Opinion ID: 1182729
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Applicability of PERA

Text: Local 71 argues that the Public Employment Relations Act, AS 23.40.070-260, (PERA) imposes upon the REAAs a duty to bargain with the union's members. This Act, however, excludes noncertificated employees of school districts from its coverage. The Act gives public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with their employers. AS 23.40.080. By definition, however, the term public employees does not include noncertificated employees of school districts. AS 23.40.250(5). REAAs appear to be school districts within the meaning of the statute. [10] Local 71 concedes the plain meaning of the statute. The union, however, raises several arguments in support of its contention that the PERA should apply nonetheless. First, it argues that by entering into a collective bargaining agreement, ASOS waived its exempt status and this waiver is binding on the REAAs. Second, it argues that noncertificated REAA employees have grandfather bargaining rights under AS 23.40.240. [11] Neither of these arguments is persuasive.
Local 71 contends that the State Operated School System (ASOS), the REAAs' predecessor, could have asserted that it had no duty to bargain with its noncertificated employees under AS 23.40.250(5). [12] It further argues that the ASOS, however, elected to enter into the March, 1974, collective bargaining agreement with these employees. Because the ASOS elected to bargain when not required to do so under the PERA, Local 71 concludes that the REAAs have waived their right to assert the exemption. The first problem with Local 71's argument is that it is not clear whether ASOS could have claimed the exemption. ASOS may not have been a school district under AS 23.40.250(5). If ASOS was not a school district, the noncertificated employees would have been public employees covered by PERA. In Begich v. Jefferson, 441 P.2d 27 (Alaska 1968), we held that employees of the state operated school district were employees of the State of Alaska. At that time the school system for the unorganized borough was run by the Department of Education; the ASOS took over as the governing body two years later. Thereafter, in Alaska State-Operated School System v. Mueller, 536 P.2d 99 (Alaska 1975), we held that the ASOS was an agency of the state within the meaning of the Civil Rules governing service of process and pleadings. Although neither of these cases determines the status of the ASOS under the PERA, they imply that the ASOS was a state agency for purposes other than the Civil Rules, and that its employees were still employees of the state despite the transfer of authority from the Department of Education to the ASOS. From this it follows that the ASOS was a state agency subject to the PERA and not a school district whose noncertificated employees are exempt under AS 23.40.250(5). The state labor relations agency appeared to take this view when it declared that the noncertificated employees of the ASOS were public employees of the State of Alaska and public employees within the meaning of AS 23.40.250(5). This view was shared by the Department of Law in its opinion letter to the superintendent of the ASOS. Alaska Op.Att'y Gen. (Oct. 5, 1973). Therefore, Local 71's waiver argument is flawed at the outset because it flows from a faulty premise, that the ASOS had a right (to refuse to bargain) which it could waive. The doctrine of waiver is also inappropriate in the present situation. In the first place, it seems highly doubtful that the concept of waiver of conditions or rights found in private contract cases could or should be applied in a case involving important public questions. Moreover, even if ASOS had waived its right to claim exemption under the PERA, it does not follow that the REAAs also have waived their right to assert the statutory exemption. The REAAs are not simply successors to the ASOS; they are independent entities which have been given broad powers to run their individual school districts as they see fit. AS 14.08.021; 14.08.101.
Local 71 maintains that the noncertificated REAA employees have grandfather bargaining rights under AS 23.40.240, which provides: Nothing in this chapter [PERA] terminates or modifies a collective bargaining unit, recognition of exclusive bargaining representative, or collective bargaining agreement if the unit, recognition, or agreement is in effect on September 5, 1972. Contrary to the union's assertion, there appears to be no evidence that the noncertificated employees existed as a bargaining unit on September 5, 1972. The evidence in the record tends to show that the bargaining unit was not in effect until after September 5, 1972. For example, an attorney general opinion, dated October 5, 1973, states that all State employees, except SOS non-certificated employees have been encompassed within bargaining units in which elections have been held or are in the process of being held. Alaska Op.Att'y Gen. (Oct. 5, 1973) (emphasis added). It appears that the unit was disputed as late as January of 1974. Labor Relations Agency Order and Decision No. 11 (January, 1974) (concerning a dispute regarding the appropriate unit for noncertificated employees of the ASOS). Furthermore, Tri-Trades was elected as the bargaining representative of these employees as late as October 28, 1975. Letter from Department of Labor to George White, Superintendent AUBSD (Nov. 3, 1975). Because we find no evidence to support Local 71's claim that a bargaining unit was in effect prior to September 5, 1972, we need not determine the extent of the rights provided by AS 23.40.240. In determining that the PERA does not encompass these employees, we reverse the superior court's order referring the case to the labor relations agency. The labor relations agency is the State Personnel Board if the matter concerns state employees, and the Department of Labor if the matter concerns any other public employees. AS 23.40.250(3). Because the noncertificated employees of school districts are not employees of the state directly or public employees under the PERA, neither labor agency has jurisdiction to determine the applicability of the collective bargaining agreement. In sum, we hold that the Public Employment Relations Act exempts noncertificated employees of the REAAs from its coverage. The REAAs therefore have no statutory duty to bargain with a bargaining representative of the noncertificated employees. In addition, we hold that the legislature did not intend to bind the REAAs to the employment contracts of their predecessor, the ASOS. REVERSED.