Public Case No. R 1998-004
(Cross References R 1989-023, UC 1999-038 and R 1999-047)
International Association of Fire Fighters, 2nd District v.
City of Gladstone, Missouri
The following background is pertinent. The City of Gladstone has combined its Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services into a combined Public Safety Department. The Department is divided into three (3) separate divisions: Law Enforcement, Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and Support Services. In City of Gladstone, Case No. R 1989-023 (SBM, 1990), the Board found that all Public Safety personnel assigned to the City’s Public Safety Fire/EMS Division comprised an appropriate unit. The Board further found that it would address the status of the Sergeants in that unit at a later date. However, the Union lost the subsequent election, so the Board had no occasion to revisit the Sergeants’ status until now.
In this case, IAFF sought a bargaining unit of all Fire Fighters, Paramedics, and Public Safety Officers (PSO’s) assigned to the City’s Public Safety Fire/EMS Division, up to and including Sergeants. Given the existence of the Board’s 1990 decision, the parties agreed on the appropriateness of IAFF’s proposed unit.
The only question raised about the composition of IAFF’s proposed unit concerned the status of the three (3) Sergeants in the Fire/EMS Division. IAFF sought their inclusion while the City wanted them excluded.
After review the record evidence, the Board found the Sergeants were not supervisors. It therefore, included them in the Fire/EMS unit.
In so finding, the Board used the same legal standard for determining supervisory status which the Board has used for over 20 years. It rejected the City’s invitation to use a different legal standard, namely the standard applied under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as amended.