Ibew Local 89 v. Or. Legislative Assembly, Case No. RC-001-21
| Decision Date | 06 April 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. RC-001-21 |
| Parties | IBEW LOCAL 89, Petitioner, v. OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, Respondent. |
| Court | Oregon Employee Relations Board |
(ELECTION RESULTS)
On January 13, 2021, Petitioner IBEW Local 89 filed a petition under ORS 243.682(2) and current OAR 115-025-0031(1)1 to request an election for a bargaining unit comprised of the following classifications:
"Legislative Assistant I, Legislative Assistant II, Legislative Assistant III, and Legislative Assistant IV supporting elected officials in the Oregon Legislative Assembly, excluding supervisory, managerial, confidential, and caucus employees."
On February 4, 2021, Respondent Oregon Legislative Assembly filed objections to the petition on multiple grounds. A hearing was conducted by Administrative Law Judge Jennifer Kaufman, and the matter was transferred to the Board. On April 6, 2021, the Board determined that Respondent's objections were not valid and issued an Interim Order Directing an Election. That interim order is incorporated into and appended to this final order.
On May 6, 2021, the Board's Election Coordinator sent ballots to eligible voters. One hundred and thirty-six valid ballots were returned by the deadline of May 27, 2021, which constitutes the date of the election.2 OAR 115-025-0072(1)(b)(A). A tally of ballots was held on May 28, 2021. Before the tally, Respondent challenged 30 ballots on the basis that the employeeswho cast those ballots are supervisory employees under ORS 243.650(23)(a) or managerial employees under ORS 243.650(16), or both, and therefore were ineligible to vote. Pursuant to OAR 115-025-0073(2)(b), those ballots were impounded. The remaining 106 ballots were counted, with 75 ballots cast for IBEW Local 89 and 31 ballots cast for no representation. Because "the number of challenges will not affect the outcome of the election," the Respondent's challenges "will not be resolved," pursuant to OAR 115-025-0073(2)(c).
On the same date as the ballot tally (May 28, 2021), the Election Coordinator provided the parties with the tally of ballots. OAR 115-025-0073(1). Objections to the conduct of the election (or conduct affecting the results of the election) were due within ten days of furnishing the ballot tally to the parties (i.e., by June 7, 2021). OAR 115-025-0075(1)(a). No objections were filed. Accordingly, it is certified that
is the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit comprised of the following classifications:
/s/_________
/s/_________
/s/_________
Daniel Hutzenbiler, Attorney at Law, McKanna Bishop Joffe, LLP, Portland, Oregon represented Petitioner.
Tessa M. Sugahara, Attorney in Charge, and Jonathan Groux, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Oregon Department of Justice, represented Respondent.
On January 13, 2021, Petitioner IBEW Local 89 (Petitioner or Union) filed a petition under ORS 243.682(2) and current OAR 115-025-0031(1)3 to request an election for the following bargaining unit comprised of the following classifications:
"Legislative Assistant I, Legislative Assistant II, Legislative Assistant III, and Legislative Assistant IV supporting elected officials in the Oregon Legislative Assembly, excluding supervisory, managerial, confidential, and caucus employees."
On February 4, 2021, Respondent Oregon Legislative Assembly (Branch or Respondent)4 filed objections to the petition on multiple grounds. Because the petition sought to create a new bargaining unit of unrepresented employees, the matter was expedited under OAR 115-025-0065(1)(c) and assigned to Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Jennifer Kaufman, who conducted a hearing on February 25, 2021. Pursuant to OAR 115-025-0065(7), the parties submitted post-hearing briefs on March 4, 2021. The matter was then transferred to the Board for the issuance of an order. See OAR 115-025-0065(2).
The issues are (1) whether the petitioned-for employees are excluded from the coverage of the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA); (2) whether the proposed bargaining unit is an appropriate bargaining unit; and (3) whether the petitioned-for employees are excluded on a classification-wide basis as confidential, managerial, or supervisory employees.
For the following reasons, we conclude that (1) PECBA does not exclude the petitioned-for employees from its coverage; (2) the proposed bargaining unit is an appropriate unit; and (3) the record does not establish that the petitioned-for employees are excluded on a classification-wide basis as confidential, managerial, or supervisory employees.5 Therefore, we direct the Election Coordinator to conduct an election consistent with this order, to determine whether Petitioner should be certified as the exclusive representative of those employees.
All rulings made by the ALJ were reviewed and are correct.
1. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 89 is a labor organization within the meaning of ORS 243.650(13).
2. The Legislative Branch is a branch of the State of Oregon. The Legislative Branch is a public employer within the meaning of ORS 243.650(20).
3. The Oregon Constitution expressly divides the powers of the government of the State of Oregon into three separate branches. Article III, Section 1 provides:
"The powers of the Government shall be divided into three separate branches, the Legislative, the Executive, including the administrative, and the Judicial; and no person charged with official duties under one of these branches, shall exercise any of the functions of another, except as in this Constitution expressly provided."
4. Article IV, Section 1 of the Oregon Constitution vests the legislative power of the state in a Legislative Assembly, which consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Legislative Assembly consists of 90 elected members. The 90 elected members are comprised of 60 representatives, who serve two-year terms, and 30 senators, who serve four-year terms.
5. In addition to the 90 elected members of the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Branch includes other offices, committees, and agencies. The Legislative Branch includes the parliamentary offices, which are the Office of the Secretary of the Senate and the Office of the Chief Clerk of the House.
6. In addition, the Legislative Branch includes the legislative agencies, which are Legislative Administration, the Legislative Counsel Office, the Legislative Fiscal Office, the Legislative Policy and Research Office, the Legislative Revenue Office, the Legislative Equity Office, and the Legislative Commission on Indian Services.
7. The Legislative Branch also includes committees referred to as statutory committees, joint interim committees, and joint interim task forces. One such statutory committee is the Legislative Administration Committee (LAC), which is established by ORS 173.710 and is a joint committee of the Legislative Assembly. The LAC consists of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, members of the House appointed by the Speaker, and members of the Senate appointed by the President. The committee is bipartisan. ORS 173.730 provides that no more than three House members of the committee shall be of the same political party and no more than three Senate members of the committee shall be of the same political party.
8. The LAC appoints a Legislative Administrator, who serves at the pleasure of the LAC and under its direction. See ORS 173.710. The Legislative Administrator is authorized by statute to perform administrative service functions for the Legislative Branch, including but not limited to accounting, data processing, personnel administration, printing, supply, space allocation, and property management. See ORS 173.720(1)(i).
9. The Legislative Administrator oversees the Legislative Administration agency, which is one of the agencies of the Legislative Branch. Legislative Administration oversees five functional areas: visitor services, information services, facility services, employee services, and financial services. Jessica Knieling is the Interim Human Resources Director and oversees Employee Services, one of the divisions of Legislative Administration. Knieling reports to the Legislative Administrator.
10. The Legislative Branch employs approximately 532 employees. The number of employees fluctuates because some employees are employed only for the duration of a legislative session. The employees employed by the Legislative Branch include the 180 petitioned-foremployees. The petitioned-for employees all work as what the Branch calls "personal staff" to one of the 90 elected members of the Legislative Assembly.
11. Each elected member is allocated an allowance provided in the Legislative Assembly budget to appoint personal staff. The Rules of the Senate for the 2021 session provide that a "member may appoint personal staff for a session or the interim or both, according to the allowance provided in the current Legislative Assembly budget." Senate Rules 15.05(1). Compensation and benefits for personal staff "shall be determined by Legislative Administration."6 Similarly, the Rules of the Oregon House for the 2021 session provide that a "member may appoint personal staff for the session, the interim or both, according to the allowance provided[,]" and shall establish salaries payable to personal staff "in accordance with the policies and procedures...
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