Lancaster County v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board

I respectfully dissent, as I find maintenance mechanics do not qualify as prison guards. As the majority points out, the term “guards at prisons” is not defined under any section of the Public Employe Relations Act, 43 P.S. §§ 1101.101 et seq., and, as a clear and unambiguous term, it must be construed according to its “common and approved usage[.]” See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1903(a); see also id., § 1921(b). I agree with the majority’s determination that, by using the plain language “guards at prisons,” the legislature intended a meaning more expansive than traditional notions of uniformed correctional…