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Employee organization charged employer had ?direct dealing? with unit members and refused to negotiate the impact of an assessment plan

Employee organization charged employer had ?direct dealing? with unit members and refused to negotiate the impact of an assessment plan
Dutchess United Educators and Dutchess Community College - PERB determinations U-27107, U-27371

The Public Employment Relations Board affirmed the decision of an ALJ dismissing two charges filed by the Dutchess United Educators.

The first charge alleged that the Dutchess Community College violated §209-a(d) of the Act by failing to negotiate, upon a demand, the impact of an academic assessment plan and for allegedly engaging in direct dealing with bargaining unit members.

The second charge alleged additional acts of direct dealing in violation of §§209-a.1(a) and (d) of the Act. The Board ruled that the ALJ had the authority to dismiss the direct dealing allegations based upon the insufficiency of the allegations in the charges. Following a review of the record, the Board found that a reasonable inference cannot be drawn from the evidence that Dutchess Community College negotiated with or attempted to negotiate directly with members of the bargaining unit aimed at reaching an agreement.

The Board reiterated that the duty to negotiate with an exclusive representative does not, in general, prohibit the employer from disseminating information and documents to members of a negotiation unit so long as it is not aimed at impeding negotiations or subverting the fundamental rights of employees to organization and representation under the Act.

In affirming the dismissal of the alleged failure to negotiate the impact of the academic assessment plan, the Board found that the short delay in commencing impact negotiations, following receipt of the demand, did not constitute a violation of §209-a.1(d) of the Act.

Finally, the Board upheld the ALJ's exclusion of evidence related to what transpired during the two impact negotiations sessions following the initial delay because it was outside the scope of the charge.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on March 10, 2009 (boomark / email).