Court Opinion

ID: 9640440
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:06:06.396429+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:29.782486
License: Public Domain

Justice NIGRO,
concurring.
Although I agree with the majority’s ultimate conclusion that Act 205 requires its provisions to apply notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary, and thus compels the conclusion that the arbitrator exceeded his authority in this case, I disagree with its treatment of Grottenthaler v. Pennsylvania State Police, 488 Pa. 19, 410 A.2d 806 (1980). Specifically, I cannot concur with the majority’s reasoning that Grottenthaler is distinguishable from this case because the Grottenthaler court “emphasized the identity of the employer as the Commonwealth in and of itself, as opposed to a political subdivision such as the Borough.” Slip op. at 10-11. In my view, this does not constitute a principled reason for distinguishing Grottenthaler because that case did not hinge on such a distinction, as evidenced by the fact that the Grottenthaler court specifically relied on a collective bargaining case involving a municipal employer to support its conclusion that the Commonwealth was barred from asserting the applicable statutory prohibition. See Grottenthaler, 410 A.2d at 809 (citing *366Pittsburgh Joint Collective Bargaining Comm. v. City of Pittsburgh, 481 Pa. 66, 391 A.2d 1318 (1978)). Absent a logical explanation for holding Commonwealth employers to a different collective bargaining standard than municipal employers, I do not believe that the majority’s holding can be reconciled with Grottenthaler. Instead, I would overrule Grottenthaler to achieve the result commanded by Act 205.