Recent Developments

Boston Medical Center issued a dress code for employees but deliberately looked the other way when employees did not adhere to it. Instead of enforcing its dress code, BMC decided to order employees to wear a uniform. Attorney David Rome persuaded an independent and neutral Arbitrator that this new policy violated BMC's collective bargaining agreement with 1199SEIU United Health Care Workers East.

The National Labor Relations Board has rejected a bid by Lawrence-employer CLASS, Inc to overturn the will of workers who voted last Spring for representation by SEIU Local 509. Attorneys Patrick Bryant and Katherine Shea represent Local 509 in all aspects of litigation involving CLASS, Inc.

After the Department of Labor Relations issued a two-count complaint against the Town of Athol for its conduct toward the Ayer Fire Fighters Association Local 1751, IAFF, the Town moved to dismiss. Attorney Patrick Bryant represents the Union.

Attorney Patrick Bryant persuaded the Department of Labor Relations to issue a complaint that the Town of Ayer violated its duty to bargain in good faith when the Town withdrew support for items that it proposed during negotiations and when a Town bargaining team member voted against a proposed agreement at a Board meeting.

Today, the National Labor Relations Board proposed to reduce the bureaucracy and delay associated with elections by employees about whether can be represented by a union. Such changes are long overdue, as employers frequently use litigation tactics and delay to prevent employees from making free and informed choices about union representation. Naturally, the management bar will object to changes that benefit workers and workplace rights.

The NLRB's announcement can be found by clicking on the link below or downloading the document below.

Following an investigation lasting several months, the Boston office of the National Labor Relations Board has charged CLASS, Inc. of Lawrence, MA with nearly two dozen violations of federal labor law. Attorneys Patrick N. Bryant and Kate Shea represented SEIU Local 509, which was elected in May 2013 by a majority of certain CLASS employees to help them improve their working conditions.

The City of Medford Fire Department had a longstanding practice of filling Deputy Chief vacancies by offering it first to the senior captain assigned to the Deputy's group, so long as another Deputy Chief did not accept the shift first. In December 2011, the Chief created an Administrative Captain to fill these Deputy Chief vacancies, which immediately denied all other captains the opportunity to earn out of grade pay.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court became the second court to affirm that a teacher, even if unlicensed, remains an employee with collective bargaining and statutory rights unless and until terminated pursuant to the Education Reform Act. Attorney Patrick Bryant, prior to joining Pyle Rome Ehrenberg, PC, successfully represented the Marshfield Education Association and its member at arbitration. John Becker of Sandulli Grace, PC, has successfully defended the arbitration victory in court.

The Town of Rockland's attorneys have fought mightily to avoid the statutory process designed to ensure fair collective bargaining for police and fire fighters. Union Attorneys Leah Barrault and Patrick Bryant have so far succeeded in forcing the Town to honor its statutory bargaining obligations to Rockland Fire Fighters IAFF Local 1602. In their latest victory, the Superior Court of Suffolk County rejected the Town's "Emergency Motion" to prevent a scheduled interest arbitration hearing from proceeding.

Attorney David Rome successfully persuaded an arbitrator that an employer could not discipline, let alone terminate, employees for violating a rule that the employer never told them about and never enforced. The Arbitrator ordered the employer to reinstate two Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA's), including one with 25 years of experience, and pay them wages lost as a result of the termination, minus interim earnings and unemployment compensation.