Opinion ID: 1177371
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: failure to ratify tentative agreement

Text: The Union and the University were bound by a collective bargaining agreement from July 1, 1976 to June 30, 1979. The University gave notice to the Union that it wished to terminate the old agreement and negotiate a new one to take effect July 1, 1979. At the beginning of the negotiations, the parties agreed to the following ground rule: Any proposal, once signed by all parties, shall cease to be an object of further negotiations, and is subject only to ratification of the entire agreement by the Union membership and the Board of Regents. A tentative agreement between the negotiators was reached on June 25 when the Union negotiators, the University negotiators and the State Department of Administration signed off on all contract proposals. The Union obtained the ratification of its membership on June 26 and 27, and on June 28 it reported the ratification to the Board of Regents. The Board of Regents considered the tentative agreement in executive session on June 28 and 29. It then informed the Union that it would take no further action until July 20. The University states that the reason for the postponement was to allow incoming University President Barton to make a recommendation on whether the tentative agreement should be ratified. President Barton assumed his office on July 16, and after he had reviewed the tentative agreement he recommended that it not be ratified. On July 20, the Board of Regents again met in executive session to consider the tentative agreement. Following that session, the Board announced that it was rejecting the tentative agreement and directed President Barton to reconstitute the University bargaining team and return to the bargaining table. The Union alleges that the Board's failure to ratify the tentative agreement was a breach of its duty to bargain in good faith and hence an unfair labor practice pursuant to AS 23.40.110(a)(5), which provides: Unfair labor practices. (a) A public employer or his agent may not .... (5) refuse to bargain collectively in good faith with an organization which is the exclusive representative of employees in an appropriate unit.... Specifically, the Union contends that the Board rejected the agreement because certain proposals of the University's bargaining team incorporated in the agreement were found by the Board to be unacceptable. Under the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 141-187 (1976), it has been held that repeated shifts in bargaining positions on the part of an employer whenever a tentative agreement is reached are evidence of a refusal to bargain collectively in good faith. [1] N.L.R.B. v. Big Three Industries, Inc., 497 F.2d 43, 47 (5th Cir.1974); San Antonio Machine & Supply Corp. v. N.L.R.B., 363 F.2d 633, 636-41 (5th Cir.1966); Sigmund Freisinger, 10 N.L.R.B. 1043, 1050, supp. decision, 15 N.L.R.B. 831 (1939); K Mart Corp., 242 N.L.R.B. 855, 874-77 (1979), enforced, 626 F.2d 704 (9th Cir.1980). Likewise, an employer's refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement which reduces to writing the terms agreed upon with a union constitutes a violation of the Labor Management Relations Act. N.L.R.B. v. Strong, 393 U.S. 357, 359, 89 S.Ct. 541, 543, 21 L.Ed.2d 546, 549 (1969); Young's Metal Fabricators & Roofing, Inc., 241 N.L.R.B. 978, 982 (1979). However, in Bronson Methodist Hospital, 223 N.L.R.B. 95, 98-99 (1976), it was held that an employer did not unlawfully refuse to execute an agreement where it was made clear to the union that submission of the proposed contract to the employer's board of directors was a condition precedent to the existence of a final and binding contract. Thus, under the Labor Management Relations Act it is permissible for an employer to refuse to ratify a tentative agreement in accordance with an agreed upon ground rule, so long as the employer's failure to ratify does not appear to have resulted from the employer's intent to string out negotiations and avoid reaching agreement. See N.L.R.B. v. Alterman Transport Lines, Inc., 587 F.2d 212, 221 (5th Cir.1979). The ALRA declined to draw an inference that the Board's failure to ratify resulted from an intent to prolong negotiations and avoid reaching an agreement. Rather, it concluded that the Board was simply exercising its option to disapprove the tentative agreement in accordance with the agreed upon ground rule. [2] The superior court affirmed the ALRA on this point. Since there is substantial evidence in the record that the Board did not reject the tentative agreement because its own bargaining proposals were found unacceptable, we conclude that the ALRA's failure to draw an inference of bad faith bargaining was reasonable and should not be set aside. [3] See City of Fairbanks v. Alaska Public Utilities Commission, 611 P.2d 493, 495 (Alaska 1980) (administrative agency's factual findings will not be set aside if they are supported by substantial evidence on the whole record). Accordingly, we affirm the order of the superior court on this issue.