Labor – Prohibited practice – Entry into agreement

Listen to this article

Where the Professional Staff Association, CWA, Local 1333, AFL-CIO, has filed a prohibited practice charge against the city of Boston alleging that the city wrongfully entered into an agreement with AFSCME, Council 93, Local 1526, AFL-CIO, to recognize AFSCME as the representative of certain positions that are referenced in the recognition clause of a collective bargaining agreement between the PSA and the city, I dismiss the charge because I find no probable cause to believe that the city violated G.L.c. 150E.

"The [Labor Relations] Board has dismissed cases where the conflict between the parties concerned theoretical rather than actual disputes and where any remedy ordered would not affect existing rights. … The city eliminated the [relevant library] positions in 2002, and all parties agree that these positions do not currently exist. Consequently, even if the city intended the new language in the 2007 AFSCME agreement to change the parameters of the PSA bargaining unit, the case would not be ripe for adjudication in the absence of affected positions. Therefore, I do not find probable cause to believe that the city violated [G.L.c. 150E] in the manner alleged by the PSA, and I dismiss the charge."

In the Matter of: City of Boston/Boston Public Library and Professional Staff Association, CWA, Local 1333, AFL-CIO and AFSCME, Council 93, Local 1526, AFL-CIO (Lawyers Weekly No. 21-026-08) (6 pages) (Atwater, Investigator) (DLR) T. Martin Roach for the city; Indira Talwani, of Segal, Roitman & Coleman, for the Professional Staff Association; Jennifer Springer for AFSCME (Case No. MUP-08-5142) (May 21, 2008).