Maine State Employees Association v. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and State of Maine, No. 85-02, 8 NPER ME-16010 (Jan. 17, 1985), vacated, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife v. Maine State Employees Association, No. CV-85-51 (Me. Super. Ct., Ken. Cty.), aff'd., 503 A.2d 1285 (Me. 1986) STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, ss. CIVIL ACTION Docket No. CV-85-51 MAINE DEPARTMENT OF INLAND FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE and STATE OF MAINE, Plaintiffs vs. DECISION and ORDER MAINE STATE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION and MAINE LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Defendants This matter is before the Court pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80B and 26 M.R.S.A. 979-H(7)(Supp. 1984-85) for review of a decision by the Maine Labor Relations Board that Plaintiff Department of Inland Fisheries (Department) committed a prohibited practice. The parties appeared before the Court for a hearing on June 5, 1985. The central issue is whether 12 M.R.S.A. 7036(6)(Supp. 1984-85), effective January 1, 1984, prohibits the sort of use of Department vehicles contemplated by the collective bargaining agreement between the State and the union of Department employees. The following facts were found by the Maine Labor Relations Board and are not in dispute. -1- The 1982-83 collective bargaining agreement between the State and the Maine State Employees Association (MSEA), the certified bargaining agent for the State Employee Supervisory Services and Law Enforcement Services bargaining units, allowed game wardens not on regular duty to use Department vehicles for "necessary personal business or emergencies," provided "'on-duty' status for communication and operational purposes" was maintained. See Law Enforcement Services Unit Agreement for 1982-83, Article XXXVII, "State Vehicles and Equipment," Par. 4(b) and (d); Supervisory Services Unit Agreement for 1982-83, Article XXXVII, "State Vehicles and Equipment," Par. 5(b) and (d). "On-duty status for communications and operational purposes" required wardens using Department vehicles for personal business to receive and respond to radio complaints about alleged violations of the law and requests for assistance from other wardens and law enforcement personnel. Wardens on such status were also obligated to investigate any illegal activity they observed. In addition, departmental policy required the wardens to carry identification and to have a firearm in their possession. In September of 1983, while negotiations between the State and the MSEA regarding successor collective bargaining agreements were underway, the Legislature enacted a bill pertaining to the personal use of vehicles and equipment by Department employees. That bill, appearing at 12 M.R.S.A. 7036, provides: 6. Personal use of vehicles and equipment. No employee may use any department equipment or vehicles for other than official business. -2- "Department" in 7036(6) refers to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildife. Notwithstanding the passage of 7036(6), negotiations between the State and the union resulted in collective bargaining agreements which retained without change the Department vehicle use policy articulated in the 1982-83 agreements. The agreements were ratified by the Legislature and became effective on September 11, 1984. Based on 7036(6), the Department has, from that statute's effective date on January 1, 1984, disallowed the personal use of Department vehicles contemplated by the collective bargaining agreements. The Maine State Employees Association challenges this policy as a unilateral change in "wages, hours, or working conditions" constituting a refusal to bargain in violation of 26 M.R.S.A. 979-C(1)(E) , 979-D(1)(E), and as beyond the intendment of 7036(6). Title 26 M.R.S.A. 979-D(1)(E)(1) provides that a matter is not appropriate for collective bargaining to the extent it is "prescribed or controlled by public law." The purpose of this exception to the duty to bargain is to "prevent ... a term of a collective bargaining agreement from being in violation of existing law." State v. Maine Labor Relations Board, 413 A.2d 510, 515 (Me. 1980). Under 979-D(1)(E)(1), "[t]he parties to collective bargaining are prohibited from negotiating an agreement, even though it concerns 'wages, hours, [or] working conditions,' where that agreement 'would be in violation of or inconsistent with any statutory directive."' Id. -3- The collective bargaining agreements effective September 11, 1984, like their predecessors, allow game wardens to use Department vehicles for personal business, provided limited "on-duty status for communication and operational purposes" is maintained. 12 M.R.S.A. 7036(6) prohibits the use of Department vehicles "for other than official business." (Emphasis added.) The Court is persuaded that the assumption of "on-duty status for communication and operational purposes" cannot turn a personal errand into "official business." Oficial (sic) business is official business. Given its plain meaning, 7036(6) prohibits the sort of use of Department vehicles contemplated by the collective bargaining agreements. The MSEA argues that the Legislature somehow "ratified" the vehicle use policy in the collective bargaining agreements when it approved the cost items in the agreements pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. 979-D(1)(E)(3), 979-A(5) (1974 and Supp. 1984-85). The Legislature's role in the collective bargaining process is essentially the appropriation of money to fund the economic terms in the agreements reached by the bargaining parties. The Court does not consider the Legislature's approval of the agreements to reflect approval on its part of specific substantive provisions in the agreements. -4- Therefore, it is ORDERED and the entry shall be: 1. Appeal SUSTAINED. 2. The decision of the Maine Labor Relations Board is REVERSED. 3. The order of the Maine Labor Relations Board is VACATED. Dated: June 28, 1985 /s/________________________________ MORTON A. BRODY Justice, Superior Court -5- Maine State Employees Association v. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and State of Maine, No. 85-02, 8 NPER ME-16010 (Jan. 17, 1985), vacated, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife v. Maine State Employees Association, No. CV-85-51 (Me. Super. Ct., Ken. Cty.), aff'd., 503 A.2d 1285 (Me. 1986)