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Department of Transportation v. Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific12/1/2000
When the Tacoma, part of a new class of ferry vessels, came into service, the United States Coast Guard required an emergency evacuation person to be on board whenever the vessel carried passengers. The Washington State Ferries (WSF) assigned the emergency evacuation person's duties to a member of the galley crew. The Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific (IBU), whose members staff all other required crew positions on the ferries, objected to the WSF's action and filed an unfair labor practice charge. The IBU claimed that the WSF had unilaterally altered the scope of the IBU's bargaining unit by assigning work formerly performed by IBU's members to employees outside the bargaining unit, and that the WSF had refused to bargain with the IBU about the position. The Marine Employees' Commission (MEC) concluded that the WSF had committed an unfair labor practice and ordered that the work be assigned to an IBU member. The WSF appealed to the superior court, which reversed the MEC's decision, ruling that the MEC found facts not supported by substantial evidence and applied the wrong legal test. The IBU appeals. We affirm the MEC, holding that its decision is supported by substantial evidence and that it did not err in concluding that the WSF altered the IBU bargaining unit by assigning the work to galley workers.
FACTS
Each automobile ferry in the WSF fleet has a deck department, an engine department, and a steward's department. The deck department is staffed by IBU deckhands; the Marriott Corporation employs the galley workers in the steward's department.
For every WSF vessel, the Coast Guard issues a Certificate of Inspection (COI) that lists the mandatory and permissive personnel for the vessel. The COI for the Tacoma required one emergency evacuation person. The COI's for other classes of WSF vessels do not require an emergency evacuation person.
The duties of the required people listed in the COI are described in the station bills, which are approved by the Coast Guard. The Tacoma station bill requires the emergency evacuation person to 'Maintain Order in Cabin' and to 'Assist as Directed;' in fire actions that person is to 'Maintain Order Cabin Zone 2&4' and 'Assist as Directed;' and in abandon ship actions that person is to be 'In Charge of Cabin Zone 4' and 'Assist at Embarkation Station 4.' A WSF witness testified before the MEC that emergency drills take place about once a week on each vessel and generally last five to fifteen minutes. Dennis Conklin, the business agent for the IBU, testified that he participated on a crew that drilled twice a week for two hours a day.
In the summer of 1997, WSF began planning to use Marriott employees as the emergency evacuation person. Before assigning these duties to a Marriott worker, the WSF trained all of the Marriott employees in emergency procedures. Conklin testified that Marriott told him that the training was done because the galley workers requested it after the Coast Guard asked them questions about what to do during a fire and they could not answer. Other evidence suggested that the WSF was training the Marriott employees to fill the new emergency evacuation position. An email from the WSF, regarding Marriott training, states 'the Marriott people working TACOMA MUST(!) be trained prior to TACOMA being put into customer service.' And a memorandum from Joe Nortz, the director of marine operations at the WSF, to Marriott states that the objective of the training program was to '{e}nsure the appropriate training is provided to Marriott personnel to meet the above goal, and to meet U.S. Coast Guard expectations as competent 'persons other than the crew' listed on vessel Muster Lists and Station Bi
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