Recent Developments

In a hard-fought arbitration case, USW Local 12012-4 won back the utility mark-out work that National Grid had allowed to be contracted out on the heels of the parties' last negotiations. Attorney Al Gordon O'Connell represented the Union in the case.

It's official - the National Labor Relations Board has certified SEIU Local 509 as the exclusive bargaining representative for part-time faculty at Brandeis University. Attorney Patrick Bryant advised Local 509 during this campaign, as he has advised every successful SEIU campaign in New England higher education faculty organizing, including: Bentley, Tufts, Northeastern, Lesley, Boston University, Champlain, St. Michaels, and Burlington.

The Supervisor of Records in the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office has agreed with Attorney Jillian Ryan that the Town of Falmouth must, per Public Records Law, release drafts of a consultant's report. In Falmouth, the Town commissioned a consultant to advise about consolidation of the Town's various public safety dispatch services. The Town's Attorney, D.M. Moschos, claimed that the drafts were exempt under the public records law, which protects documents part of a deliberative process from disclosure.

It is a basic principle of labor law that plain language in a collective bargaining agreement is the best evidence of the parties' intent. If, and only if that language is unclear or ambiguous does an arbitrator consider bargaining history or past practices.

Attorney Patrick Bryant, on behalf of Fall River Fire Fighters Local 1314, IAFF, challenged the City of Fall River's refusal to reinstate laidoff firefighters unless and until they successfully completed fitness and drug exams. The Department of Labor Relations issued a complaint on Local 1314's charge that these conditions constituted an unlawful change in practice, given that the City never placed these conditions on previous laidoff fire fighters.

On November 12, 2015, a Hearing Officer of the Mass. Department of Labor Relations ruled that the Chelsea School Committee violated the rights of the nurses and nurses' aides in the Chelsea Public Schools when it failed to recognize USW, Local 9427 as their representative and unilaterally changed their working conditions. The case was argued by attorney Al Gordon O'Connell, who convinced the Hearing Officer to grant the union judgment without the need for a hearing.

On November 10, 2015, the Vermont Employment Security Board upheld the right of striking FairPoint workers in Vermont to receive unemployment benefits for their four-month strike. In a case argued by Attorney Al Gordon O'Connell on behalf of the IBEW claimants, the Vermont unemployment agency affirmed the decision of an Administrative Law Judge that hundreds of striking union members were entitled to benefits because FairPoint failed to establish that the labor dispute led to a "substantial curtailment" of operations such that benefits should be denied.

The City of Boston Police Department violated state law, specifically Chapter 150E, when it refused the Boston Police Superior Officer Federation's request for a sexual harassment complaint against a member. That is what a hearing officer of the Department of Labor Relations ruled in a case prosecuted by Federation Attorney Jill Ryan.

The Hearing Officer ruled that the BPD violated its legal obligation to provide relevant information requested by a labor organization, even if the request extends to a sexual harassment complaint during an ongoing investigation.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), which enforces various federal anti-discrimination laws, interprets the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) to prohibit termination of employees who, for medical reasons, fail to return to work with a certain period of time. In fact, the EEOC sued corporate parent of Shaw's Supermarket for maintaining such a policy. The ADA requires to treat requests for reasonable accommodations by workers with serious medical conditions on an individual basis, rather by reference to blanket policies.

This past Monday, residents at the Town Meeting of Framingham, voted almost unanimously, to fund the modest wage increases awarded by an arbitration panel that included PFFM District Vice President Richard MacKinnon earlier this month. The vote caps a long battle by Attorney Leah Barrault and Local 1652, IAFF to stave off concessions demanded by the financially stable Town.