MSAD #16 Library Employees Assoc. and MSAD #16 Board of Directors, No. 82-UD-27, affirmed by Board Decision No. 82-A-03. STATE OF MAINE MAINE LABOR RELATIONS BOARD [Case No. 82-UD-27] [Issued: March 17, 1982] _________________________________ ) M.S.A.D. #16 LIBRARY EMPLOYEES ) ASSOCIATION ) ) and ) UNIT DETERMINATION REPORT ) M.S.A.D. #16 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ) _________________________________) This is a unit determination proceeding, initiated on January 15, 1982 when the M.S.A.D. #16 Library Employees Association (Association) filed a petition for unit determination pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. 966. A hearing on the petition was held on March 9, 1982 in Augusta, Maine. The Association was represented by Stuart G. Snyder, Esq. and the M.S.A.D. #16 Board of Directors (Directors) by Charles E. Moreshead, Esq. The Association seeks by its petition formation of a bargaining unit composed of the two Teacher Assistants who work in the school libraries. The Directors oppose the proposed bargaining unit on the ground that a more appropriate unit would be all 14 Teacher Aides, Teacher Assistants and Teacher Associates employed in the school system. Presented as witnesses by the Association was Nancy McCabe and Jacquelyn S. Krupinsky, the Teacher Assistants who work in the libraries. The Directors presented Superintendent of Schools George Stewart as a witness. The following exhibits were admitted into the record: Association Exhibit No. 1 The duties and responsibilities of Nancy McCabe Association Exhibit No. 2 Library rules and procedures 1981 - Fall Association Exhibit No. 3 Requirements for becomming a School Librarian, which recently have been superseded by new requirements Association Exhibit No. 4 State of Maine Department of Educa- tion Guidelines for Employment of Auxiliary School Personnel [-1-] ___________________________________________________________________________________ Association Exhibit No. 5 The duties and responsibilities of Jacquelyn S. Krupinsky M.S.A.D. Exhibit No. 1 The salary and benefits schedule for Teacher Aide and Teacher Assis- tant/Library Clerk M.S.A.D. Exhibit No. 2 M.S.A.D. #16 1981-82 application for auxiliary personnel, State of Maine Department of Educational and Cul- tural Services. JURISDICTION The Association is a public employee organization within the meaning of 26 M.R.S.A. 967(1). The Board of Directors is a public employer as defined in 26 M.R.S.A. 962(7). The jurisdiction of the hearing examiner to hear this case and rule on the petition for unit determination lies in 26 M.R.S.A. 966. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Nancy McCabe has been employed as a Teacher Aide or Teacher Assistant in the Hall-Dale High School library for approximately 4-1/2 years. She was assigned to the library immediately upon being hired as a Teacher Aide and in essence was told to do what she could with the library. At the time McCabe was hired, a certified School Librarian, who also was an English teacher in the system, was in charge of the library. As a result of McCabe's initiative and dedication, she gradually took over nearly all the major duties and responsibilities in the library, and the School Librarian became less and less involved in the operation. As a result of the Baileyville "book banning" case in January, 1982 the certified School Librarian was assigned to spend one class period (47 minutes) per day in the library, so that a certified Librarian will be involved in the selection of books for the library. McCabe remains responsible for nearly all aspects of the library operation, however, and continues to perform almost all of the duties that a certi- fied School Librarian would perform. McCabe is not certified either as a teacher or a School Librarian, and her direct supervisor is the High School principal. McCabe has a bachelor's degree in English, and has taken 3 graduate level courses in Library Sciences and has attended 3 school librarian workshops. -2- ___________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Jacquelyn S. Krupinsky has been employed as a Teacher Assistant in the Hall-Dale primary, middle and junior high school libraries for approximately 2 years. She spends approximately 1-1/2 days per week in each of the 3 libraries. Her duties and responsibilities are the same as McCabe's except that Krupinsky has taken on some additional duties such as transferring books between the different libraries and preparing bibliographies of new books acquired by the libraries. Krupinsky also trains volunteers who on occasion will staff a school library on a day when Krupinsky is at another library. Krupinsky has a bachelor's degree and is not certified as a teacher or a School Librarian. She has 3 credit hours of Library Science course instruction and has attended 2 school librarian workshops. Her direct supervisors are the 3 building principals in the school buildings in which she works. There is no certified School Librarian assigned to any of the libraries for which Krupinsky is responsible. 3. In addition to McCabe and Krupinsky, the school system presently employs 12 other employees in the Teacher Aide, Teacher Assistant and Teacher Associate job classifications. All of these employees are uncertified personnel who perform support and/or semi-professional duties. The other Aides and Assistants work with emotionally disturbed children, with educationally disadvantaged students, or in the Title 1 reading program. All the Aides and Assistants, including McCabe and Krupin- sky, are paid according to the same salary and fringe benefits schedules. All are classified as "auxiliary personnel" pursuant to Department of Educational and Cultural Services guidelines. The other Aides and Assistants are supervised directly by the Teachers with whom they work, not, as in the case of McCabe and Krupinsky, by the building principals. The Directors currently bargain with 2 bargaining units of school employees - one composed of the teachers and the other of the principals. DECISION At issue is the question whether a bargaining unit composed of the 2 Teacher Assistants who work in the school libraries or a unit composed of all 14 Teacher Aides, Assistants and Associates employed in the school system is the more appro- priate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. The hearing examiner finds that a unit consisting of all the Aides, Assistants and Associates in the system is -3- ___________________________________________________________________________________ by far the more appropriate unit, and orders the formation of such a bargaining unit. The Association urges that the duties and responsibilities of the librarian Teacher Assistants are so different from the duties and responsibilities of the other Aides and Assistants as to establish that library employees share no community of interest with the other employees. The hearing examiner cannot agree. It is en- tirely true, as the Association contends, that McCabe and Krupinsky are highly tal- ented employees who occupy very responsible positions in "unique" facilities. These characteristics do not, however, outweigh the considerable evidence that the two positions share a strong community of interest with the other Teacher Aides, Assist- ants and Associates Among the similarities shared by the employees is that all are uncertified per- sonnel who perform supportive or semi-professional duties. The two librarians teach library skills to students, prepare reference materials for classes, and in general maintain and manage the libraries, and therefore perform a strong support function in the school system. All are classified as "auxiliary personnel" for purposes of Department of Educational and Cultural Services authorization, and all are paid according to the same salary and fringe benefit schedules. All are supervised by other public employees who negotiate with the Directors; the fact that the Teacher Assistants in the libraries are supervised by building principals while the other Aides and Assistants are supervised by teachers is a distinction without a differ- ence. These similarities establish that all the Aides, Assistants and Associates share a clear and identifiable community of interest within the meaning of 26 M.R.S.A. 966(2). See, e.g., AFSCME, Pine Tree Council No. 74 and City of Brewer, MLRB No. 79-A-01 (Oct. 13, 1979). The fact that the two Assistants perform library work while the other Aides and Assistants perform other types of work does not mean that the library Assistants should be included in a unit by themselves. As the Board has stated, " '[C]ommunity of interest' does not mean . . . that the different job classifications must have exactly the same wages, hours and working conditions before they can be included in the same bargaining unit. All that is required is that the various positions share similarities . . ." (Emphasis in original). Town of Yarmouth and Teamsters Local 48, MLRB No. 80-A-04 at 4-5 (June 16, 1980). Moreover, the hearing examiner is not prepared to say that the considerable responsi- bilities shouldered by the Teacher Assistants in the libraries are so much greater -4- ___________________________________________________________________________________ than the responsibilities taken on by other Aides and Assistants in their areas of work as to warrant separate bargaining units. The hearing examiner must also be mindful that the creation of a two-person Teacher Assistant bargaining unit would be directly contrary to the Board's policy of "discouraging the proliferation of small bargaining units in a single depart- ment." Id., at 4. Establishment of a two-person bargaining unit now would create the possibility that several bargaining units of Teacher Aides and Assistants might eventually be created. Such results obviously would unduly fragment the Aides, Assistants and Associates as a bargaining unit. Fragmentation of bargaining units is "a disservice to the School Committee, the Association and the Board." Millinocket Education Association and Millinocket School Committee, Unit Clarification Report at 5 (May 21, 1980). Since the employees share a clear and identifiable community of interest, the hearing examiner concludes that splitting them into separate bar- gaining units would be wholly unwarranted. For all of the foregoing reasons, the hearing examiner concludes pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. 966 that a bargaining unit composed of all the Teacher Aides, Teacher Assistants and Teacher Associates is an appropriate unit for purposes of collective bargaining. ORDER On the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and discussion, and by virtue of and pursuant to the powers granted in 26 M.R.SA. 966, it is ORDERED that the description of the M.S.A.D. No. 16 auxiliary personnel bargaining unit is: All Teacher Aides, Teacher Assistants, and Teacher Associates employed by the M.S.A.D. No. 16 Board of Directors. Dated at Augusta, Maine, this 17th day of March, 1982. MAINE LABOR RELATIONS BOARD /s/__________________________________________ Wayne W. Whitney, Jr. Hearing Examiner -5- _________________________________________________________________________________________