vs. ) CASE NO. 75-457
) PERC NO. 8H-RC-752-0117
Public Employer. )
Pursuant to notice the Division of Administrative Hearings by its duly designated hearing officer, K. N. Ayers, held a public hearing in the above styled cause on July 23, 1975 at Orlando, Florida.
For Petitioner: Ronald G. Meyer, Esquire
For Respondent: William G. Mateer, Esquire
By this petition, Laborer's International Union of North America, AFL- CIO, Local Union number 517 (hereinafter referred to as Petitioner, or Union) seeks a certificate of representation as the exclusive bargaining agent for the Public Employees of Orange County as described in the petition. These are generally the so-called blue collar workers as distinguished from secretaries and clerical workers.
At the beginning of the hearing, Exhibit 1, the Petition; Exhibit 2, Affidavit of Compliance for Registration of Employee Organization; and Exhibit 3, Affidavit of Compliance for Required Showing of Interest were admitted into evidence without objection. Both parties stipulated that the Petitioner was an employee organization as defined in Chapter 447, Florida Statutes, and that Orange County is a public employer as defined in Chapter 447, Florida Statutes. The county's motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that the petition does not adequately define the bargaining unit, in that it is too broad on those exclusions therein contained, was denied.
Exhibit 4, the organization chart of Orange County was admitted into evidence. Exhibit 5, Orange County Employee's Pay Plan effective April 21, 1974 and Exhibit 6, The Job description of Foreman I, were also admitted into evidence. Using Exhibit 4 as a guide, the parties stipulated to various inclusions and exclusions to the proposed bargaining unit. Initially the stipulation was that all personnel in the blocks, including and above the county
administrator on Exhibit 4, would be excluded with one exception. That exception involved the delivery clerks, who work directly under the Board of County Commissioners. For convenience and simplicity in outlining the inclusions and exclusions that were agreed upon, Exhibit 4 will be followed. Those that were in dispute will be discussed following the stipulations as to which employees both parties agreed should be included in the appropriate bargaining unit.
Under the block near the center of the page, starting from the left going across to the right on Exhibit 4, is Agriculture. In that division it was stipulated that the maintenance man was the only man to be included.
Under Animal Control the only included employees are the Animal Control officers1 of which there are 13.
Under Arthropod Control, to be included are maintenance technicians, rodent control inspector, and motor vehicle operator.
Under the Building Division, all personnel will be excluded.
Under Civil Defense, all personnel will be excluded.
Under Graphic Reproduction include the bindery workers, offset machine operator, and varitypist. All others to be excluded.
Under Community Affairs will be included only the bus drivers.
Under Convalescent Institution include nurses aides, maids, kitchen helpers, cooks, and orderlies. All others to be excluded.
Under Data Center, all personnel would be excluded.
Under the block entitled Great Oaks Village would be included motor vehicle operators, maintenance men, janitors, kitchen helpers, cooks, laundry workers, and seamstress. At issue are house parents and youth care workers. All other personnel to be excluded.
Under Emergency Medical Services all personnel would be excluded.
Under Fire Prevention all personnel would be excluded.
Under Orange County Health Department all personnel would be excluded.
Under the block entitled Right-of-Way, all personnel would be excluded.
Under the block entitled Law Library, all personnel would be excluded.
Under Medical Clinic include nurses aides only; all others would be excluded.
Under Motor Vehicle Inspection include cashiers, maintenance technicians, and motor vehicle inspectors. All others would be excluded.
Under Medical Examiners exclude all personnel.
Under Parks include trades helpers, carpenter, mason, park specialists I and II, maintenance men I and II, and motor vehicle operators. In dispute is Foreman I. All others would be excluded.
Under Personnel, exclude all personnel.
Under the Public Works Division, all personnel would be excluded except those hereinafter covered under those blocks that come directly under the Public Works Division and will be discussed below.
Under Planning all personnel would be excluded.
Under Purchasing all personnel would be excluded.
Under Social Services, all personnel would be excluded.
Under Telephone Services all personnel would be excluded.
Under Veteran's Services all personnel would be excluded.
Under Zoning all personnel would be excluded.
For the following groups under the Public Works Division:
Under Traffic Engineering, include trades helpers, maintenance technicians, sign technician, traffic signal technician, maintenance men I and II, and Motor Vehicle Operators I and II. At issue is Foreman I. All others to be excluded.
Under Vehicle Maintenance include trades helpers, mechanics, maintenance technician, welder, tire repairman, maintenance men, and stock clerks. In dispute are production schedulers and watchmen. All others to be excluded.
Under Highway include maintenance men I and II, Motor Vehicle Operators I, II, and III. In dispute are Foreman I. All others to be excluded.
Under Maintenance include parking lot attendants, janitors, electricians, maintenance technicians, mechanics (refrigeration and heating, maintenance man II, maids, trades helpers, carpenters, masons, painters, and plumbers. In dispute are Foreman I. All others to be excluded.
Under Pollution Control include boat ramp attendant, chemical laboratory aide, biological laboratory aide, aquatic weed control coordinator, and pollution control aide. All others to be excluded.
Under Engineering include engineering technicians I and II who are on outside survey crew and who act as inspectors. In dispute are Engineering Technicians III who are crew leaders on outside survey crews. All others to be excluded. The following groups are under Engineering:
Under Sewer and Water, include electrician, maintenance technician, lab aide, maintenance man I and II, motor vehicle operator II, waste water lab technician, lift station operators, treatment plant operators, trainees, plant operators B and C. All others to be excluded.
Under Water Control include engineering technicians I and II, maintenance men I, motor vehicle operator I. In dispute are engineering technicians III, who are part of a survey crew only, and foreman I. All others to be excluded.
Under Solid Waste include maintenance man I and II, weigh-masters, motor vehicle operators I, II, and III. At issue are watchmen. All others to be excluded.
Under Underground Utilities include engineering technician II. In dispute are engineering technicians III.
Under Utilities Services all personnel are to be excluded. Thereafter testimony was taken with respect to the disputed positions only. The major category in dispute involves the position of Foreman I. Illustrative examples of work performed by foreman I are contained in Exhibit 6. They assign and direct the work of small crews engaged in various maintenance and repair jobs. The foreman is required to have skill in the use of hand tools, and would be expected to assist in many of the projects. The crews to which they are assigned foreman contain from 3 to as many as 15 men. All have basically the same authority and the same responsibility, although some may be more "supervisory" than others. For example, the foreman of the road striping crew would invariably ride with the crew and be involved in directing and assisting the striping of the center line and other markings on the road system in the county. The foreman of the maintenance department exercises supervision over some 15 janitors who have responsibility for cleaning buildings scattered throughout the city. There are some three foremen in that division and each has an area to supervise. In addition, they have leading men janitors who would be in charge of the work of the individual crew in a particular building. The janitor leadman would work under the foreman and receive approximately 5 percent increase in pay as a result of his leading man role. Foremen interview people for employment and make effective recommendations with respect to incentive pay, or merit pay, increases, and for disciplinary action including dismissal. The foreman would be the first step in settling grievances involving, e.g. working conditions after collective bargaining begins.
Orange County follows the same procedure with respect to dismissing permanent employees as is followed by most agencies with career service systems. A permanent employee who is fired is entitled to a hearing. Generally he cannot be fired by his immediate supervisor, but that supervisor must report the transgression with recommended disciplinary action to a superior who has the authority to terminate the employee. In Orange County the immediate superior of the foreman generally has the authority to fire. Thereafter, the employee who considers himself agrieved by this action would have a right to a hearing.
With respect to the mail delivery clerks, there are two categories, namely Clerk II and Clerk III. There are three Clerk II's and one Clerk III. The Clerk III is in charge of the mail room and supervises the other three men. The Clerk III acts as a foreman in this respect. As such, he interviews applicants for the positions, recommends pay increases and disciplinary action. In negotiations or in carrying out the provisions of a labor agreement he, as with the foreman above, would be the first step in grievance procedures. The Clerk II's deliver the mail to all departments of the county. Most of this mail is delivered in unsealed envelopes. In carrying out their functions, they deliver material that would be of a confidential nature with respect to bargaining or bargaining positions. They also deliver money and are bonded.
Both the Clerk II and Clerk III would be entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The guards or watchmen are employed in the Vehicle Maintenance Division and in the Solid Waste Division. Both have basically the same duties. They remain on the premises during the hours provided and act as a watchman. They are not sworn officers, they are unarmed, and do not have the arrest powers that are normally associated with those of a peace officer. In the event they require assistance to protect the property, their recourse would be to call for a peace officer from the Sheriff's Department.
Also in dispute in the Vehicle Maintenance Division is the production scheduler. This individual maintains records of the various vehicles and sends out notices to the agencies that operate those vehicles, notifying them when the vehicle is due for routine maintenance. They supervise no personnel. Their work is more clerical in nature than manual.
The next category in dispute is Engineering Technician III in the Engineering Department and in the Underground Utilities Department. In the Engineering Department the Engineering Technician III is a crew chief on the outside survey party and as such is the supervisor of the survey crew. He directs the actions of the crew while participating in the survey. He makes effective recommendations respecting hiring and firing. There is no leading man on the survey party; the crew chief serves that function. The engineer to whom he would make a recommendation with respect to disciplinary action would have the authority to effectuate that disciplinary action, including the firing of the individual. The pay level of the Engineering Technician III is between that of Foreman II and Foreman III, both of which are excluded by stipulation. The Engineering Technician III in the Underground Utilities Department is in charge of the department and reports directly to the County Engineer. He interviews applicants for inspectors, and makes effective recommendations for termination, promotion, and disciplinary action for those people in his department. The duties of this department consist of inspecting the underground utilities being installed by the developer in a project such as a housing development, or apartment buildings. There is no foreman in this department, and there is no leading man.
The final category of employees in dispute involves the Great Oaks Village Department. This is a county facility set up for the custody, care, and control of dependent children, i.e., those abandoned or neglected by their parents. These children are transferred to the facility by court order, and the facility is given, by order of the court, the authority as the acting parents of the child. The children are kept in protective custody but they are not adjudged delinquent. The two categories of employees in dispute in this instance involve the house parents and the youth care workers. There are six sets of house parents, each responsible for a maximum of 16 dependent children. The house parents are a husband and wife team who are provided quarters on the facility. They remain on the facility 24 hours a day and do not receive overtime. They are primarily responsible for seeing that the directives of the court, and Chapter 39 of the Florida Statutes are complied with. They exercise no supervisory authority over other employees.
The youth care workers are classified I and II. The latter is the supervisor of youth care worker I. There are three youth care workers II and twelve youth care workers I. The youth care worker II is in charge of the shift and are available at the village at times the other normal-working-day people are not present. They are responsible for the care, supervision, and control of
children turned over to them by the court. Youth care workers do not exercise supervisory powers over the house parents. The youth care workers do not live on the site and can be paid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Neither house parents nor youth care workers are professional employees, and no licenses are required for their employment. They receive on-the-job training. Youth care worker II has the general authority of a foreman with respect to disciplinary action, and in directing the activities of the youth care worker I.
All county employees are paid on a salary based upon an hourly rate multiplied by the number of working hours in the year, and divided by the number of pay periods in the year. As shown on Exhibit 5, the salary schedule is listed under the Annual Salary Schedule, the Bi-Weekly Salary Schedule, and the Hourly Salary Rate. This is true for all county employees.
In accordance with 477.307(3)(a), Florida Statutes, no recommendations are submitted.
ENTERED this 27th day of August, 1975 in Tallahassee, Florida.
K. N. AYERS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Mr. Curtis Mack
Mr. Ronald G. Meyer, Esquire Mr. William G. Mateer, Esquire
