In Springfield School Committee, 44 MLC 129 (February 16, 2018), a bargaining unit member working under a voluntary resignation agreement that restricted her to working in the reference library and warned her she would be dismissed for insubordination, charged the Committee with interfering with her right to seek mutual aid and protection from the Union when the Principal further [...]
Both employers and unions are waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The issue in the case is whether public sector unions can compel workers who have declined to become members to pay them an “agency fee” that covers the union’s activities other than political action. The Court’s decision, which is expected this [...]
In Chadwick v. Duxbury Public Schools, 475 Mass. 645 (2016), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) declined to recognize the existence of a “union member-union” privilege within M.G.L. c. 150E (collective bargaining statute), and declined to create such privilege under common law. While conceding that a union member-union privilege has never been recognized in Massachusetts, [...]
Union Waived Right to Bargain Over Changes To Position Hours When the defense is that the Union waived the right to bargain over a matter, it almost always proves futile because an Employer carries the difficult burden of proving that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) “clearly, unequivocally and specifically authorizes its actions.” City of Springfield, [...]
A Firefighters union proposes a new benefit, night differential, at 2% the first year, then 3% the second year, and 4% the third year of a 3-year contract (the “differential” is to be paid for all hours, daytime too). When the case heads to arbitration, the Union submits a proposal for a 9% night differential [...]