Court Opinion

ID: 9773933
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:04:19.509454+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:59.568300
License: Public Domain

Donald L. Corbin, Justice, concurring in part and dissenting in part. While I agree with the majority that the chancellor correctly denied Appellants’ request for an injunction, as Appellants have not challenged the chancellor’s finding that they failed to make a showing of irreparable harm, I disagree with the majority’s refusal to reach the merits of Appellants’ claim that strikes by public employees are illegal in Arkansas. The majority’s refusal to address the merits of this argument is predicated on the ground that the issue is moot, apparently because the strike had ended prior to this appeal. I believe, however, that this issue falls within one of the exceptions to the mootness doctrine recognized by this court. Where considerations of public interest or the prevention of future litigation are present, this court may choose to elect to settle an issue, even though moot. Duhon v. Gravett, 302 Ark. 358, 790 S.W.2d 155 (1990). The issue of whether teachers, being public employees, may strike against their government employers, is an issue of significant public interest that must be addressed by this court in light of the two decisions rendered in Potts v. Hay, 229 Ark. 830, 318 S.W.2d 826 (1958), and City of Fort Smith v. No. 38, AFL-CIO, 245 Ark. 409, 433 S.W.2d 153 (1968). In Potts, this court addressed the issue of whether police officers could be denied employment on the basis of their membership in a union. One of the arguments raised by the appellants was that police officers should not be permitted to belong to unions because the public interest would suffer in the event the officers were allowed to exert “union pressure” upon their employer, the city of Little Rock. As the chancellor in the present case correctly observed, the reference in Potts to “union pressure” was actually a reference to strikes against the city. In an effort to assure the appellants that no such union pressure would be permitted under the law, this court cited two cases from other jurisdictions, which provided that public employees may seek union membership, but that there is no right of public employees to strike against the government. See Norwalk Teachers’ Ass’n v. Board of Education, 83 A.2d 482 (1951); Beverly v. City of Dallas, 292 S.W.2d 172 (Tex. Civ. App. 1956). In City of Port Smith, the issue presented was whether a municipality could be required to engage in collective bargaining with its union employees. Notwithstanding that issue’s resolution, this court made clear in the first sentence of the opinion that strikes by public employees were illegal, stating: Under Amendment 34 to the Arkansas Constitution municipal employees have the right to belong to labor unions, but they do not have the right to strike against the government. Potts v. Hay, 229 Ark. 830, 318 S.W.2d 826 (1958). 245 Ark. at 410, 433 S.W.2d at 154 (emphasis added). Although I do not dispute the majority’s characterization of the above-recited language as dicta, in that it was not the ultimate holding of the case, I cannot ignore the fact that the language is unequivocal and is, at the very minimum, persuasive authority for the proposition that strikes by public employees are illegal. Unless this court is prepared to overrule those two decisions, they must be recognized for what they have clearly stated — that there is no right of public employees to strike against the government. Because I believe this issue should be put to rest one way or the other, in the interest of avoiding future strikes and the litigation that inevitably follows, I must dissent from the majority’s refusal to reach the merits of Appellants’ argument. Given this court’s reluctance to address this important issue, I strongly urge the General Assembly to consider this matter at its next session. Don Donner, Sp.J., joins in this opinion.