Opinion ID: 901992
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statutory Definitions and Public Employee Collective Bargaining

Text: [¶ 6.] A public employee grievance is defined in SDCL 3-18-1.1 as follows: The term grievance as used in this chapter means a complaint by a public employee or group of public employees based upon an alleged violation, misinterpretation, or inequitable application of any existing agreements, contracts, ordinances, policies or rules of the government of the state of South Dakota or the government of any one or more of the political subdivisions thereof, or of the public schools, or any authority, commission, or board, or any other branch of the public service, as they apply to the conditions of employment. Negotiations for, or a disagreement over, a nonexisting agreement, contract, ordinance, policy or rule is not a grievance and is not subject to this section. (Emphasis added). The Association's complaint alleges, among other things, that the District's failure to apply the salary schedule to all teachers in the bargaining unit constitutes an inequitable application of the contract implemented by the District's last offer. [¶ 7.] Collective bargaining for public employees is generally governed by SDCL ch. 3-18 and SDCL ch. 60-9A. As public employees, teachers have the right to form and join labor or employee organizations... [and] the right to designate representatives for the purpose of meeting and negotiating with the governmental agency or representatives designated by it with respect to grievance procedures and conditions of employment.... SDCL 3-18-2. A collective bargaining unit chosen for the purpose of collective bargaining by a majority of the employees in the unit shall be the exclusive representative of all employees in such unit[.] SDCL 60-9A-3. The exclusive representative has authority to bargain on behalf of the unit in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment. SDCL 3-18-3. The negotiations by the governmental agency or its designated representatives and the employee organization or its designated representatives shall be conducted in good faith. SDCL 3-18-2. Failure to negotiate in good faith constitutes an unfair labor practice. SDCL 3-18-3.1; SDCL 3-18-3.2. [¶ 8.] The results of negotiations are often referred to as trade agreements between the union and the organization. J.I. Case Co. v. NLRB, 321 U.S. 332, 334-35, 64 S.Ct. 576, 579, 88 L.Ed. 762 (1944). The United States Supreme Court described the agreements as follows: Collective bargaining between employer and the representatives of a unit, usually a union, results in an accord as to terms which will govern hiring and work and pay in that unit. The result is not, however, a contract of employment except in rare cases; no one has a job by reason of it and no obligation to any individual ordinarily comes into existence from it alone. The negotiations between union and management result in what often has been called a trade agreement, rather than in a contract of employment. Id. Cited with approval in Council of Higher Educ. v. S.D. Bd. of Regents, 2002 SD 55, ¶¶ 9-10, 645 N.W.2d 240, 243. This Court has also recognized that public employee collective bargaining agreements are trade agreements that are validly enforceable contracts between the teachers' union and the employer. Council of Higher Educ., 2002 SD 55, ¶ 10, 645 N.W.2d at 243-44. This Court stated, [t]he uniqueness of a trade agreement may make it something different than an employment contract, but the trade agreement remains a contract between the union and the organization. Id. Additionally, [t]he contracts negotiated between public school districts and teachers are like any other collective bargaining agreement, and disputes over the agreement are resolved with reference to general contract law. Wessington Springs Educ. Ass'n v. Wessington Springs Sch. Dist. #36-2, 467 N.W.2d 101, 104 (S.D.1991) (citations omitted). Likewise, we have recognized that agreements imposed when an impasse is reached are also binding on the employer and the teachers' union. Council of Higher Educ., 2002 SD 55, ¶ 12, 645 N.W.2d at 244. Thus, the terms of the District's last offer, implemented pursuant to SDCL 3-18-8.2, were just as binding on the parties, i.e., the District and the Association, as if they had reached an agreement, and the terms contractually obligated both parties.