After a two-and-a-half year fight to defend our right to negotiate the terms and conditions of our employment, the Nebraska Supreme Court issued its final ruling in our remote work case in April.
The Court made a final determination that remote work is a mandatory subject of bargaining, however, remote work assignments are covered by our collective bargaining agreement in the management rights clause in broad language that has been in the agreement for decades regarding “the site of the work force.” Because of that language, the state was not required to negotiate over the terms and conditions of remote work during the term of the contract.
The Court ruled in our favor regarding legal fees. The CIR ordered our union to pay the State of Nebraska over $40,000 in legal fees by finding our case was frivolous. The Supreme Court overturned that order and soundly decided that our argument and petition were properly filed for a decision on the merits and was in no way frivolous. This is a major victory for all public employees in Nebraska. We cannot be intimidated by the threat of exorbitant legal fees if we file a prohibited practices petition and do not prevail on the merits.
A copy of the Supreme Court’s Decision is available here.
While disappointing, this is not the end of our fight to protect our members’ rights. Knowing the Supreme Court might rule that remote work is covered by our contract, union members filed grievances at the time they had their remote work assignments terminated. The grievances allege that our contract was violated when agencies implemented their remote work rules in an unreasonable manner.
Those grievances proceeded to the Nebraska State Personnel Board, where they were dismissed by the Board, without a hearing, as “non-grievable.” We immediately appealed that decision to the District Court of Lancaster County, and an oral argument was heard earlier this year by Judge Ryan Post. After the Supreme Court decision, Judge Post asked for supplemental briefs to be filed, and he expects to make a ruling in the coming weeks.
Should Judge Post rule in our favor, the grievances will return to the Personnel Board for a hearing on the merits and a decision. Should Judge Post rule that the issue is non-grievable, we already have a case pending in the Nebraska Court of Appeals regarding “grievability.” We expect a decision in that case later this year.
We are committed to protecting our members’ rights, and should our members make it a priority for contract negotiations this year, we will focus our efforts at the bargaining table to ensure fair and efficient remote work contract language.