In re Clarification of an Appropriate Unit

I agree with the majority’s statement that the Public Employment Labor Relations Act does not expressly prohibit a confidential supervisory employee from being included in the same bargaining unit with noneonfiden-tial supervisory employees. But I think that is where the analysis begins, not where it ends.

A confidential employee is defined by statute as an employee who has access to information used by the public employer in negotiating or actively participates in negotiations on behalf of the employer. Minn.Stat. § 179A03, subd. 4(1), (2) (1994). Supervisory employees include all employees…