School Committee of Hanover v. Hanover Teachers Association1/31/2002
Suffolk.
December 3, 2001
Arbitration, Authority of arbitrator, Collective bargaining, School committee, Judicial review, Arbitrable question. School and School Committee, Arbitration, Collective bargaining, School nurse. Labor, Grievance procedure, Arbitration, Collective bargaining.
Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on May 27, 1999.
The case was heard by Peter M. Lauriat, J., on a motion for judgment on the pleadings to confirm the arbitrator's award.
The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:
The plaintiff, the school committee of Hanover (school committee), appeals from a decision of a Superior Court judge allowing a motion by the defendant, the Hanover Teachers Association (association), to confirm an arbitrator's award. The arbitrator concluded that the school committee violated its collective bargaining agreement with the association by refusing to apply the agreement's terms to four school nurses. The school committee contends, on various grounds, that the judge erred in upholding the arbitrator's award. We transferred the case here on our own motion. We need not discuss all of the school committee's arguments. We conclude that the arbitrator's award should have been vacated because he exceeded his authority in finding the association's grievance arbitrable where the agreement clearly and unambiguously excludes the nurses from its coverage. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the case to the Superior Court for entry of a judgment vacating the arbitrator's award.
The background of the case is as follows. The school committee and the association are parties to a collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 1997, through June 30, 2000 (agreement). The agreement covers the "wages, hours, standards of productivity and performance and other conditions of employment," primarily for teachers. Pursuant to the "recognition" clause of the agreement, the association is "the exclusive bargaining agent and representative of those members of the professional staff of the Hanover Public Schools including teachers and partnership teachers, comprising Unit A, so-called. Unit A includes all professional employees excluding the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent, members of Unit B, so-called, substitute teachers, aides, nurses and all others."
The agreement contains a clause concerning grievance procedures. The clause defines a "grievance" as "a written claim by the [school committee], ssociation, or an individual involving an allegation that the contract has been violated or involving a question concerning the interpretation of the contract." In the event that the association files a grievance, and is not satisfied with the school committee's response, arbitration may be sought.
Prior to executing the agreement, the school committee recognized the association as the bargaining representative for the school nurses, but refused to include the nurses in "Unit A." The association attempted, through collective bargaining, to add the nurses to Unit A. That effort failed. Eventually, the parties submitted their dispute concerning the terms and conditions of the nurses' employment to interest arbitration, and submitted the question concerning the nurses' inclusion in Unit A to the Labor Relations Commission (commission). The interest arbitration resulted in an agreement concerning the nurses' terms and conditions of employment for the period of July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1998.
The commission, on March 23, 1998, concluded that the nurses' unit sh
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