Clifton Teachers Ass'n, Inc. v. Board of Ed. of Clifton
| Decision Date | 29 September 1975 |
| Parties | , 90 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3085 CLIFTON TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CLIFTON, Defendant-Respondent. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
Theodore M. Simon, Landing, for plaintiff-appellant (Goldberg & Simon, Landing, attorneys).
Sam Monchak, Clifton, for defendant-respondent.
Before Judges LYNCH, ACKERMAN and LARNER.
Plaintiff, collective bargaining representative of teachers employed by the Clifton Board of Education (board), appeals from a judgment of the Chancery Division which determined that the board, pursuant to N.J.S.A 18A:29--14, may condition payment of salary increments upon satisfactory service as determined by the superintendent of schools. The trial judge further held that the right to such increments is not negotiable pursuant to the provisions of the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act, N.J.S.A. 34:13A--1 Et seq.
On July 1, 1973 plaintiff and the board entered into a collective bargaining agreement which was to expire on June 30, 1975. The agreement included a teachers' salary guide which provided for salary increments for each year of service up to 13 years. The guide continued in effect as written until April 17, 1974, when defendant board, unilaterally and without prior negotiations with plaintiff, adopted a resolution which, in pertinent part, read as follows:
1. No increment or increase is to be considered as automatic or mandatory. All increments or increases are to be considered earned by employees, to whom applicable, only after satisfactory service is so indicated affirmatively by the Superintendent and their adoption by the Board.
Plaintiff filed a verified complaint seeking an injunction against the enforcement of the resolution, contending that the board's action violated the provisions of N.J.S.A. 34:13A--5.3, specifically that portion of the statute which states:
A majority representative of public employees in an appropriate unit shall be entitled to act for and to negotiate agreements covering all employees in the unit and shall be responsible for representing the interest of all such employees without discrimination and without regard to employee organization membership. Proposed new rules or modifications of existing rules governing working conditions shall be negotiated with the majority representative before they are established. In addition, the majority representative and designated representatives of the public employer shall meet at reasonable times and negotiate in good faith with respect to grievances and terms and conditions of employment. (Emphasis supplied)
By its answer defendant board maintained that the terms of its resolution are nonnegotiable by virtue of N.J.S.A. 18A:29--14.
Plaintiff contends that the board's power to withhold salary increments...
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