Membership in the employee organization subjects the individual to the terms and conditions set out in the relevant collective bargaining agreement

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Membership in the employee organization subjects theindividual to the terms and conditions set out in the relevant collectivebargaining agreement

The Appellate Division, 4th Department, in a succinctdecision, said that “by accepting employment as a school instructor andentering into a collective bargaining agreement as a result of his membershipin the union representing him, the [school instructor] waived any right to becredited for seniority in the tenure area of teacher.”*
The court cited Dietz v Board of Educ. of Rochester CitySchool Dist., ___ AD3d ___ [Sept. 28, 2012] and Wiener v Board of Educ.of E. Ramapo Cent. School Dist., 90 AD2d 832, appeal dismissed 58NY2d 1115), in support of its ruling.
In Dietz the court noted that “… the collective bargainingagreement (CBA) between the District and the union representing petitionerprovided that layoffs of ‘school instructors’ would be affected within the fourseparate categories of school instructors identified in the CBA rather thanwithin tenure areas; that separate seniority lists for purposes of layoffs aremaintained for school instructors; and that, ‘[i]n the event that positions areabolished, school instructors shall not have rights to displace teachers inregular school programs having less seniority, nor shall teachers have rightsto displace school instructors having less seniority.’"
* See Szumigala vHicksville Union Free School District, 148 AD2d 621. In Szumigala  the Appellate Division, citing Cheektowaga v Nyquest, 38NY2d 137, ruled that a seniorityclause in a Taylor Law agreement violated §2510 of the Education Law when it permitted seniority indifferent tenure areas to be combined for the purposes of determining seniority with theDistrict for the purposes of layoff. Further, in Cityof Plattsburgh v Local 788, 108 AD2d1045, a decision involving the layoff of employees in the competitive class ofthe Classified Service, the court held that seniority for the purposes oflayoff cannot be diminished or impaired by the terms of collective bargainingagreement, explaining  §80 of the CivilService Law [and, presumably, §80-a of such law] "reflects a legislativeimperative" that the City was powerless to bargain away.


The decision is posted on the Internet at:http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2012/2012_06726.htm