Alaska Employment Law

Primary jurisdiction and res judicata bar union’s  independent challenge to City’s action 

Superior Court Judge Mark Wood has ruled that the Fairbanks Firefighters Union may not pursue a breach of contract action against the City of Fairbanks while simultaneously pursuing an appeal from an ALRA Decision on the same or related issues.

The City and Fairbanks IAFF Local 1324 entered into a CBA for 2002-2005.  In December of 2003, at the Mayor’s recommendation, the City Council decided to underfund parts of the CBA (health insurance costs and “bonus leave”), citing various budgetary pressures.  The union responded by filing an unfair labor practice charge with the Alaska Labor Relations Agency.  The union argued that AS 23.40.215(a) required the Mayor to recommend, and the City to fund all or none of the CBA’s monetary terms. The ALRA held against the union in Decision and Order No. 273. 

While the ulp charge was still pending before the ARLA, the union also filed a separate breach of contract action in Superior Court (Mark Wood).    The contract action included a claim that the ALRA eventually declined to resolve - that the City had unconstitutionally “impaired” the labor contract.  In the contract action, the union requested a declaratory judgment that the City must comply with the CBA and that any budget shortfalls must be addressed by reducing the workforce rather than the CBA’s monetary terms.

The union appealed the adverse ALRA ruling to the Superior Court (Randy Olsen), which has not yet ruled.  In the contract action before Judge Wood, the City argued that the union’s claims were 1) subject to the primary jurisdiction of the ALRA, and thus to the appeal before Judge Olsen; and were 2) barred by administrative res judicata.  The union did not contest the City’s primary jurisdiction argument.

Judge Wood has now ruled that 1) the contract action, including the constitutional “impairment of contract” claim, is subject to the primary jurisdiction of the ALRA and the appeal therefrom; and that 2) the ALRA decision (and any appellate decision) applies to the contract claim via res judicata.  While the ALRA properly declined to decide the union’s constitutional claims, the union raised those claims in its administrative appeal to Superior Court Judge Olsen, thus bringing Olsen’s eventual resolution of the constitutional claims within the ambit of res judicata, according to Wood.

 12/10/07 Decision Granting Summary Judgment

Chuck Dunnagan of Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens in Anchorage represents the Firefighters Union.  Herb Kuss, City Attorney, represents the City of Fairbanks.