THE PUBLIC Employment Relations Commission has turned down an attempt by the City of Yakima to reclassify eight Public Works crew leaders as supervisors. The reclassification would have meant that the employees would have been excluded from the Local 1122 bargaining unit.

In his April 24 ruling, PERC Hearing Officer J. Martin Smith found that the six sewer maintenance and two pretreatment crew leaders had responsibility for lead worker duties, but did not possess the type of supervisory authority that would exclude them from the bargaining unit.

The hearing resulted from a petition from the City of Yakima for clarification of a bargaining unit represented by Council 2.
Smith dismissed the arguments raised by the City in its petition, ruling that:

• The crew leaders could not be classified as supervisors based on a recent change in the wording of the grievance procedure.
• Administrative duties performed by the crew leaders — such as approving time cards in the absence of the sewer maintenance supervisor and handling requests for paid time off for sick leave — do not rise to the level of significance that would denote supervisory duty.
• Participation by crew leaders on hiring boards and interview panels did not make them supervisors.
• Sharing of evaluation duties meant they were lead, but not supervisory, employees.
• The record did not establish that the crew leaders had the authority to discipline employees.
• The difference in pay for their positions was not enough to conclude that supervisory status had been created.

“A careful reading of this record reveals that the sewer maintenance crew leaders have been assigned lead duties, but not supervisory duties,” Smith said.

For the most part, he added, the supervision derived from the sewer maintenance supervisor. “The crew leaders have responsibility but no independent authority to make personnel decisions,” he added.

Legal Counsel David Kanigel appeared for Council 2.