TOWNSHIP OF FRANKLIN VS. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP PBA
TOWNSHIP OF FRANKLIN VS. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP PBA
LOCAL 154 SUPERVISORY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
A-2313-10T1/A-2822-10T1
We review two decisions issued by the Public Employment
Relations Commission (PERC) regarding whether proposed
patrol
shift schedule modifications were mandatorily negotiable
as
intimately affecting employees' working conditions or were
non-
negotiable as falling within the Township's managerial
prerogative.
Although we agree the CNAs under review granted the
Township managerial latitude to schedule police shifts
"as
needed[,]" we reject the expansive reading of this
phrase to
support the Township's position the shift modifications
merely
"implement[ed] a provision of the contract which had
been
extensively bargained for by the parties."
Rather, the changes
mandated officers work more hours without concomitant
compensation, an alteration of the core of the CNAs'
provisions.
We distinguished the holding of our opinion in In
re
Morris County Sheriff's Office v. Morris Cnty. Policemen's
Benev. Ass'n, Local 298, 418 N.J. Super. 64, 75-76 (App.
Div.
2011), noting a desire to achieve thrift cannot sustain
the
adoption of a policy abrogating the Township's binding
contractual obligations to its
law enforcement employees.03-08-12
