Recent Developments

On December 22, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Final Rule of Election Procedures that will change procedures for private sector union representation elections, effective April 30, 2012. The Rule is aimed at simplifying election procedures in order to reduce opportunities for manipulation of the representation procedures that currently allow employers to gain unfair advantage and serve to discourage workers’ free choice.

Arbitrator Robert O'Brien has found that the Town of Scituate violated its contract with the Union by denying employees compensatory time on Christmas Eve Day, when Christmas fell on a Saturday. On Christmas Eve Day, Town Hall closed early, but the Employer did not provide compensatory time to cover the remainder of the normal work day.

An arbitrator has found that the City of Lawrence violated its contract with SEIU, Local 888 by laying off an employee when it reassigned virtually all of his duties to another employee. The Employer laid off the grievant in June 2010 when the CBA was in effect. Although the contract permitted layoffs for budgetary reasons, in July, just after the CBA expired, the grievant’s duties were assigned to another employee outside of the bargaining unit.

On January 12, 2012, Attorney Alfred Gordon obtained an arbitration decision overturning the termination of an employee of the state Department of Corrections (DOC) on behalf of SEIU, Local 509. The grievant, a 16-year employee, was terminated for, among other things, allegedly driving while intoxicated. Attorney Gordon successfully challenged the sufficiency of the DOC’s evidence and the Arbitrator overturned the termination, finding that the DOC relied primarily on hearsay evidence in its decision to terminate the grievant.

On January 3, Attorney Al Gordon obtained an arbitration decision overturning a human service agency’s decision to terminate a group care worker despite a substantiated finding of abuse by the Department of Children & Families (DCF). According to the Arbitrator:

Pyle Rome is pleased to announce the opening of our Western Massachusetts office at:

100 Main Street, 3rd Floor
Northampton, MA 01060
(413) 586-5097

With the opening of this new office, Pyle Rome becomes the only union-side labor firm with offices in the eastern and western parts of the state. We look forward to the opportunity to better serve our clients in the Pioneer Valley and Western Massachusetts and to grow and strengthen our connections with the labor movement across the Commonwealth.