Government of the Virgin Islands v. Public Employees Relations Board

22 V.I. 12, 1986 V.I. LEXIS 3
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedFebruary 3, 1986
DocketCivil No. 217/1984
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 22 V.I. 12 (Government of the Virgin Islands v. Public Employees Relations Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Government of the Virgin Islands v. Public Employees Relations Board, 22 V.I. 12, 1986 V.I. LEXIS 3 (virginislands 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court for review on Assignment of Errors filed by the Government of the Virgin Islands (“the Government”), in which it lists four several [separate], distinct instances in which it contends the Public Employees Relations Board (“PERB”) erred in its Findings and Order relative to a dispute between the Government and District 2A, Transportation, Technical, Warehouse, Industrial and Service Employees Union, affiliated with District 2, Marine Engineers Beneficial Association [14]*14Associated Maritime Officers, AFL-CIO (“MEBA”), pursuant to 24 V.I.C. § 379. Because we find no merit in any of the contentions of the Government, we affirm.

II. BACKGROUND

On July 15, 1981, the Government and MEBA entered into a collective bargaining agreement, originally effective from October 1, 1980, to and including September 30, 1983,1 and extended on September 16, 1983, “until the provisions of a new contract have been mutually accepted, ratified and signatured”.2 The original agreement covered “all supervisors employed by the Government of the Virgin Islands in its Departments of Public Works, Health, Finance, Social Welfare, Property and Procurement, the Division of Personnel and the Consumer Services Administration, excluding non-supervisory employees, confidential employees, commissioners, assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners”.3 On January 4, 1983, the agreement was amended to include supervisors in the Departments of Education, Conservation and Cultural Affairs, and Housing and Community Renewal.4

In addition, the Agreement as thus amended provided in pertinent parts:

Recognition.
Section 1: Unit
The Employer recognizes the Union as the sole and exclusive bargaining representative, for purposes of collective bargaining with respect to pay, hours, salaries, grievances, employee benefits, and all other terms and conditions of employment, of all individuals employed in all classifications covered by this Agreement, as follows: All Supervisors employed by the Government of the Virgin Islands in its Departments of Public Works, Health, Finance, Social Welfare, and Property and Procurement, the Division • of Personnel and the Consumer Services Administration, excluding non-supervisory employees, confidential employees, commissioners, assistant commissioners, and deputy commissioners. Article I, Section 1.
[15]*15Section. 2:
The Employer shall not make any unilateral changes in the pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment of any supervisors. Article II, Section 2.

After providing in Article VI, Section 3(A) that all the holidays listed in 1 V.I.C. § 171 will be paid holidays for the purpose of the agreement, the parties added the following term: “Whenever any holiday falls upon a Saturday, it shall be observed on the preceding Friday. When local law requires that any holiday be observed on a day other than the day specified hereinabove, local law shall be controlling.” It is the proper construction and application of the first sentence of this provision that is the basis of the contention between the parties to this lawsuit.

Article VI also provides as follows:

Health and Welfare Benefits, Pensions, Holidays, and Sick Leave
Section 1:
Pursuant to the Virgin Islands Code, the Virgin Islands Rules and Regulations, and Executive Orders, as they currently exist or as they may be subsequently created, amended or revised, all health, welfare, annuity, insurance, sick leave, annual leave, jury and military service leave, and holiday benefits and privileges applicable to employees of the Virgin Islands Government shall apply equally to the employees covered by this Agreement.
Section 2:
It is agreed that the benefits and privileges referred to in Section 1 of this Article shall not be reduced during the term of this Agreement.5

The agreement was approved by the Governor on July 15, 1981, and by the 14th Legislature by Act No. 4613.

On November 15, 1983, after the agreement had been in effect for nearly two years, and contrary to the construction and performance the parties had given the agreement during all that time, Chief Negotiator of the Government, Alda Monsanto, forwarded the following letter to Rudolph V. Foy, MEBA Representative:

[16]*16Dear Mr. Foy:
The Department of Law has rendered a legal opinion concerning the validity of Article VI, Section 3 of current ME BA contract . . . “Whenever any holiday falls upon a Saturday it shall be observed on the preceding Friday.”
It is the Government’s legal position that Article VI, Section 3 is invalid based upon the limitations prescribed by ACT 4440 as to the scope of permissible collective bargaining matter. 24 V.I.C., Section 374(a) states “Rates of pay, hours, salaries, employee benefits, terms and conditions of employment, and all matters relating thereto may be specifically negotiated in a collective bargaining proceeding between the public employer and the exclusive representative unless otherwise specifically restricted by law”.
It is the legal opinion that the MEBA contract purports to create a new holiday over and above those specifically designated by the Legislature in 1 V.I.C., Section 171. Consequently, in the Government’s opinion, that portion of the contract is in derogation of Act 24, V.I.C., Section 374(a), and thus illegal. In addition, the designation of a holiday for supervisory personnel which would not be observed by those who are supervised creates a factual situation which would appear to violate the provisions of sub-section b as well. That sub-section provides that no collective bargaining agreement shall be valid to the extent it unduly interferes with the right of the Government to execute public policy by:
“(1) directing and supervising employees” or “(4) maintaining efficiency of operations”. The opinion concludes that any contractual provision which would require employees to perform their daily tasks totally unsupervised constitutes an undue interference with Employers direction and supervision of employees, which, in turn, would have an obvious detrimental effect in the maintenance of operational efficiency.
The Government will not attempt at this time to collect from individual employees any benefits previously paid. However, by this letter we wish to serve notice that these benefits will not be continued in the future, and in keeping with proper collective bargaining procedures, I am extending an invitation to your union to enter into the bargaining process in order that the invalid provisions may be renegotiated.
Your usual and prompt cooperation in this matter will be greatly appreciated. If possible, it is my intention to renegotiate this issue when we meet on Friday, November 18th.

[17]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

V.I. Narcotics Strike Force v. Watson
43 V.I. 75 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2000)
Ross v. Government of the Virgin Islands
34 V.I. 91 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1996)
Government of the Virgin Islands v. MT Retailers, Inc.
31 V.I. 62 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1995)
LaVallee Northside Civic Ass'n v. Virgin Islands Board of Land Use Appeals
30 V.I. 9 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
22 V.I. 12, 1986 V.I. LEXIS 3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/government-of-the-virgin-islands-v-public-employees-relations-board-virginislands-1986.