Can County Commissioners Negotiate Terms and Conditions of Employment ?

In County of Lehigh v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 507 Pa. 270, 489 A.2d 1325 (1985) the Supreme Court rejected the argument that the proviso in Section 1620 limited the permissible subjects of bargaining to purely financial terms, stating: The provison merely recognizes that, under Public Employees Relations Act (PERA), matters affecting the hiring, discharge and supervisory powers of the public employer are not subjects of collective bargaining.... In Commonwealth ex rel. Bradley v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 479 Pa. 440, 447, 388 A.2d 736, 739 (1978), the Court rejected the argument of the judges of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas that "subjecting 'wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment' ... to bargaining would interfere with their ability to administer justice.... Relying on the decision in Ellenbogen v. County of Allegheny, 479 Pa. 429, 388 A.2d 730 (1978)..., in which the Court held that so long as judges retain their authority to select, discharge and supervise court personnel, the independence of the judiciary is unimpaired, the Court upheld the applicability of PERA to courts of common pleas and their appointees.... Thus under the decisions county commissioners are not prohibited from negotiating "wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment" provided such terms do not impinge upon judicial control of hiring, discharge and supervision in some concrete manner. County of Lehigh, 507 Pa. at 277-278, 489 A.2d at 1329 .