STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

PORT AUTHORITY EMPLOYEES No. 1542, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 75-1768

) PERC No. 8H-RC-752-0195

METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was brought up for hearing before the undersigned hearing officer on December 9, 1975, in Miami, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Robert A. Sugarman, Esquire

Attorney at Law

Law Offices of Kaplan, Dorsey, Sicking & Hessen, P.A.

1951 Northwest 17th Avenue Miami, Florida 33125

For Respondent: Alan J. Kan, Esquire

Assistant County Attorney 1626 Dade County Courthouse Miami, Florida

1. The Petitioner, Port Authority Employees Local #1542, A.F.S.C.N.E., seeks to have foremen employed by the Aviation Department of Metropolitan-Dade County recognized as a separate bargaining unit under Chapter 447, F.S. There are 14 foremen working for the Aviation Department that would be included in this unit; these foremen are located at county airports, including Miami International Airport.

   
   

2. Historically, the Aviation Department, formerly called the Port Authority, was a semi-independent division of local government. The old Port Authority had operated on a budget separate from that of Dade County in general, the expenses for which were paid from airport revenue. Port Authority employees had been considered a separate branch of government whose employees were not transferred on a county-wide basis. Although the Port Authority has now been abolished and the Aviation Department is a department of county government, its employees still are considered to be a somewhat separate branch of county government and employees are not regularly transferable from the Aviation Department to another department of county government. Airport workers are also paid a premium pay for working at the airport.

   
   

3. On behalf of the Petitioner, testimony was received that airport workers need specialized knowledge and skills to work at this location. It was

   stated that to work around aircraft one had to develop these specialized skills. However, it appears to this hearing officer that the only skills necessary were an awareness of the dangers of being around aircraft and a consciousness on the part of the employees not to get run over by airplanes or other vehicles. This does not appear to be a specialized skill in the common and ordinary meaning of those words.

   
   

4. The foremen who seek to be represented in this petition spend most of their time in active supervision. On occasion, they will assist the men working under them should the need arise; however, their main function is supervisory and not participatory in the responsibilities of their units.

   
   

5. The county presently has a collective bargaining agreement with the petitioning local covering employees whom the petitioners supervise. Dade County presently has recognized 10 employee organizations in collective bargaining agreements. Dade County employs 21,000 individuals; approximately 15,000 of these are covered by the above mentioned 10 collective bargaining agreements. Throughout the county there are approximately 1,000 "first-line" supervisors that are yet unrepresented in any collective bargaining agreement with the county and is the appropriate unit into which the petitioning foremen in this case should be designated. There apparently has been no petition filed on behalf of county supervisors; however, the county believes this would be the most appropriate unit to be designated. This hypothetical unit would cut across and include supervisors from many county departments; however, at least in the county's position that would be the most efficient and appropriate unit to deal with. The union, on the other hand, believes that if this petition is turned down, it would be most appropriate for the foremen in question to be included in the airport workers bargaining agreement, which is already in existence.

Done this 11th day of February, 1976, in Tallahassee, Florida.

KENNETH G. OERTEL, Director

Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Robert A. Sugarman, Esquire Attorney at Law

Law Offices of Kaplan, Dorsey, Sicking & Hessen, P.A.

1951 Northwest 17th Avenue Miami, Florida 33125

Alan J. Kan, Esquire Assistant County Attorney 1626 Dade County Courthouse Miami, Florida

Docket for Case No: 75-001768

Orders for Case No: 75-001768