KAUGER, Judge.
This appeal was lodged after the trial court refused to issue a writ of mandamus compelling the Union Board of Education (appellee-Board), to recognize the Union Federation of Teachers (appellants-UFT), as the bargaining representative for the teachers employed by Union School, Independent School District No. 9. The issue presented is the proper role of the Board in resolving the competing claims of rival labor organizations seeking to represent the teachers as their collective bargaining agent. We find that a local school board has an affirmative obligation to participate in the settlement of unresolved disputes between competing bargaining organizations, and that its responsibility to resolve an apparent impásse is prescribed by 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2.
We reach this conclusion because the alternative is to permit the application of a special law to teachers in only two school districts (in two counties) while denying the statutorially conferred benefits to the other six hundred and thirteen school districts
(in seventy-five counties). This alternative is constitutionally unacceptable.
Union Classroom Teachers Association (intervenor-appellee-UTCA) has been the sole bargaining agent for the professional educators
at Union School since 1973. At
a school board meeting on December 11, 1981, UFT sought recognition as the exclusive representative, alleging that it was the majority organization. UFT supported this assertion by submitting a document from a certified public accounting firm stating that UFT possessed authorization cards signed by a majority of the teachers. Because the accounting firm was unable to determine either the exhaustiveness of the list or the validity of the signatures, it declined to certify the statement. A few days later, the UCTA submitted a similar statement, which was also uncertified — for the same reasons. For the next five months, UFT’s requests to present its claim for recognition at a Board meeting were repeatedly denied. However, at each Board meeting, UFT offered, from the floor, to submit its signed authorization cards to a neutral third party for verification. Each time, the Board refused. The Board also refused to sanction an election
requested by UFT to choose a bargaining representative.
The Board, nonetheless, allowed UTF to hold an “election” on school premises. The election was an exercise in futility, in part because of the Board’s “hands-off” policy, and in part because of a boycott encouraged by UCTA. As a consequence, less than 50% of the teachers voted. (161 out of 361) UFT subsequently sought a writ of mandamus to compel the Board to recognize it as the teachers’ representative. The trial court issued an alternative writ of mandamus on April 14, 1982, ordering the Board either to recognize UFT or to appear before the Court on May 20, 1982, and show cause for its refusal to do so. After UFT presented its evidence at the May hearing, the Board’s demurrer to the evidence was sustained because UFT’s authorization cards were not certified, and because the court could not discern the number required for majority representation. The application for mandamus was denied and the previously issued alternative writ was dissolved. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision.
A LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD HAS AN AFFIRMATIVE DUTY TO PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN THE SETTLEMENT OF RECOGNITION DISPUTES BETWEEN ' COMPETING LABOR ORGANIZATIONS UNDER THE PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES CONTAINED IN 70 O.S.SUPP.1982 § 509.2
Issuance of a writ of mandamus requires a clear legal right vested in the petitioner, refusal to perform a plain legal duty which does not involve the exercise of discretion, the adequacy of the remedy provided by the writ, and, the inadequacy of other relief.
To determine whether UFT has a legal right which is sufficiently clear to invoke mandamus, we must examine 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2.
A.
A legal right to be recognized as the bargaining representative vests in an organization if it is so designated by a majority of the professional educators within a school district. UFT alleges that it represents a majority of the educators; the evidence presented in the trial court does not indicate otherwise. On the contrary, the superintendent of Union Public School testified that an up-to-date list of the certified employees of the Union public schools, as of December, 1981, was given to UFT. According to the list, there were 361 teachers in the district
exclusive of administrators and supervisory personnel.
After comparing the signed negotiation authorization cards with the list provided by the Board, UFT’s accountant concluded that over 50%
of the 361 professional educators listed had signed UFT negotiation authorizations. UCTA contends that it also has a majority, because under the same guidelines, its accountant determined that it possessed signed negotiation authorizations for more than 50% of 387 names on a list of certified employees, provided by the administration
including administrators and supervisory personnel.
Definition of the composition of the appropriate bargaining unit necessarily precedes the determination of majority status.
The testimony presented in the trial court reflects that at the time UFT attempted to gain recognition from the Board, administrators and supervisors were not included in UCTA’s bargaining unit — the negotiations agreement between the UCTA and the Board expressly
excluded
per diem and hourly employees as well as administrative and supervisory personnel.
The federal courts have held that if a union and employer enter into a stipulation defining the bargaining unit, the National Labor Relations Board is bound by the stipulated terms.
Although the source of this principle is federal decisional law construing federal legislation, it is appropriate to consider federal rulings involving a parallel legislative scheme,
especially where the maxim involved — parties to a contract may be bound by the stipulated terms thereof — has been recognized by this Court. The analogous federal case law cited is used only for guidance in an area where there is a paucity of local law, and not because this Court feels compelled to follow federal precedents.
The National Labor Relations Act provides that representatives selected by the majority of the employees shall be the exclusive representative for the employees for the purposes of collective bargaining.
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KAUGER, Judge.
This appeal was lodged after the trial court refused to issue a writ of mandamus compelling the Union Board of Education (appellee-Board), to recognize the Union Federation of Teachers (appellants-UFT), as the bargaining representative for the teachers employed by Union School, Independent School District No. 9. The issue presented is the proper role of the Board in resolving the competing claims of rival labor organizations seeking to represent the teachers as their collective bargaining agent. We find that a local school board has an affirmative obligation to participate in the settlement of unresolved disputes between competing bargaining organizations, and that its responsibility to resolve an apparent impásse is prescribed by 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2.
We reach this conclusion because the alternative is to permit the application of a special law to teachers in only two school districts (in two counties) while denying the statutorially conferred benefits to the other six hundred and thirteen school districts
(in seventy-five counties). This alternative is constitutionally unacceptable.
Union Classroom Teachers Association (intervenor-appellee-UTCA) has been the sole bargaining agent for the professional educators
at Union School since 1973. At
a school board meeting on December 11, 1981, UFT sought recognition as the exclusive representative, alleging that it was the majority organization. UFT supported this assertion by submitting a document from a certified public accounting firm stating that UFT possessed authorization cards signed by a majority of the teachers. Because the accounting firm was unable to determine either the exhaustiveness of the list or the validity of the signatures, it declined to certify the statement. A few days later, the UCTA submitted a similar statement, which was also uncertified — for the same reasons. For the next five months, UFT’s requests to present its claim for recognition at a Board meeting were repeatedly denied. However, at each Board meeting, UFT offered, from the floor, to submit its signed authorization cards to a neutral third party for verification. Each time, the Board refused. The Board also refused to sanction an election
requested by UFT to choose a bargaining representative.
The Board, nonetheless, allowed UTF to hold an “election” on school premises. The election was an exercise in futility, in part because of the Board’s “hands-off” policy, and in part because of a boycott encouraged by UCTA. As a consequence, less than 50% of the teachers voted. (161 out of 361) UFT subsequently sought a writ of mandamus to compel the Board to recognize it as the teachers’ representative. The trial court issued an alternative writ of mandamus on April 14, 1982, ordering the Board either to recognize UFT or to appear before the Court on May 20, 1982, and show cause for its refusal to do so. After UFT presented its evidence at the May hearing, the Board’s demurrer to the evidence was sustained because UFT’s authorization cards were not certified, and because the court could not discern the number required for majority representation. The application for mandamus was denied and the previously issued alternative writ was dissolved. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision.
A LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD HAS AN AFFIRMATIVE DUTY TO PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN THE SETTLEMENT OF RECOGNITION DISPUTES BETWEEN ' COMPETING LABOR ORGANIZATIONS UNDER THE PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES CONTAINED IN 70 O.S.SUPP.1982 § 509.2
Issuance of a writ of mandamus requires a clear legal right vested in the petitioner, refusal to perform a plain legal duty which does not involve the exercise of discretion, the adequacy of the remedy provided by the writ, and, the inadequacy of other relief.
To determine whether UFT has a legal right which is sufficiently clear to invoke mandamus, we must examine 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2.
A.
A legal right to be recognized as the bargaining representative vests in an organization if it is so designated by a majority of the professional educators within a school district. UFT alleges that it represents a majority of the educators; the evidence presented in the trial court does not indicate otherwise. On the contrary, the superintendent of Union Public School testified that an up-to-date list of the certified employees of the Union public schools, as of December, 1981, was given to UFT. According to the list, there were 361 teachers in the district
exclusive of administrators and supervisory personnel.
After comparing the signed negotiation authorization cards with the list provided by the Board, UFT’s accountant concluded that over 50%
of the 361 professional educators listed had signed UFT negotiation authorizations. UCTA contends that it also has a majority, because under the same guidelines, its accountant determined that it possessed signed negotiation authorizations for more than 50% of 387 names on a list of certified employees, provided by the administration
including administrators and supervisory personnel.
Definition of the composition of the appropriate bargaining unit necessarily precedes the determination of majority status.
The testimony presented in the trial court reflects that at the time UFT attempted to gain recognition from the Board, administrators and supervisors were not included in UCTA’s bargaining unit — the negotiations agreement between the UCTA and the Board expressly
excluded
per diem and hourly employees as well as administrative and supervisory personnel.
The federal courts have held that if a union and employer enter into a stipulation defining the bargaining unit, the National Labor Relations Board is bound by the stipulated terms.
Although the source of this principle is federal decisional law construing federal legislation, it is appropriate to consider federal rulings involving a parallel legislative scheme,
especially where the maxim involved — parties to a contract may be bound by the stipulated terms thereof — has been recognized by this Court. The analogous federal case law cited is used only for guidance in an area where there is a paucity of local law, and not because this Court feels compelled to follow federal precedents.
The National Labor Relations Act provides that representatives selected by the majority of the employees shall be the exclusive representative for the employees for the purposes of collective bargaining.
This provision is similar to 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2 which requires the local board of education to recognize a professional organization which secures authorizations signed by a majority of the professional educators as their representative for negotiations with the school district.
The Board contends that it had lawfully recognized UCTA nine years earlier, that there was a currently valid and effective negotiations agreement, and that, therefore, UCTA should not be required to submit its cards to a neutral third party for verification. Majority support, however, is
not an immutable factor; when it shifts, the identity of the bargaining representative will shift as well.
While policies of stability in collective bargaining relationships are important, they must be balanced against the right of employees to change their bargaining representative if they so desire.
There is a stabilizing counter-balance in the system — the frequency of secret ballot elections is limited to one every two years.
Because every fact favorable to the party against whom the demurrer is directed, together with all reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom, is admitted as true by a demurrer to the evidence, and all conflicting evidence is disregarded;
it appears
•prima facie
that UFT may have a majority and a legal right to be recognized.
B.
The Board refused to perform a plain, legal, non-discretionary duty. The recognition statute provides that the Board shall recognize a (majority) professional organization.
The use of the word “shall” by the legislature imposed a legal duty .on the school board.
The statute also provides a means for determining disputed claims for recognition as the bargaining representative. No legislatively mandated method is supplied for the selection of a bargaining representative as between competing labor organizations when the average daily attendance of the school district is
below
35,000. However, if the average daily attendance is 35,000
or more,
a procedure is provided to determine the representative. Only two school districts in Oklahoma meet this criterion: Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
(For the school year of 1981-1982 Union school district had an attendance of 6,140.)
All parties to this appeal have argued that the use of authorization cards to determine representation status between competing labor organizations is not within the purview of 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2, and that the ambiguity of the statute is responsible for the present impasse. Without expressing ourselves as to the accuracy of that assessment, having reviewed the provisions of § 509.2, which provide that upon receipt of an employee petition, the Board shall call a secret ballot election,
we find
that a secret ballot election is a more fair and efficacious means of determining the bargaining representative where that status is at issue. The election process can result in only one majority organization because teachers can vote only once. The submission of authorization cards may create more than one apparent “majority” because there is no limitation on the number of authorization cards a teacher can sign. This may pose a temptation to school boards to decide unilaterally which bargaining organization should be recognized. Such a result is hardly consistent with the stated policy of the Act as set forth in 70 O.S.1981 § 509.1 — to create an orderly system for regulating professional associations.
A principal object of statutory construction is to determine the legislative intent
from an analysis of the whole act.
Details are often omitted from legislative enactments which must be supplied by implication to avoid interminability in the drafting of legislation. In ascertaining and giving effect to the legislative will,
inept or incorrect choice of words in a statute will not be construed and applied in a manner which would destroy the real and obvious purpose of the statute.
The legislature apparently either failed to anticipate representation disputes between labor organizations in over 99% of the “smaller” school districts, or it intended a representation election to be available to them as well. The problem before us is not one of language analysis because of an unclear norm but rather one of a lacuna, a non-existent norm — a gap in the law.
Without clear and internally consistent procedural guidelines, the legislative purpose expressed in § 509.1, to lend coherence to the regulation of labor relations in public education, would be meaningless.
The overriding legislative intent is the desirability of some orderly process for regulating collective bargaining in education.
Our refusal to utilize the election procedure for teachers in this case, merely because the average number of students in daily attendance falls below an entirely arbitrary norm, would be tantamount to judicial condonation of avoidable labor unrest and the inevitable and continuous disruption of public education in the Union School District, and potentially in others like it. Failure to recognize § 509.2 procedures would result in an unreasonable application of a special law. This would be especially ironic in this instance because Union School District is located in Tulsa County and is contiguous to one of the two districts favored by the law. Unequal application of the Act to the teachers in Tulsa County, based irrationally on the vagaries of the situs of their employment, violates the Okla. Const, art. 5, § 46
and art. 5,
§ 59.
These provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution absolutely and unequivocally interdict the enactment of any local or special law which permits non-uniform regulation of school district affairs. The Legislature may not deal with any phase of public school administration other than by a statute which has general statewide application.
Discrimination between teachers employed by school districts based solely on population offends art. 5 § 46.
It is a well-accepted rule of statutory construction that a presumption of constitutionality must be applied. If a statute is susceptible of two constructions, one which will uphold the Act and its constitutionality, while the other will strike it down, it is our duty to apply the former course.
Therefore, to give effect to the intent of the legislature we must use the procedures outlined for the school districts of 35,000 or more, and apply it to the school districts with less than that number.
C.
The last elements necessary before a writ of mandamus can be issued are the inadequacy of other relief and the efficacy of this writ. The statute provides no sanctions for violations of its provisions.
Mandamus may well be the only adequate remedy. The Board has an affirmative duty to participate in the settlement of the dispute as to the legitimate bargaining representative
under the procedural guidelines set forth in 70 O.S.Supp.1982 § 509.2, especially when its recalcitrance and apparent favoritism have contributed so significantly to the present, disruptive impasse. Were we to hold otherwise, its intransigence could frustrate indefinitely the will of the majority of educators. Issuance of the writ properly would compel the board to act.
This cause is reversed and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
DOOLIN, V.C.J., and HODGES, OPALA and ALMA WILSON, JJ., concur.
SIMMS, C.J., concurs in part and dissents in part.
LAVENDER, HARGRAVE and SUMMERS, JJ., dissent.
