Department of Labor Relations Issues Complaints Against Cities for Failure to Support Interest Arbitration Awards

In Massachusetts, the Joint Labor Management Committee appoints an interest arbitration panel to settle stalled contract negotiations between municipalities and public safety locals. Once the panel issues an award determining wages and other disputed terms and conditions of employment, a City is required to submit the award for funding to City Council within 30 days and to vigorously support the funding request. Thanks to Attorneys Leah Barrault and Al Gordon, the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations issued complaints against the Cities of Chelsea and Woburn for their respective failures to take adequate and steps to timely fund the awards.

In Chelsea, the City Manager told the Chelsea Fire Fighters Association Local 937, IAFF that the Union's unwillingness to extend the contract might affect his support of City Council funding the JLMC arbitration award. He later conditioned his support for funding by noting that it was compelled by state law. The City Manager also failed to support the award in communications with City Council, its members, and its committees.

In Woburn, the City Mayor failed to submit a funding request for the interest arbitration award involving Woburn Fire Fighters, Local 971 IAFF, within 30 days as required by law. He waited several months to request funding from the City Council.

The Department of Labor Relations issued a complaint against the City in both cases, alleging that their actions violated state collective bargaining law. The issuance of a complaint does not mean that the Cities have been found to violate state law. It means that the DLR believes the IAFF locals have put forward enough evidence to require an administrative hearing and these hearings may result in a determination that the Cities committed unfair labor practices. Attorneys Barrault and Gordon are confident that they will be able to establish that the Cities' actions in both cases were unlawful.

While the City Councils ultimately did the right thing by funding the awards, the locals are pursuing this case to vindicate the important principle that Cities have an obligation to timely support interest arbitration awards. A failure to do jeopardizes the integrity and purpose of the JLMC process. A victory in either case will significantly benefit all other public safety locals in Massachusetts because a union victory here should discourage other municipalities from committing these same unlawful acts.