Department. The guards are not eligible for compulsory arbitration under the statute and the MERC decision should be reversed.
Opinion of the Court
1. Labor Relations — Michigan Employment Relations Commission — Jurisdiction — Public Employees — Policemen and Firemen — Arbitration of Disputes — Statutes.
The Michigan Employment Relations Commission has jurisdiction and authority to hear and decide the question of the eligibility of public police and fire department employees for the compulsory arbitration of disputes (MCL 423.231 et seq.; MSA 17.455[31] et seq.).
2. Labor Relations — Public Employees — Policemen and Firemen — Arbitration of Disputes — Statutes.
The act providing for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and fire departments applies to any department of a city, county, village or township having employees engaged as policemen, or in fire fighting or subject to the hazards thereof (MCL 423.232; MSA 17.455[32]). '
3. Prisons — Detroit House of Correction — Correctional Guards — Arbitration of Disputes — Statutes.
Correctional guards at the Detroit House of Correction are employed and paid by the City of Detroit; therefore, they come, in that respect, within the ambit of the act providing for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and fire departments (MCL 423.232; MSA 17.455[32]).
4. Appeal and Error — Administrative Law — Michigan Employment Relations Commission — Fact Finding — Expertise — Constitutional Law — Statutes.
A decision of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission is conclusive if supported by competent, material and substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole; therefore, where the Court of Appeals is unable to reach the conclusion that the agency’s findings were devoid of the necessary record support in a decidedly close case, due deference should be given to the agency’s administrative expertise and the Court of Appeals should decline to invade the province of exclusive administrative fact-finding by displacing the agency’s choice between two reasonably differing views (Const 1963, art 6, § 28, MCL 423.23[e]; MSA 17.454[25][e]).
Dissent by M. J. Kelly, J.
5. Labor Relations — Public Employees — Policemen and Firemen — Arbitration of Disputes — Detroit House of Correction — Guards — Risks and Hazards — Statutes.
Compulsory arbitration of labor disputes extends to public employees engaged as policemen, or in ñreñghting or subject to the hazards thereof; correctional guards at the Detroit House of Correction are not part of the city public police department and to be eligible for compulsory arbitration of their labor dispute they must be subject to the hazards of city policemen; therefore, where record evidence indicates that the guards are not subject to the same risks and hazards as members of the Detroit Police Department, compulsory arbitration should be denied (MCL 423.232; MSA 17.455[32]).
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoski, Solicitor General, and Jon M. DeHorn, Assistant Attorney General, for Michigan Employment Relations Commission.
Kasoff, Young, Gottesman, Kovinski, Friedman & Walkon, P.C. (by Howard L. Shifman), for Teamsters Local No. 214.
Roger E. Craig, Corporation Counsel, George G. Matish, Deputy Corporation Counsel, and Michael A. Hurvitz, Assistant Corporation Counsel, for defendants.
Before: D. C. Riley, P.J., and M. J. Kelly and Beasley, JJ.

Opinion:
D. C. Riley, P.J.
On October 6, 1977, plaintiff, the union representative of correctional officers employed at the Detroit House of Correction (hereinafter, DeHoCo), petitioned the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (hereinafter, the Commission) for a formal determination as to whether the officers were eligible for arbitration under the compulsory arbitration statute, MCL 423.231 et seq.; MSA 17.455(31) et seq.
In an order dated May 17, 1978, the Commission held that it possessed the requisite jurisdiction necessary to effect a settlement of the controversy, and in addition ruled that the prison guards were within the act's coverage and therefore entitled to mandatory arbitration. The City of Detroit and DeHoCo appeal that determination by leave, raising three issues, only one of which merits distended consideration.
Defendants' initial argument, that the Commission lacks the jurisdiction and authority to hear and decide the question of plaintiff's eligibility for compulsory arbitration, has been recently rebuffed by this Court in In The Matter of Metropolitan Council 23, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, 89 Mich App 564; 280 NW2d 600 (1979), wherein it was held that the legislative intent to afford public employees within the scope of the act an expeditious and effective procedure for the resolution of disputes would be ill-served by imposing the protracted delays ger mane to initial court review and resolution of the act's comprehensiveness. Defendants' claim, therefore, is without merit.
Defendants also maintain that the Commission erred in determining that DeHoCo is a state rather than a city facility.
MCL 423.232; MSA 17.455(32) defines "public police and fire department", to which the compulsory arbitration act applies, as follows:
"any department of a city, county, village or township having employees engaged as policemen, or in fire fighting or subject to the hazards thereof."
Assuming, arguendo, the validity of defendants' contention, Green v Dep't of Corrections, 30 Mich App 648, 652; 186 NW2d 792 (1971), aff'd 386 Mich 459; 192 NW2d 491 (1971), we are no closer to a resolution of the ultimate dispute on appeal, which is, whether the Commission erroneously ruled that the correctional officers were within the purview of the act. As is readily apparent from the provision above, the focal point of conflict is not whether DeHoCo is a city or state institution, but rather the identity of the prison guards' employer. Since the guards are employed and paid by the City of Detroit, they clearly come, in this respect, within the ambit of the statute.
Hence, we turn to the dispositive issue, whether the Commission's holding that the officers in question were subject to the same or similar hazards as faced by Detroit policemen was in accordance with the law and supported by competent, material and substantial evidence. Const 1963, art 6, § 28, MCL 423.23(e); MSA 17.454(25)(e), Michigan Employment Relations Commission v Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Inc, 393 Mich 116, 121-124; 223 NW2d 283 (1974).
Executive Deputy Chief James Bannon testified regarding the hazards generally encountered by Detroit police officers. They included walking beats, riding motorcycles, responding to radio reports of crimes, riding in patrol cars, and investigating narcotics cases, sex-related offenses, robberies and homicides. The police are charged with the general enforcement of all the criminal laws of the state, be they misdemeanor, felony, or motor vehicle connected. Police officers have an obligation to carry their identification cards, badges and guns even when off duty, and, accordingly, to respond to life threatening situations at any time. Police must assist firemen in their work. They also must respond to and intervene in family squabbles, which is one of the most dangerous of police activities since, on the national average, 50% of the police officers killed or injured are killed or injured in responding to domestic calls. Statistics were introduced evidencing the high rate of injur ries resulting throughout the entire spectrum of police activities. Bannon also indicated that, due to the stress of police work in urban communities, police officers have the highest occupational rates of suicide and divorce, and one of the highest rates of alcoholism in the country.
The functions of the correctional guards, and their attendant risks, were explained by various witnesses, including the director of DeHoCo. Their testimony may be summarized as follows: the officers are responsible for maintaining order throughout the detention facility, and also patrol its perimeters on foot and in vehicles. They are accountable for the custody of prisoners to and from police agencies, courts and hospitals. In the event of a prisoner escape, they pursue and initially attempt an apprehension, always with the aid of weapons. They search prisoners and visitors for contraband such as weapons or narcotics; however, their power extends only to detention of the wrongdoer—the local police are alerted to effectuate the arrest. Although the guards are on call 24 hours a day, they are not authorized to carry a weapon or make an off-duty arrest. Most do not carry guns as part of their daily routine, but a full range of weapons (including mace, teargas, and other riot equipment) are kept on the premises for issue when necessary. Officers have, on occasion, been assaulted through prisoner attack, though not anywhere nearly as frequently as Detroit policemen. However, the potential for these attacks coupled with instances of inter-inmate conflicts exposes them to risks from which they suffer physical injuries.
Upon a careful review of the evidence and testimony proffered, we are unable to reach the conclusion that the Commission's finding was devoid of the necessary record support. We view the instant case as a decidedly close one, and accordingly afford due deference to administrative expertise and decline to "invade the province of exclusive administrative fact-finding by displacing an agency's choice between two reasonably differing views". Michigan Employment Relations Commission v Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Inc, supra, at 124.
Affirmed. Costs to plaintiff.
Beasley, J., concurred.
MCL 423.231; MSA 17.455(31).