D.U.P. NO. 82-14

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS COMMISSION

BEFORE THE DIRECTOR OF REPRESENTATION

In the Matter of

NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION,

Respondent,

-and-	Docket No. CO-81-389

LOCAL 29, RWDSU, AFL-CIO,

Charging Party.

REFUSAL TO ISSUE COMPLAINT

An Unfair Practice Charge was filed with the Public Employment Relations Commission (the "Commission") on June 29, 1981, by Local 29, RWDSU, AFL-CIO (the "Charging Party") against the New Jersey Education Association (the "Respondent") alleging that the Respondent was engaging in unfair practices within the meaning of the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act, N.J.S.A. 34:13A-1 et seq. (the "Act").

N.J.S.A. 34:13A-5.4(c) sets forth in pertinent part that the Commission shall have the power to prevent anyone from engaging in any unfair practice, and that it has the authority to issue a complaint stating the unfair practice charge.1/ The Commission has delegated its authority to issue complaints to the undersigned and has established a standard upon which an unfair practice complaint may be issued. This standard provides that a complaint shall issue if it appears that the allegations of the charging party, if true, may constitute an unfair practice within the meaning of the Act.2/ The Commission's rules provide that the undersigned may decline to issue a complaint.3/

For the reasons stated below, the undersigned has determined that the Commission's complaint issuance standards have not been met.

Initially, the undersigned notes that pursuant to N.J.A.C. 19:14-1.3(a)(3), an unfair practice charge must contain ". . . a statement or the portion or portions of the Act alleged to have been violated." Accordingly, the undersigned has determined that it is incumbent upon the Charging Party to allege the particular sections of the Act claimed to have been violated, and has declined to issue complaints where this requirement has not been met. Subsequent to the filing of the instant Unfair Practice Charge, by letter dated July 17, 1981, the undersigned informed the Charging Party that the Charge could not be processed further unless it was amended, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 19:14-1.5, to include the section or sections of the Act alleged to have been violated. The undersigned directed the Charging Party's attention to the relevant provision of N.J.A.C. 19:14-1.3(a)(3) and advised that a complaint would not issue if the Charging Party failed to state the specific section or sections of the Act alleged to have been violated. Pursuant to a letter dated August 11, 1981, the undersigned again referred the Charging Party to the letter of July 17, 1981 and specifically informed said Charging Party that if the Charge was not amended within 48 hours, the undersigned would decline to issue a complaint. The undersigned has not received a reply to the July 17, 1981 or August 11, 1981 letters, nor has the Charge been amended, as requested.

Furthermore, the entire substance of the Charge is that the Respondent, a rival union, "coerced the Board of Education of the City of Englewood by causing to be filed with the Board of Education" employee termination request forms for dues withdrawal from a number of custodial employees who are part of the negotiations unit represented by the Charging Party. The undersigned, based on the Charge as written, is unable to discern a nexus between the Respondent's alleged actions and any prohibited practice under 5.4(b).

Accordingly, the undersigned declines to issue a complaint herein.

BY ORDER OF THE DIRECTOR

OF UNFAIR PRACTICES

/s/Carl Kurtzman, Director

DATED:	November 12, 1981

Trenton, New Jersey