American Federation of Municipal Employees, District Council 33, Local 159 v. Commonwealth

Opinion by

Judge Barry,

This case concerns the union representation of deputy sheriffs in the Philadelphia County Sheriffs office. The deputy sheriffs had been represented by Appellant, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), for several years prior to 1984. In that year a representation election was conducted by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) in which the deputy sheriffs overwhelmingly chose the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) as their collective bargaining representative. AFSCME before the election had filed two charges of unfair labor…