Recent Developments

On June 10, 2016, the Vermont Supreme Court handed Attorney Al Gordon O'Connell another victory in the assault on a bargaining unit of the Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) by a rival union, the New England Police Benevolent Association (NEPBA). The Court upheld the decision of the Vermont Labor Relations Board that the smaller unit sought by NEPBA was inappropriate under state law.

One June 4, 2016, a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge ruled that Eastern Bus Company violated state law by failing to pay overtime to a group of school bus drivers. The case was argued by Attorney Ian Russell with Attorney James Hykel.

Attorney Leah Barrault persuaded an investigator of the Department of Labor Relations that probable cause existed to show the City of Worcester committed unfair labor practices when the City unilaterally changed the process to select the next Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief. Attorney Barrault represents Worcester Fire Fighters Local 1009, IAFF throughout this process.

On June 2, 2016, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the right of the fragrance and cosmetics employees at the Macy's store in Saugus, Massachusetts, to form their own bargaining unit to negotiate their terms of employment. The case was argued by Attorney Al Gordon O'Connell.

A collective bargaining agreement typically sets forth how much vacation employees earn and how they can use it. Thanks to union bargaining power, union-represented employees generally have a right to use vacation when they want, so long as the employer has sufficient coverage and more senior employees are not seeking to take time off at the same time. Here, the Commonwealth's Department of Children & Families denied a vacation request initially made one year in advance as a form of punishment. Her supervisor instructed her to file the request closer to the actual scheduled vacation.

The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB), the state agency that administers collective bargaining law for Massachusetts public employees, agreed with Attorney Jillian Ryan that the City of Haverhill unlawfully changed requirements for ethics training of fire fighters. The City required that fire fighters represented by

A neutral arbitrator agreed with Attorney James Hykel and
1199SEIU United Health Care Workers East that on-call employees of Tobey Hospital are entitled to be paid from the time they are paged to report to work.

The collective bargaining agreement negotiated by 1199SEIU and Tobey Hospital provides, "[A]ny worker called in to the Hospital to work for such on-call status shall be paid [1.5] times his/her regular hourly rate of pay for all such hours worked (but in no event less than two

Unions occasionally face the conundrum of discovering a great contractual benefit at the same time they discover that the benefit that has not been awarded consistently to members. Sometimes a consistent past practice against employees discourages the Union from enforcing it. This arbitration case showcases when the enforcement of previously-unenforced contract language can be successful. Attorney James Hykel, assisted by Attorney Leah Barrault, successfully represented the Haverhill Fire Fighters, Local 1011, IAFF here.

The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that, in certain circumstances, it is unconstitutional to scrap the pension of a public employee convicted of a crime. Attorneys Ian Russell and Patrick Bryant filed briefs on behalf of Massachusetts Coalition of Police, IUPA, AFL-CIO to support the right of police officers and public employees to retain earned pension benefits.

When a collective bargaining agreement has been violated, Arbitrators direct the employer to "make whole" the employees harmed. Most unions and employers can agree to the specific amount necessary to accomplish this result. In rare cases, the parties back to the arbitrator if they can't agree. This case involved an employer, City of Malden, not merely disputing the amount of the remedy. Rather, Malden refused to provide any remedy, even though previous arbitration awards established how to calculate damages in this very instance.