Opinion ID: 2581016
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The right to grieve mandatory subjects of bargaining can be waived by PSEA.

Text: But this case also presents the question whether a union can waive the right to grieve a mandatory subject of bargaining. The ALRA held that PSEA can waive the right to arbitrate mandatory subjects if such waiver is clear and unmistakable. In reaching this conclusion, the agency relied upon decisions by the Tenth Circuit [69] and the National Labor Relations Board [70] that permitted unions to waive the right to bargain over wages or other mandatory subjects of negotiations so long as the waiver was clear and unmistakable. We have previously stated that unions must have broad discretion to serve the employees they represent, [71] and we see no reason why this discretion should not extend to a union's ability to waive the right to grievance-arbitration, even for a mandatory subject of bargaining. This approach finds support in federal decisions allowing unions to waive employees' statutory rights, but requiring that such waiver be clear and unmistakable. In Metropolitan Edison Co. v. NLRB, [72] the United States Supreme Court held that a union could waive its officers' statutory rights under the NLRA, but required that the waiver be clear and unmistakable. [73] Likewise, in Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp., [74] the Court stated that a union-negotiated collective bargaining agreement could waive an employee's statutory right to a judicial forum for a discrimination claim in favor of binding arbitration so long as the waiver of the statutory remedy was clear and unmistakable. [75] The Court has reached a similar conclusion in numerous additional cases. [76] The statutory right to grieve mandatory subjects of bargaining is an important one, but certainly no more important than an employee's statutory right to a judicial remedy for a discrimination claim. Just as an employee can waive a statutory right to a judicial remedy for a discrimination claim, an employee's union can waive a statutory right to arbitrate mandatory subjects of bargaining. Accordingly, we hold today that PSEA can waive the right to grieve mandatory subjects of bargaining. But, consistent with the federal courts and with our own precedent, [77] such waiver will be effective only when it is clear and unambiguous. The collective bargaining agreement negotiated by PSEA and the state clearly and unmistakably waived the employees' right to grieve the state's decision not to provide them with legal representation if they acted beyond the scope of their authority or engaged in willful misconduct or gross negligence. PSEA agreed that the state's decision not to indemnify an employee shall not be subject to the grievance-arbitration procedures. The collective bargaining agreement does not, however, waive an employee's right to grieve the state's determination that he or she acted outside the scope of his authority or committed misconduct. Nor does it bar an employee from grieving the disciplinary action imposed as a result of such misconduct. [78] Just as important, since a collective bargaining agreement can cover only a three-year period, [79] PSEA is free to negotiate new terms in a subsequent agreement. Allowing PSEA to waive an employee's statutory right to grieve certain decisions made by the state will allay the state's concern about losing control over such issues as its litigation strategies without sacrificing public employees' right to a grievance procedure for mandatory subjects of bargaining. Legal indemnification is a mandatory subject of bargaining which, absent an express agreement to the contrary, must be subject to a grievance procedure with binding arbitration as the final step. But PSEA, in its capacity as the public safety employees' union, has the discretion to waive this right in the course of its contract negotiations with the state. In all circumstances, such waiver must be clear and unmistakable.