An Illinois appeals court wants the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board [IELRB] to take another look at a dispute between Illinois State University and a union representing about 300 campus workers.
In January, the IELRB issued a ruling that five "food court/snack bar supervisors" should be added to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31 [AFSCME] bargaining unit. The university appealed, saying under the law "supervisors" are not supposed to be eligible.
The case hinges on what supervision means. Relevant questions include how much authority these particular "managers on duty" have over other workers, how much time in a workday supervisory activity happens, and whether the preponderance of the job includes supervision or is much like the duties of other workers making sandwiches, and stocking shelves and coolers. Another question is whether there’s a difference under the law between supervising student workers and supervising snack bar attendants.
The general hierarchy outlined low-high in the Fourth District Appellate Court opinion is student worker, snack bar attendant, snack bar supervisor, administrator I, administrator II, administrator III, senior assistant director, associate director, and director of the Event Management, Dining, and Hospitality Department. At the time of the petition, only snack bar attendants were in the collective bargaining unit.
The campus offers eight different retail dining establishments, mainly in the Bone Student Center.
The court ruled July 30 that the Education Labor Relations Board hearing officer didn’t fully consider all the elements of the test for definition of supervisor according to previous precedents and didn’t lay out enough of its reasoning to distinguish other precedents. The case now goes back to the labor board.
