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STATE OF WASHINGTON BEFORE THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION |
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INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL ENGINEERS, LOCAL 17, AFL-CIO, |
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Complainant |
Case No. 1020-U-77-136 |
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vs |
DECISION NO. 809-B PECB |
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CITY OF SEATTLE, |
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION |
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Respondent |
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The City of Seattle has asked the Commission to reconsider its decision entered herein on June 17, 1980, which by its terms was an interlocutory order.
The city seems to want the Commission to approve an ad hoc determination of a defunct civil service commission that it is alright to refuse to permit a non-lawyer union representative to represent a member of the union in a grievance proceeding before the civil service commission.
This Commission will hold no such thing. It is the business of unions to represent their constituents in grievance proceedings and their spokesmen need not be lawyers. Grievance handling is an extension of collective bargaining and the bargaining process is not going to be impeded by technical shibboleths about the unauthorized practice of law.
The Commission is not limited to consideration of the issues raised before it by the parties. WAC 391-21-536 clearly provides for the Commission to act on its own motion.
The examiner based his decision on deference to an arbitration award. For the reasons stated in our June 17, 1980, decision, we decline to defer to that award.
The motion to reconsider is denied.
DATED this 11th day of July, 1980.
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION
[SIGNED]
MARY ELLEN KRUG, Chairman
[SIGNED]
ROBERT J. WILLIAMS, Commissioner
[SIGNED]
JOHN H. LEINEN, Commissioner