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City Solicitor responding to #210332 re: this Council's ability to modify or reject components of collective bargaining agreements that have reached an impasse and entered arbitration (pursuant to Ch. 589, Acts of 1987).
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To the Honorable City Council:
I am writing in response to Item #210332 in which you asked “how Chapter 589 of the Acts of 1987 "AN ACT RELATIVE TO DISPUTE RESOLUTION" may provide this Council with the ability to modify or reject components of collective bargaining agreements that reached an impasse and entered arbitration.”
It is my conclusion that the City Council has one opportunity to impact the JLMC process: the Council makes a determination regarding whether to fund either a mediated contract settlement or an arbitrator’s award. I will explain more background about the process in what follows.
Municipalities and unions representing police officers (and superior officers) and firefighters (and superior officers) can jointly or separately petition the Joint Labor Management Committee to assert jurisdiction over contract negotiations that have reached impasse. If the JLMC asserts jurisdiction over a dispute in successor contract negotiations, the municipality and the union are required to submit to the JLMC process. In brief, the process begins with an assessment by the JLMC of whether jurisdiction is appropriate given the length of negotiations and the demonstrated effort by the parties to reach an agreement. If the JLMC asserts jurisdiction, it requires the parties to participate in mediation with the assistance of JLMC staff members. Mediation sessions are confidential and off-the-record. If the parties reach an agreement during the mediation process, the parties execute an MOA, the union seeks ratification amongst its membership, and following ratification, the Administration seeks an appropriation from the City Council to fund the deal. Typically, an MOA would include language requiring the Administration to support the agreement and appropriation. If the City Council declines to fund a mediated agreement, the parties would return to mediation to continue bargaining.
If no agreement is reached during mediation, the mediators will certify that the parties are at an impasse and forward the dispute to binding arbitration. The JLMC certifies for arbitration the proposals of each party, which include the term of the contract the parties are seeking, the across the board financial proposals from each side, as well as each side’s proposals for up to 5 issues. The 5 issues must be proposals each side has made during the parties on-the-record negotiation sessions, and cannot be new items or only items that were discussed during off-the-record or mediation sessions. The arbitration panel consists of 1 neutral, 1 management representative and 1 union representative. Following a hearing, the panel issues an award. The Administration must submit the funding request to the City Council within 30 days of the award, and the Administration is statutorily compelled to support the funding request. If the City Council declines to fund the award, the award will cease to be binding on the parties and JLMC will remand the matter back to mediation for further bargaining.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss this matter further.
Francis X. Wright, Jr.
City Solicitor