[Download] "Port Huron Education Association v. Port" by Supreme Court of Minnesota * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Port Huron Education Association v. Port
- Author : Supreme Court of Minnesota
- Release Date : January 16, 1996
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 75 KB
Description
A primary goal of the public employees relations act is to resolve labor-management strife through collective bargaining. Detroit Police Officers Assn v Detroit, 428 Mich. 79, 95; 404 N.W.2d 595 (1987) (opinion of Boyle, J.). In furtherance of this goal, the PERA imposes a duty on public employers to bargain in good faith over "wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment . . . ." MCL 423.215(1); MSA 17.455(15)(1). The parties do not dispute the general principle that "a past practice which does not derive from the parties collective bargaining agreement may become a term or condition of employment which is binding on the parties." Amalgamated Transit Union v Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority, 437 Mich. 441, 454; 473 N.W.2d 249 (1991). Rather, the question presented is whether a past practice that is contrary to clear contract language can create a term or condition of employment. We hold that the unambiguous contract language controls unless the past practice is so widely acknowledged and mutually accepted that it amends the contract. The party seeking to supplant the contract language must show the parties had a meeting of the minds with respect to the new terms or conditions so that there was an agreement to modify the contract.