Attorney James Hykel convinced a neutral arbitrator to reinstate a per diem, or part-time nurse represented by Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, Local 5221, AFT. Attorney David Rome provided advice throughout the grievance process.
Here, the University of Vermont Medical Center (VMC) terminated the Grievant, an eight-year employee, because he failed to work the minimum number of hours required to maintain per diem employment.
In an unprecedented decision, a state arbitration panel has awarded a new hazardous duty stipend to all Waltham Fire Fighters represented by IAFF Local 866. The stipend is rolled into the base for purposes of overtime and retroactive to the beginning of the agreement, July 1, 2013.
Matt Reddy, a full-time Lynn fire fighter and Direct Vice President of Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, served as the labor representative to the three-person panel. All three panel members of the panel, including the management representative, approved the award of a hazardous duty stipend.
In one of the first local elections held under the NLRB’s new rules, about 30 in-patient physical therapists at Boston Medical Center voted overwhelmingly to join 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and an existing unit of more than 1,500 BMC health care employees. Attorney David Rome helped Massachusetts chapter of 1199SEIU navigate the new NLRB procedures.
A neutral arbitrator agreed with Attorney Jillian Ryan and UFCW Local 328 that a credit union lacked just cause to terminate a teller for violating company policy. It was undisputed that the teller failed to involve a supervisor in resolving a dispute about amount of money deposited by a client. The parties further agreed that the teller's mistake caused her till to be off by $900. The parties disputed whether termination was the appropriate penalty.
An administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board has agreed that the employee handbook of retail titan Macy's violates federal labor law. Attorneys Alfred Gordon O'Connell and Jillian Ryan filed a brief in support of the unfair labor practice charge filed by Pyle Rome Ehrenberg, PC client UFCW Local 1445. They persuaded the judge to order Macy's to notify all of its employees across the country that it has changed its unlawful rules and to post a notice in all its U.S.
Attorney Tod Cochran persuaded an arbitrator that warehouse employees represented by
UFCW Local 791 and who are forced to stay and work after midnight on Easter Sunday are entitled to double time pay under the parties’ collective bargaining agreement.
A neutral arbitrator agreed with Attorney Ian Russell that Bridgewell, Inc. lacked just cause to terminate a low-wage driver for a first-time offense of improper cell phone use. SEIU Local 509 negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that provides for just cause protections against employe discipline. Just cause is widely recognized to require that an employer apply progressive discipline, meaning that discipline should follow an incremental process (counseling, then warning, then suspension) before imposing termination.
Attorney Patrick Bryant persuaded a neutral arbitrator that
SEIU Local 509 has a right to protect a probationary teacher from unlawful discrimination. Many collective bargaining agreements guarantee that permanent employees are protected from discipline or discharge that is not supported by "just cause." At the same time, many of these same agreements provide no such guarantee for probationary employees.
Following an investigation, the Department of Labor Relations today issued a complaint alleging that the Town of Scituate violated its legal obligations to Scituate Firefighters Union, Local 1464 by unilaterally adding components to Lieutenant promotional process. Attorney Patrick Bryant represented Local 1464 during the DLR investigation.
Attorney Tod Cochran persuaded an arbitrator that Shaw's transfer of maintenance work to outside contractors violated the collective bargaining agreement with UFCW Local 791. The Arbitrator rejected the grocer's contention that the transfer was an “elimination of a function” or a managerial prerogative permitted by the contract. He instead agreed that the wholesale transfer was a layoff for purposes of the contractual requirement that Shaw's demonstrate a lack of work before pursuing a layoff.
