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BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF UNIV. v. ASSOC. COLT5/26/1995
The Associated COLT Staff of the University of Maine System (ACSUM) and the Maine Labor Relations Board (Board) appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Alexander, J.) vacating the Board's decision that the University of Maine System (University) breached its duty to bargain in good faith by discontinuing the annual step increase in wages included as a wage provision in the collective bargaining agreement that had expired. The requirement to bargain and negotiate in good faith includes the obligation to maintain the status quo following the expiration of a contract. Applying a "dynamic" status quo rule that it had adopted after the contract had been entered into, the Board imposed on the University a duty to continue paying to its employees the annual step increases in wages included in the expired agreement. The Board concluded that the failure of the University to do so constituted a unilateral change in the status quo prohibited under the law. Beyond the particular unfairness of the application of the dynamic status quo rule retroactively to the facts of this case, such application requires the University to pay wage increases not collectively bargained for and not approved by the University, and thus violates the letter and spirit of the
The University and ACSUM had a collective bargaining agreement of three years' duration, commencing in 1989, and expiring on June 30, 1992. The agreement contained separate wage scales with an across-the-board increase for each year of the contract. The wage schedule for each year was divided into wage bands for different levels of employment, and each band included six to eight steps based on seniority. The agreement provided that on each of the anniversary dates of the agreement, employees would advance from one lettered step to the next and receive the specified increase in wages. When the agreement expired, the University adhered to the last wage schedule, and discontinued the annual step increases, except as they applied to promotions.
In December 1992, ACSUM filed a prohibited practice complaint with the Board, alleging that the University violated the University of Maine System Labor Relations Act, 26 M.R.S.A. § 1021-1035 (1988 & Supp. 1994). After a hearing, the Board ruled that the discontinuance of the payment of salary step increases after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement constituted a unilateral change in the conditions of employment in violation of the University's duty to bargain pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. § 1027(1)(A) and (E). The Board ordered the University to continue to advance each employee one step higher on the existing wage scale annually, until the parties agree otherwise or bargain in good faith to impasse. In addition, the Board ordered the University to reimburse employees for the wages and interest lost as a result of the delay in granting the first increase following the expiration of the contract.
The University filed a petition for review of final agency action with the Superior Court pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. § 1029(7) and M.R. Civ.P. 80C. The Superior Court concluded that the Board's decision was "an improper imposition into the substance of collective bargaining processes" and vacated the Board's decision. This appeal by the Board and ACSUM followed.
We review the Board's decision directly, State v. Maine State Employees Ass'n, 538 A.2d 755, 757 (Me. 1988), for error of law, abuse of discretion, or clear error. See City of Bangor v. American Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees, 449 A.2d 1129, 1134, 1136-37 (Me. 1982); 26 M.R.S.A. § 1029(7).
Pursuant to the University of Maine System Labor Relations Act, the University is required to bargain
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