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I.R. No. 82-1

Synopsis:

On a Motion for Interim Relief made by the Irvington Municipal Employees Association, a designee of the Public Employment Relations Commission authorized to hear such applications, has ordered that the Town of Irvington be restrained from implementing without prior negotiations with the Association a proposed change in the hours of the blue collar laborers in its Parks and Recreation Department. The Director of the department had posted a notice on June 11, 1981 effective June 29, 1981, later extended to July 6, 1981, dirercting that the said employees' hours of work be changed from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., to 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. The reason given by the Town's Director was that the mere presence of the employees in the parks and playgrounds during the new hours would deter vandalism.

Following Commission and Court precedent the Commission's designee concluded that the Association had demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits: Clifton Board of Education, P.E.R.C. No. 80-104, 6 NJPER 103 (1980); and Galloway Tp. Ass'n of Educational Secretaries, P.E.R.C. No. 76-31, 2 NJPER 128 (1976) aff'd 78 N.J. 1, 8 (1978); and that irreparable harm would be inflicted upon said employees if the request for interim restraint was denied. The Town had contended that Irvington PBA v. Town of Irvington, 170 N.J. Super. 539 (1979), precluded the granting of relief at the interim relief stage because of the lack under that decision of a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits by the Association. The Commission's designee distinguished Irvington, which involved shift changes in a police department, from the park laborers herein involved who were deemed more closely akin to custodians in Clifton and educational secretaries in Galloway, supra.

The temporary restraint, supra, was granted pending disposition by the Commission of the underlying Unfair Practice Charge.

PERC Citation:

I.R. No. 82-1, 7 NJPER 407 (¶12180 1981)

Appellate History:



Additional:



Miscellaneous:



NJPER Index:

74.373 74.374

Issues:

    DecisionsWordPerfectPDF
    NJ PERC:.IR 82-001.pdf - IR 82-001.pdf

    Appellate Division:

    Supreme Court:



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