Opinion ID: 2328860
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Legislative and Regulatory Background.

Text: In order to place the controversy in Case No. 1 in context, it is necessary to summarize the legislative scheme and the applicable regulations. Labor-management relations between the District of Columbia government and its employees are governed by the Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act (CMPA), D.C.Code § 1-601.1 et seq. (1992). The CMPA created the PERB, which administers the system of collective bargaining between agencies of the District government and the Unions which represent public employees. Id. §§ 1-605.1, 1-605.2, 1-618.2(a). The PERB is authorized, inter alia, to [r]esolve bargaining impasses through fact-finding, final and binding arbitration, or other methods ... [and to] [m]ake a determination in disputed cases as to whether a matter is within the scope of collective bargaining. Id., §§ 1-605.2(4), 1-605.2(5). The PERB is also empowered to issue appropriate regulations. Id. § 1-605.2(11). Although the scope of collective bargaining under the CMPA is comparatively broad, the Council has designated certain management rights as to which the District and its agencies are not required to negotiate. See id., § 1-618.8(a). [1] Adopting the three-category approach articulated by the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Borg-Warner Corp., 356 U.S. 342, 349, 78 S.Ct. 718, 723, 2 L.Ed.2d 823 (1958), the PERB has held that there are mandatory subjects over which the parties must bargain; permissive subjects over which the parties may bargain; and illegal subjects over which the parties may not legally bargain. PERB Opinion No. 43, at 2 (1982) (emphasis added). If the parties, during negotiations, reach an impasse on any issue, they are required to notify the PERB, which selects an impartial person to serve as mediator. D.C.Code §§ 1-618.2(d); 1-618.17(f)(3). If the mediator is unable within thirty days to resolve the impasse, the issues are referred to arbitration. Id. The arbitration panel is required to select the last best offer of each of the parties as the basis for impasse resolution and to issue an appropriate award. Id. If, at the times relevant to this appeal, an issue arose as to whether a particular matter was appropriate for collective bargaining, the party which proposed the matter was authorized, under procedures promulgated by the PERB, to file a negotiability appeal with the PERB. PERB Interim Rule § 106.1. Further [a] negotiability appeal shall not be accepted by [the PERB] if it is filed more than forty-five days (45) after a party rejects a proposal as being not negotiable. PERB Interim Rule § 106.2. The obligation of the proposing party to file a negotiability appeal was thus triggered by the opposing party's rejection of the proposal as non-negotiable. In the event of a timely negotiability appeal, the PERB issued a written opinion in which it identified any negotiable issues; the parties could then resume negotiations as to those issues.