Intl. Assoc. of Fire. v. City of Carlsbad

• Decision Date: 23 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 28,189.,28,189.
• Parties: INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, Local 1687 AFL-CIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF CARLSBAD, a New Mexico Municipal Corporation, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

216 P.3d 256

2009 NMCA 097

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, Local 1687 AFL-CIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF CARLSBAD, a New Mexico Municipal Corporation, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 28,189.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

June 23, 2009.

Certiorari Denied, No. 31,833, July 30, 2009.

W.T. Martin, Jr., Kenneth D. Dugan, Lane T. Martin, The Martin Law Firm, Carlsbad, NM, for Appellee.

Virginia A. Anderman, Charlotte Lamont, Miller Stratvert P.A., Albuquerque, NM, for Appellant.

OPINION

WECHSLER, Judge.

{1} The Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA), NMSA 1978, §§ 10-7E-1 to -26 (2003, as amended through 2005), provides for final, binding arbitration as an impasse procedure in the event a public employer and an exclusive representative of its employees reach an impasse that cannot be mediated in negotiations under the PEBA. Section 10-7E-18(B). The PEBA further provides that an impasse resolution between such parties that requires an expenditure of funds "shall be contingent upon the specific appropriation of funds by the [L]egislature and the availability of funds." Section 10-7E-17(E). We address in this appeal the tension between these provisions. We hold, as a matter of statutory interpretation, that Section 10-7E-17(E) (the contingency provision) prevails. The district court reached the opposite conclusion. We therefore reverse its grant of summary judgment to Plaintiff International Association of Firefighters, Local 1687, AFL-CIO (Union) and its denial of summary judgment to Defendant City of Carlsbad (City) and, in turn, award judgment to the City.

BACKGROUND

{2} The Union is the collective bargaining agent for the City's firefighters. It is their exclusive representative under Section 10-7E-15. The City and the Union have long engaged in collective bargaining and have had numerous collective bargaining agreements in place that set terms as to wages and working conditions. The last collective bargaining agreement expired on April 14, 2006.

{3} In negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement, the Union and the City reached agreement on all issues except wages, on which issue they reached an impasse. They entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU), stating that "[t]he impasse procedures as defined under [Section 10-7E-18(B)] will govern the process for resolution of this impasse." They selected an arbitrator, who, after conducting an arbitration proceeding, entered an arbitration award, on May 25, 2007, based on the Union's last, best offer. The award addresses a three-year period, granting a 3.25% wage increase in the first fiscal year, FY 2006-2007; a 15% one-time increase in addition to a 3% increase in FY 2007-2008; and a 3% increase in FY 2008-2009. The arbitrator specified that the award "makes no determination as to the economic capability of the City of Carlsbad as that decision must be left to the authority and determination of the City Council." The City did not appropriate funds in its FY 2007-2008 budget to put into effect the award's one-time 15% increase.

{4} The Union filed a complaint seeking enforcement of the arbitration award and an injunction, followed by a motion for partial summary judgment. The City responded with a counter-motion for summary judgment. The district court held a hearing on the motions and ruled from the bench in the Union's favor. It later entered numerous orders in conjunction with its ruling. The pertinent orders for the purposes of this appeal are (1) the order granting summary judgment and confirming the arbitration award, (2) the amended order issuing a writ of mandamus compelling the City to comply with the arbitration award, and (3) the order granting the Union's request for attorney fees and costs in the amount of $46,927. The City appeals from these orders.

ENACTMENT AND RE-ENACTMENT OF IMPASSE PROCEDURES

{5} The Legislature originally enacted the PEBA in 1992 with a sunset provision to take effect in 1999. NMSA 1978, §§ 10-7D-1 to -26 (1992, as amended through 1998) (repealed 1999). It re-enacted the PEBA in 2003 in mostly the same form as the original version. See §§ 10-7E-1 to -26. See generally S. Barry Paisner & Michelle R. Haubert-Barela, Correcting the Imbalance: The New Mexico Public Employee Bargaining Act and the Statutory Rights Provided to Public Employees, 37 N.M. L.Rev. 357 (2007) (discussing the history surrounding the enactment of New Mexico's PEBA). The purpose in both versions was the same, "to guarantee public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with their employers, to promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between public employers and public employees and to protect the public interest by ensuring, at all times, the orderly operation and functioning of the state and its political subdivisions." Section 10-7E-2; § 10-7D-2. In its re-enactment, the Legislature made a significant change to the impasse resolution procedures. It instituted arbitration as a final procedure in resolving an impasse in negotiations between a public employer and an exclusive representative of public employees. See § 10-7E-18(B); § 10-7D-18(B). It also expanded the scope of language limiting the ability of negotiating parties in circumstances that require the expenditure of funds. See §§ 10-7E-17(E), 10-7E-18(B); § 10-7D-17(E).

{6} We begin our analysis with these provisions and their reflection of legislative intent. We then address the Union's several arguments that bear on the legislative intent. We finally consider the Union's position that genuine issues of material fact remain so as to defeat summary judgment in favor of the City.

LEGISLATIVE INTENT OF IMPASSE PROCEDURES

{7} The impasse resolution procedures that the Legislature adopted in the PEBA in 2003 included two alternatives for resolving an impasse in negotiations. The parties could (1) engage in mediation, which would lead to arbitration, or (2) enter into a written agreement to use an alternative procedure. Section 10-7E-18 containing these procedures provides, as pertinent to this appeal:

(B) The following impasse procedures shall be followed by all public employers and exclusive representatives, except the state and the state's exclusive representatives:

(1) if an impasse occurs, either party may request from the board or local board that a mediator be assigned to the negotiations unless the parties can agree on a mediator. A mediator with the federal mediation and conciliation service shall be assigned by the board or local board to assist negotiations unless the parties agree to another mediator; and

(2) if the impasse continues after a thirty-day mediation period, either party may request a list of seven arbitrators from the federal mediation and conciliation service. One arbitrator shall be chosen by the parties by alternately striking names from such list. Who strikes first shall be determined by coin toss. The arbitrator shall render a final, binding, written decision resolving unresolved issues pursuant to [Section 10-7E-17(E)] of the [PEBA] and the Uniform Arbitration Act[, NMSA 1978, §§ 44-7A-1 to -32 (2001),] no later than thirty days after the arbitrator has been notified of his or her selection by the parties. The arbitrator's decision shall be limited to a selection of one of the two parties' complete, last, best offer. The costs of an arbitrator and the arbitrator's related costs conducted pursuant to this subsection shall be shared equally by the parties. Each party shall be responsible for bearing the cost of presenting its case. The decision shall be subject to judicial review pursuant to the standard set forth in the Uniform Arbitration Act.

(C) A public employer other than the state may enter into a written agreement with the exclusive representative setting forth an alternative impasse resolution procedure.

{8} Of the alternative procedures of Section 10-7E-18, the parties elected a hybrid; they entered into an agreement, the MOU, that would fit the requirements of Subsection C and agreed to proceed directly to arbitration under Subsection B. Acting under Subsection B, the parties selected an arbitrator, who, as the statute demands, entered a written decision within thirty days based on the Union's last, best offer. Section 10-7E-18(B)(2). Subsection B calls for the arbitrator's decision to be a "final, binding" one. Section 10-7E-18(B)(2).

{9} Section 10-7E-18(B) also provides for the arbitrator's decision to be "pursuant to" Section 10-7E-17(E). Section 10-7E-17(E) states, in pertinent part:

An impasse resolution or an agreement provision by a public employer other than the state or the public schools and an exclusive representative that requires the expenditure of funds shall be contingent upon the specific appropriation of funds by the appropriate governing body and the availability of funds.... An arbitration decision shall not require the reappropriation of funds.

The tension in the language of Section 10-7E-18(B)(2) and Section 10-7E-17(E) providing for a final, binding arbitration decision that is contingent upon the appropriation and availability of funds presents the issue in this case and requires interpretation of the PEBA. The district court interpreted the PEBA to conclude that the arbitrator's award was final and binding on the parties. On appeal, we review de novo a district court's interpretation of a statute. City of Deming v. Deming Firefighters Local 4521, 2007-NMCA-069, ¶ 6, 141 N.M. 686, 160 P.3d 595. In doing so, we endeavor to fulfill the intent of the Legislature in enacting the statute. Regents of Univ. of N.M. v. N.M. Fed'n of Teachers, 1998-NMSC-020, ¶ 28, 125 N.M. 401, 962 P.2d 1236.

{10} The Union urges us to accept the district court's interpretation by highlighting the Legislature's language in Section 10-7E-18(B)(2) that the arbitrator "shall render a final, binding" decision. It supports its position with policy arguments stressing the legislative purpose of...