Union’s demand for all documents, including without limitation, any memoranda between any of the employer’s agents overbroad

Union’s demand for all documents, including without limitation, any memoranda between any of the employer’s agents overbroad
District Council 37, AFSCME, Local 1070 and State Of New York - Unified Court System, U-27031 [Source: PERB’s Recent Decisions posting on the Internet]

PERB affirmed the ALJ's decision that the Unified Court System [UCS] violated §§209a.1(a) and (d) of the Act when it refused DC 37's request for documents and information for its representation of a bargaining unit member subject to a notice of charges issued pursuant to the disciplinary procedures contained in the UCSDC 37 collectively negotiated agreement.

The Board found that the charge was timely because each denial of a request for information gives rise to a separate violation of the Act. Reiterating the obligation under the Act of an employer to provide an employee organization with reasonable, relevant information necessary for the negotiation and administration of collectively negotiated agreements and the processing of grievances, the Board found that this general right to receive requested information extends to an employee organization's representation of an employee who is the subject of discipline under the negotiated terms of an agreement.

The Board held that "there is no meaningful distinction under the Act between a negotiated disciplinary grievance procedure and one calling for the filing of an answer in response to a notice of charges. Whether disciplinary action can be grieved, answered and/or appealed under a negotiated procedure, an employee organization has a duty to administer that provision under the Act. It follows that in order to fulfill that duty, an employee organization is entitled to receive, upon request, relevant and necessary information in order to effectively represent a member charged."

The Board modified the ALJ's order, however, by finding that DC 37's request for "all documents, including without limitation, any memoranda between any UCS agents" regarding the aggrieved employee was overly broad, unduly burdensome and unnecessary.