Does Failure to Fairly Represent a Member During Labor Negotiations Fall Within the Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Plrb ?

In Segilia v. Riverside School Service Personnel Association and Riverside School District, 106 Pa. Commw. 336, 526 A.2d 832 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1987), Segilia, a school cafeteria employee, had filed an action in the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County against her employer and union and alleged that the union failed to properly represent her because it failed to negotiate a wage increase throughout the course of two contracts, while other members of the bargaining unit had received wage increases. The common pleas court dismissed Segilia's complaint for lack of jurisdiction. Id. at 832. The common pleas court determined that Segilia's charges against the union constituted an unfair labor practice and was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the PLRB. Id. On appeal, this Court affirmed the common pleas court. This Court distinguished Ziccardi and stated: The case at hand is distinguishable from Ziccardi in that it does not involve a union's refusal to submit a grievance to arbitration but rather the union's alleged failure to fairly represent a member during labor negotiations. As the trial court correctly noted, this falls within Section 1201(b)(3) of PERA, [43 P.S. 1101.1201(b)(3)], which prohibits employee organizations from 'refusing to bargain collectively in good faith with a public employer.' Id. at 833.