Oregon Corrections Employees v. State of Oregon

• Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
• Area(s) of Law: Employment Law
• Date Filed: 11-09-2011
• Case #: A143552
• Judge(s)/Court Below: Wollheim, J. for the Court; Schuman, P.J.; & Nakamoto, J.

Where a collective bargaining agreement authorizes an employer to take certain actions, such actions if unilaterally employed by the employer, do not constitute unfair labor practices.

Department of Corrections (DOC) appealed the Employment Relations Board's order requiring it to bargain with the Association of Oregon Corrections Employees (AOCE) over changes to DOC's work schedule system. The Court of Appeals held that the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the DOC and the AOCE applied, and that the unilateral changes employed by the DOC were unambiguously allowed under the CBA. The Court held that where a CBA authorizes an employer to act unilaterally with respect to certain employment conditions, and then does so without bargaining, such an act cannot be considered an unfair labor practice. Reversed and remanded.

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