STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ) FIREMAN AND OILERS NO. 5, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 75-110

) PERC NO. 8H-RC-752-0066 MANATEE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY )

COMMISSIONERS, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

A representation hearing pursuant to notice was held in this cause on April 22, 1975, in Bradenton, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Frank E. Hamilton, Jr., Esquire

101 East Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, Florida 32602

For Respondent: Paul E. Logan, Esquire

406 13th Street West Bradenton, Florida 33502

Paul E. Logan, Esquire, appeared on behalf of the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, Respondent and Frank E. Hamilton, Jr., Esquire, appeared on behalf of the International Brotherhood of Fireman and Oilers No. 5, Petitioner. Two witnesses were presented. Mr. Westwood Hugh Fletcher, Jr., Personnel Director from Manatee County and Jesse Kenneth McKendree, Administrator of the Manatee County Ambulance Service, testified and were questioned by counsel and the hearing officer.

Petitioners are seeking a separate unit of the emergency medical practitioners employed by the Manatee County Ambulance Service, excluding managerial and confidential employees as set forth in the petition.

The following exhibits were admitted into evidence without objection.

Exhibit 1 - Notice of Hearing; Exhibit 2 - Petition; Exhibit 3 - Affidavit of Compliance for Required Showing of Interest; Exhibit 4 - Affidavit of Compliance for Registration of Employee Organization; Exhibit 5 - Salary schedule of all employees for Manatee County Ambulance Service.

The parties stipulated and agreed that: (1) the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners is a public employer within Section 447.002(2), Florida Statutes; (2) that the International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers No. 5 is properly registered with the Public Employees Relations Commission; (3) that there has been the requisite showing of interest on the part of the

International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers No. 5 for pursuit of this petition; (4) the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners does not stipulate and agree to the appropriateness of the unit composed of emergency medical technicians, and, in fact, takes the position that such a unit is not appropriate. However, without prejudice to that position the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners has entered into a stipulation with the Petitioner that, should the unit be declared appropriate the positions of emergency medical technicians would be properly included within the unit. Similarly, the Respondent, with the same qualification has stipulated and agreed with the Petitioner, that the following positions would be properly excluded from the unit: (a) Director; (b) Chief Supervisor; (c) Bookkeeper; (d) other clerical personnel.

There is disagreement regarding the inclusion or exclusion of the dispatchers and the shift supervisors.

No prior history of bargaining on the part of this unit or employees was shown, nor was there any evidence of a contractual bar to bargaining.

Mr. Fletcher was presented by the Respondent and is the, Personnel Director for Manatee County and the Administrative Assistant to the Board of County Commissioners. He testified that Manatee County Employed approximately 472 persons. This number does not include the employees of the constitutional officers of the county nor the Manatee County Utility System, both of which operate separate from the system administered by Mr. Fletcher. A 1973 study indicated 144 different job classifications within the Manatee County Personnel System. The Manatee County system functions via department heads who report directly to the County Commission. The Manatee County Ambulance Service is such a department and the administrator of that service is the department head reporting directly to the County Commission. There is no department similar to the ambulance service within the Manatee County personnel Organization. Manatee County does not have a civil service system.

The chain of command in the Manatee County Ambulance Service is as follows: Administrator, chief supervisor, shift supervisors (2), assistant shift supervisors (2), and technicians. There are also dispatchers within the system. The administrator reports directly to the Board of County Commissioners, prepares budgets and recommends the hiring and firing of personnel to the Board of County Commissioners for the ambulance service. The primary purpose of the ambulance service is to provide initial care to the sick and injured. Within the service there are 25 full-time employees, and 4 part-time employees. These employees work in two shifts, each with a shift supervisor who is a member of one of the teams manning an ambulance. The chief supervisor has not in the past, but will in the future, assist the administrator in the formulation and preparation of budgets. Further, his responsibility is that of the administrator in the absence of the administrator.

The ambulance service is broken down into two shifts, with a shift serving 24-hour duty. There are 8 men in a shift with 3 ambulance units per shift and one unit crew off duty, but on call every shift. In addition to the shift supervisor, there is an assistant shift supervisor, whose responsibility is to replace the shift supervisor in his absence. During a shift the units are scattered geographically throughout the county. Prior to deployment at the beginning of a shift, the units report to one particular location at which there are sleeping and eating facilities for the men during their duty shift. No other group of employees of the county uses similar facilities, nor works a similar shift. There are statutory qualifications for an emergency medical

technician. The Manatee County Ambulance Service requirements exceed the statutory minimum. In Manatee County, an emergency medical technician must have a Red Cross certificate before he can enroll in the training program. He must have a high school education. He must have completed the 150 hours emergency medical technician course and be properly certified.

In addition to the chief supervisors shift supervisors and dispatchers there are 15 emergency medical technicians and trainees in the ambulance service. The chief supervisor and shift supervisor must meet the requirements of an emergency medical technician for Manatee County. There is no other personnel classification within the county personnel system which meets the requirements of an emergency medical technician and could step into a EMT position without additional training.

Shift supervisors have the authority to make personnel recommendations to the chief supervisor and administrator. The shift supervisor has the responsibility of ascertaining that the units of his shift are properly maintained, in operating order and that the appearance of the team members is satisfactory. He further has the responsibility of periodic inspection of the station at which a particular unit is based. Any question arising during a shift regarding the movement of a vehicle or the appropriate performance of the mission can be resolved by the shift supervisor. Communication between units is by radio and telephone. Assistant shift supervisors have no specific duties other than standing in for the shift supervisor in his absence. Assistant shift supervisors are not paid extra money because of their position. The shift supervisor ascertains that assignments are carried out and would have authority over the dispatcher. A shift supervisor can exercise his own judgement in calling in an overtime crew or directing an out of county transfer. The shift, supervisor can relieve someone from a shift and has the ultimate authority for priority of dispatch of units, although he seldom exercises that authority, relying primarily on the dispatcher.

The 4 dispatchers must complete a basic EMT course of 81 hours. Movement from a technician to a dispatcher is not considered a promotion, but rather, a lateral movement. A dispatcher performs the normal duties expected of a dispatcher such as granting permission, upon request, for a unit to go out of service to eat and receiving calls for service and deploying units as appropriate to those calls. An emergency medical technician makes more money, as shown by Exhibit 5, than a dispatcher. A dispatcher's primary and perhaps only, responsibility is to assign movement of vehicles as calls come in. The dispatcher is not consulted by the chief supervisor or administrator on salary matters. The dispatchers do not participate in the discipline process. A dispatcher has the authority to call in a back-up unit.

Entered this 14th day of August, 1975, in Tallahassee, Florida.

CHRIS H. BENTLEY, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Frank E. Hamilton, Jr.

101 E. Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, Florida 32602

Paul E. Logan, Esquire

406 13th Street West Bradenton, Florida 33502

Docket for Case No: 75-000110

Orders for Case No: 75-000110