School Dist. of Millcreek Tp. v. Millcreek Ed. Ass'n

Decision Date03 February 1982
Citation440 A.2d 673,64 Pa.Cmwlth. 389
Parties, 2 Ed. Law Rep. 455 The SCHOOL DISTRICT OF the TOWNSHIP OF MILLCREEK, Appellant, v. MILLCREEK EDUCATION ASSOCIATION and Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, Appellees.
CourtPennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Donald E. Wright, Jr., Knox, Graham, McLaughlin, Gornall & Sennett, Inc., Mark E. Mioduszewski, Erie, for appellant.

James L. Crawford, Mary Teresa Gavigan, and Cheryl G. Young, Anthony Busillo, II, Harrisburg, for Labor Relations Bd.

Anthony J. Molloy, Jr., Philadelphia, for Pa. Federation of Teachers, AFT, AFL-CIO.

George Levin, Erie, and Anthony D. Newman, Harrisburg, for Millcreek Ed. Assoc.

William Fearen, Michael I. Levin, Harrisburg, for Pa. School Boards Assoc.

Before MENCER, WILLIAMS and MacPHAIL, JJ.

MENCER, Judge.

In February 1971, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) certified the Millcreek Education Association (Union) as the exclusive representative for the bargaining unit consisting of "teachers, traveling teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, traveling librarian, dental hygienist, speech therapists, and nurses" employed by the School District of Millcreek Township (School District). The Union and the School District thereafter negotiated several collective bargaining agreements without changing the description of the bargaining unit. At the time that the PLRB certified the bargaining unit, the School District employed "long term substitute teachers" to fill the positions of teachers who were on leaves of absence extending beyond 89 days.

When a dispute arose in 1976 concerning the inclusion of the long-term substitute teachers in the bargaining unit, the Union filed a petition for unit clarification with the PLRB. The PLRB found that the long-term substitutes shared a "community of interest" with the other full-time permanent employees sufficient to justify their inclusion in the same bargaining unit. On appeal by the School District, the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County affirmed the decision of the PLRB. This appeal followed.

Section 604 of the Public Employe Relations Act (PERA), Act of July 23, 1970, P.L. 563, 43 P.S. § 1101.604, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

The (PLRB) shall determine the appropriateness of a unit which shall be the public employer unit or a subdivision thereof. In determining the appropriateness of the unit, the (PLRB) shall:

(1) Take into consideration but shall not be limited to the following: (i) public employes must have an identifiable community of interest, and (ii) the effects of over-fragmentization.

In reviewing the PLRB's application of this section, the court must rely upon the expertise of the PLRB in this specialized field to weigh and determine the facts; the court must decide only whether the findings of the PLRB are supported by substantial evidence and whether the conclusions are reasonable, and not arbitrary, capricious, or illegal. Western Psychiatric Institute v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 16 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 204, 330 A.2d 257 (1974).

In applying Section 604, the PLRB first considers whether long-term substitute teachers are part-time employees who possess a community of interest with other members of the unit, rather than casual employees who possess only a limited interest in the employment relationship. It is settled that, where a sufficiently strong community of interest exists, part-time employees may be included in the same bargaining unit with full-time employees. Albert Einstein Medical Center v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 17 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 91, 330 A.2d 264 (1975). In order to establish this community of interest, the PLRB then requires the part-time employees to demonstrate an "expectancy of continued employment."

The PLRB found here that the long-term substitute teachers were required to have the same teaching certification from the Department of Education as full-time permanent teachers; they had to work the same daily hours and academic year; they had to assume the same teaching assignments and teacher-related duties such as homeroom, bus duty, hall duty, and study hall; they were observed and evaluated using the same standards and procedures; they were required to prepare the same lesson plans and attend parent-teacher conferences, in-service days, and PTA meetings. After determining that the long-term substitutes had demonstrated an expectancy of continued employment, the PLRB concluded that an identifiable community of interest exists between the long-term substitute teachers and the other members of the certified bargaining unit.

The School District first argues that the PLRB erred in its decision since the Public...

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25 cases
  • Indiana Area Sch. v. Indiana Area Educ.
    • United States
    • Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
    • February 20, 2007
    ...Public School Code of 1949, as amended." Article IV, Section 1 of the CBA; R.R. at 213a. In School District of Township of Millcreek v. Millcreek Educ. Ass'n, 64 Pa. Cmwlth. 389, 440 A.2d 673 (1982), the Court held that the purpose of a unit clarification procedure under the PERA is to dete......
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    ...Board, 695 A.2d 926 (Pa. Cmwlth.1997), aff'd, 557 Pa. 586, 735 A.2d 96 (1999), School District of the Township of Millcreek v. Millcreek Education Association, 64 Pa.Cmwlth. 389, 440 A.2d 673 (1982); Erie County Area Vocational-Technical School v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 52 Pa.C......
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    ...and will only consider written job descriptions to corroborate testimony of actual duties. See Sch. Dist. of Twp. of Millcreek v. Millcreek Educ. Ass'n, 64 Pa.Cmwlth. 389, 440 A.2d 673 (1982) (noting that the purpose of unit clarification procedure is to determine whether job classification......
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