Regional Transportation District v. Colorado Department of Labor & Employment, Division of Labor

830 P.2d 942, 16 Brief Times Rptr. 871, 1992 Colo. LEXIS 452, 1992 WL 109650
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 26, 1992
Docket91SA393
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 830 P.2d 942 (Regional Transportation District v. Colorado Department of Labor & Employment, Division of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Regional Transportation District v. Colorado Department of Labor & Employment, Division of Labor, 830 P.2d 942, 16 Brief Times Rptr. 871, 1992 Colo. LEXIS 452, 1992 WL 109650 (Colo. 1992).

Opinions

Justice ERICKSON

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

This appeal is from an order issued by the Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor, (Director) under sections 8-3-112(2), 3B C.R.S. (1986), and 8-3-113(3), 3B C.R.S. (1986), directing Regional Transportation District (RTD) to submit unresolved collective bargaining issues to binding arbitration. RTD contends that the provisions of sections 8-3-112(2) and 8-3-113(3) that require binding arbitration of unresolved collective bargaining issues constitute an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. Consequently, RTD refused to submit to arbitration and appealed the Director’s order. The district court reversed the Director’s order and granted summary judgment for RTD. The Division of Labor (Division), the Director, and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001 (ATU) appealed. We hold that, consistent with the nondelegation provisions of both article V, section 35, and article XXI, section 4, of the Colorado Constitution, RTD can be required by legislation to submit to binding interest arbitration to resolve a labor dispute with its employees’ representative, the ATU. Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I

The facts are not disputed. The Labor Peace Act regulates the conduct of the [944]*944parties to a labor dispute. §§ 8-3-101 to - 123, 3B C.R.S. (1986 & 1991 Supp.); City of Golden v. Ford, 141 Colo. 472, 348 P.2d 951 (1960). Sections 8-3-112 and 8-3-113 govern mediation and arbitration between an authority, such as RTD,1 and its employees.

ATU is a collective bargaining unit that represents the employees of RTD. On December 4, 1990, ATU, pursuant to section 8-3-113(3),2 filed a notice of intent to strike after the expiration of its labor agreement with RTD on February 28, 1991. At the request of the Director, RTD and ATU engaged in negotiations and mediation from February 1991 to June 1991. When the parties failed to resolve their dispute, the Director held a hearing to determine whether to allow the strike. On August 20, 1991, the Director held that a strike would interfere with the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, denied ATU’s request to strike, and ordered ATU and RTD to submit their dispute to an arbitrator in accordance with section 8-3-112(2).3 RTD appealed the order to the district court and sought injunctive relief. In the interim, arbitration was held4 and, on October 14, 1991, the arbitrator issued an award within the parameters of each party’s last bargaining offer. RTD refused to implement the award.

On appeal of the Director’s order to arbitrate, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of RTD, concluding that RTD has standing to challenge the constitutionality of sections 8-3-112(2) and 8-3-113(3)5 and that the interest arbitration provisions are unconstitutional. The dis[945]*945trict court determined that RTD is a quasi-municipal corporation and performs municipal functions. Therefore, it found that the General Assembly’s provision for binding arbitration upon the order of the Director constitutes “[t]he delegation of decision-making authority to a nongovernmental arbitrator so that that individual can determine the terms and conditions of public employment” and is “an unlawful delegation of legislative authority.” The district court also found that there was insufficient governmental oversight to safeguard the arbitrator’s acts and cited Greeley Police Union v. City Council, 191 Colo. 419, 553 P.2d 790 (1976), City & County of Denver v. Denver Firefighters Local No. 858, 663 P.2d 1032 (Colo.1983), and City of Aurora v. Aurora Firefighters’ Protective Association, 193 Colo. 437, 566 P.2d 1356 (1977), for the proposition that “Colorado courts have consistently held that binding interest arbitration is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.”

On October 31, 1991, the district court certified its order as a final judgment, which permitted an immediate appeal pursuant to C.R.C.P. 54(b), and stayed RTD’s remaining claims pending our resolution of the constitutional issue. ATU and the Division appealed to this court.

II

RTD contends and the district court found that the provisions of sections 8-3-112(2) and 8-3-113(3) that authorize the Director to order arbitration constitute an unconstitutional delegation of legislative responsibilities.

A statute is presumed to be constitutional and will be upheld unless the party attacking the statute proves that the statute is unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. E.g., Renteria v. Colorado State Dept. of Personnel, 811 P.2d 797, 799 (Colo.1991); Colorado Ass’n of Pub. Employees v. Board of Regents, 804 P.2d 138, 142 (Colo.1990). A statute should be construed, if possible, to be constitutional. See, e.g., Colorado Ass’n of Pub. Employees, 804 P.2d 138; Colorado Springs Fire Fighters Ass’n, Local 5 v. City of Colorado Springs, 784 P.2d 766 (Colo.1989); People v. Schwartz, 678 P.2d 1000 (Colo.1984) (courts have duty to interpret statutes to uphold their constitutionality). If the statutes in issue may be reasonably given a constitutional interpretation, we must do so.

This case was concluded with the entry of summary judgment in favor of RTD. Summary judgment is appropriate only if “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” C.R.C.P. 56(c); see, e.g., Churchey v. Adolph Coors Co., 759 P.2d 1336 (Colo.1988); United States v. Jesse, 744 P.2d 491 (Colo.1987). Thus, even if the underlying historical facts are undisputed, summary judgment must be denied if application of the law to the facts lends itself to different inferences that create an issue of fact. Mt. Emmons Mining Co. v. Town of Crested Butte, 690 P.2d 231 (Colo.1984).

A

RTD asserts that the provisions in sections 8-3-112(2) and 8-3-113(3) that require it to engage in arbitration upon the order of the Director violate article V, section 35, because RTD is a municipality or, alternatively, because setting the terms and conditions of employment for its employees is a municipal function. We disagree.

Article V, section 35, of the Colorado Constitution provides:

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830 P.2d 942, 16 Brief Times Rptr. 871, 1992 Colo. LEXIS 452, 1992 WL 109650, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/regional-transportation-district-v-colorado-department-of-labor-colo-1992.