Recent Developments

Boston University adjunct professors voted to form their union by an overwhelming 2-to-1 margin, casting ballots to join Faculty Forward – a project of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509. Pyle Rome Ehrenberg, PC Attorneys Patrick Bryant, Kate Shea David Rome provided legal advice to the organizing effort.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has long treated police officer and fire fighters differently from other public employees in terms of where they may live. For decades, state law has forced police officers and fire fighters to live within 15 miles of their employer. Police officers and fire fighters who work in civil service communities -- which include all Massachusetts Cities and many towns -- arguably faced even tighter restrictions. Civil service police and fire arguably must live within 10 miles of their employer and also within the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board
agreed with Attorneys Kate Shea and James Hykel that a SEIU Local 509 member must be made whole for a three-day suspension issued in violation of state law.

A neutral arbitrator has ruled that City of Waltham Fire Chief acted arbitrarily in transferring a fire fighter from his preferred station, based purely upon a "no trespass" notice issued by citizen against the fire fighter. Attorney Patrick Bryant represented Waltham Fire Fighters, Local 866, IAFF.

Here, next-door neighbors of a veteran Fire Fighter had a long-running complaint about the fire fighter's house. Several years ago, they completed a No Trespass notice at the Waltham Police Department. This notice never resulted in restrictions on where or how he could work as a Fire Fighter.

A neutral arbitrator has determined that the Town of Bourne lacked just cause to issue a two-shift suspension of a fire fighter for taking a moment to assist his wife with a medical test in a fire station bathroom. Attorney Patrick Bryant represented Local 1717, IAFF at the hearing.

A hearing officer of the Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations has determined that the Town of Athol violated state labor law when it refused to provide information requested by the Permanent Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1751 IAFF. Attorney Patrick Bryant represented Local 1751. The information concerned a complaint by a citizen about the conduct of a probationary fire fighter. Public employers have an obligation to provide information that is relevant for a union to perform its role as bargaining agent of employees.

The National Labor Relations Act entitles most employees to discuss wages with their co-workers. This law applies to settings where a union represents employees, where employees are seeking to form a union, or where no one is even discussing or desiring a union.

In the attached case, an employee procured a raise above schedule, but was told to not discuss the wage with co-workers. The Employer believed he did and fired him.

The National Labor Relations Act generally entitles most private-sector workers to join forces with co-workers about workplace conditions. The NLRA protects the right to organize and the right to communicate about organizing. The National Labor Relations Board once held that the NLRA “necessarily encompasses the right effectively to communicate with one another regarding self-organization at the jobsite."

Employees represented by a union in the private sector generally have a right to have their union accompany them to a disciplinary interview. This is known in labor law as a "Weingarten" right, after a famous case of same name before the National Labor Relations Board. This Weingarten right means that certain employers must respect an employee's request for assistance from their union. The employer cannot order the employee to speak without a union representative or discipline the employee for invoking this right.

Attorney Patrick Bryant persuaded an arbitrator that an employee represented by 1199SEIU-Massachusetts is entitled to shift differential on the accrued vacation leave she received after retirement.