City of Richfield v. LOCAL NO. 1215, ETC.
| Decision Date | 02 February 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 48638.,48638. |
| Citation | 276 NW 2d 42 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Contract Arbitration Between: CITY OF RICHFIELD, Appellant, v. LOCAL NO. 1215, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS, Respondent, and State of Minnesota, by Warren Spannaus, Attorney General, Intervenor, Respondent. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
LeFevere, Lefler, Pearson, O'Brien & Drawz and James P. O'Meara, Minneapolis, for appellant.
Peterson, Engberg & Peterson and Bruce P. Grostephan, Minneapolis, Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., Richard Allyn, Sol. Gen., Stephen Befort, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for respondent.
Oppenheimer, Wolff, Foster Shepard & Donnelly, Eric R. Miller, Donald W. Selzer, Jr., St. Paul, amicus curiae, for Minn. Ed. Assn. seeking affirmance.
Hall & Swanson and Clinton J. Hall, Forest Lake, amicus curiae, for Minn. Elementary School Principals Assn. seeking affirmance.
Gregg M. Corwin, Golden Valley, amicus curiae, for AFSCME Councils seeking affirmance.
Stanley G. Peskar, St. Paul, amicus curiae, General Counsel for League of Minnesota Cities seeking reversal.
Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, R. Theodore Clark, Jr., Bettye S. Kitch, Chicago, Ill., amicus curiae, for National League of Cities seeking reversal.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
This is an appeal by the plaintiff, city of Richfield (Richfield) from a judgment entered February 14, 1978, pursuant to an amended order of the Hennepin County District Court filed February 10, 1978, upholding the constitutionality of the compulsory binding arbitration provisions of the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA), Minn.St.1976, §§ 179.66-.77 and confirming an arbitration award issued to resolve negotiation disputes between plaintiff and defendant, Local No. 1215, International Association of Fire Fighters (Local 1215). Pursuant to Rule 24.04, Rules of Civil Procedure, Richfield notified the Minnesota attorney general that this action involved a challenge to the constitutionality of a Minnesota statute. The State of Minnesota has intervened to defend the constitutionality of PELRA. We affirm.
The facts of this case are uncontested. Local 1215 is the exclusive representative of certain employees of the Richfield Fire Department. On December 31, 1975, Local 1215's employment contract with Richfield expired. Pursuant to PELRA, Local 1215 and Richfield engaged in collective bargaining negotiations in an attempt to reach an agreement on the terms of a new contract. When negotiations failed to resolve all of the issues in dispute, Local 1215 petitioned the director of the Bureau of Mediation Services for binding arbitration. The director then certified that the negotiations had reached an impasse, and the nine issues in question were submitted for resolution to a three-member arbitration panel selected by the parties from a list provided by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Minn.St. 179.72, subds. 5 and 6. Richfield submitted final positions on eight of the unresolved issues but submitted no position on issue IX. On March 31, 1977, the panel issued its award, including an award on issue IX, which states that the contract shall be in effect for the year 1976, shall be automatically renewed unless either party notifies the other within a specified time period of its desire to modify or terminate the agreement, and shall be in effect until a new contract is ratified by the parties.
The following issues are raised on appeal:
(1) Does PELRA unconstitutionally delegate legislative power?
(2) Does the arbitration panel's award on issue IX exceed the panel's jurisdiction?
(3) Does the district court have jurisdiction to review the arbitration panel's awards?
In addition the League of Minnesota Cities has raised certain Federal constitutional questions in its brief as amicus curiae. Because these issues were not raised before the trial court, we will not deal with them here. We do not hold that a case might not be presented to us that on its face raised serious Federal constitutional questions of which we would feel compelled to take note, but such is not the situation in this case. Thus, we proceed to a discussion of the remaining issues.
1. PELRA is a comprehensive regulation of labor relations in the public sector. Under the Act, public employees and their employers are mutually obligated to meet and negotiate the "terms and conditions of employment," as that term is defined in Minn.St. 179.63, subd. 18. If the collective bargaining process ends in an impasse, either party or both parties may petition the director of the Bureau of Mediation Services for binding arbitration of the parties' final positions on disputed matters. Minn.St. 179.69, subds. 1 to 3. The arbitration then proceeds in one of two ways; under Minn.St. 179.72, subd. 6, the parties either agree on a single arbitrator to hear the dispute or alternately strike names from a list of seven arbitrators furnished by PERB until a panel of three remains. Under either procedure, the resolution of the terms and conditions of employment is binding on the parties. Minn.St. 179.72, subd. 7. Richfield argues that the above procedure is unconstitutional because it impermissibly delegates legislative authority. See, Minn.Const. art. 1, § 1, and art. 3, § 1.
In cases that challenge the constitutionality of a statute, the law is presumed to be constitutional. Head v. Special School District No. 1, 288 Minn. 496, 506, 182 N.W.2d 887, 894 (1970), certiorari denied sub nom., Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 v. Spannaus, 404 U.S. 886, 92 S.Ct. 196, 30 L.Ed.2d 168 (1971). An act will not be found unconstitutional unless its invalidity is clear or it is shown beyond a reasonable doubt to violate the constitution. E. g., Grobe v. Oak Center Creamery Co., 262 Minn. 60, 61, 113 N.W.2d 458, 459 (1962); State v. Lanesboro Produce & Hatchery Co., 221 Minn. 246, 255, 21 N.W.2d 792, 796 (1946). We declare a law unconstitutional only if absolutely necessary, and then only with great caution. E. g., City of Pipestone v. Madsen, 287 Minn. 357, 363, 178 N.W.2d 594, 598 (1970); Minneapolis Gas Co. v. Zimmerman, 253 Minn. 164, 173, 91 N.W.2d 642, 650 (1958); State v. Lanesboro Produce & Hatchery Co., 221 Minn. 255, 21 N.W.2d 796.
The nondelegation doctrine teaches that purely legislative power cannot be delegated. Lee v. Delmont, 228 Minn. 101, 112, 36 N.W.2d 530, 538 (1949). However, where a law embodies a reasonably clear policy or standard to guide and control administrative officers, so that the law takes effect by its own terms when the facts are ascertained by the officers and not according to their whim, then the delegation of power will be constitutional. 228 Minn. 113, 36 N.W.2d 538.
It is not necessary in the instant case to delineate the minimum standards necessary for a delegation of legislative power to receive constitutional protection. A comparison of the statute involved here with another found by this court to be valid indicates to us that the provisions of PELRA are constitutional.
In Fairview Hospital Association v. Public Building Service Union, Local 113, 241 Minn. 523, 64 N.W.2d 16 (1954), the union representing the employees at nine charitable hospitals sought to have a binding arbitration provision1 similar to the provisions being challenged in the instant case declared an improper delegation of legislative authority because, inter alia, it lacked adequate standards to guide the arbitrators. 241 Minn. 544, 64 N.W.2d 30. The court noted that:
Relying on the principle that the delegation of legislative authority need be founded only upon a definite policy and rule of action to guide the administrative agency, and noting that some statutes containing only a general standard have been declared to be sufficiently definite, this court ruled that Minn.St. 179.40 provided adequate standards to guide the arbitrators under the provision in question. 241 Minn. 546, 64 N.W.2d 31.
In the instant case, the public policy behind PELRA is set forth in Minn.St. 179.61:
"It is the public policy of this state and the purpose of sections 179.61 to 179.77 to promote orderly and constructive relationships between all public employers and their employees, subject however, to the paramount right of the citizens of this state to keep inviolate the guarantees for their health, education, safety and welfare."
This policy statement is virtually identical to the one cited in Fairview, supra, which was held to provide adequate standards to guide arbitrators.
Richfield, nevertheless, seeks to distinguish that case on various grounds. While there are aspects of the two cases that may differ, other provisions in PELRA make clear that there are adequate standards. In the memorandum accompanying its amended order of February 10, 1978, the district court summarized a number of these provisions:
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