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City of Cranston v. International Brotherhood of Police Officers2/11/2005
year after Ordinance 96-56 was enacted, each year (until its repeal) he received the annual escalator payment provided for in the ordinance, including the minimum 3% escalation in several years in which active police officers received a salary increase of less than 3%.
Although the collective bargaining agreement in effect when Ordinance 95-56 was passed was set to expire several months thereafter, the parties were unable to reach agreement on a new contract. As a result, the parties submitted to interest arbitration, as prescribed by Rhode Island law. Prior to the conclusion of the interest arbitration process, however, the parties again commenced negotiations and they ultimately agreed upon the terms of a contract for the period from 1997-1999, as well as a collective bargaining agreement to cover the period from 1999-2002. Steven Antonucci ("Antonucci"), the Master-at-Arms of the Union at the time and a member of the negotiating team, testified at the arbitration hearing that both of these contracts were then executed by the parties on the same day, July 20, 2000.
Antonucci noted that both contracts executed on July 20, 2000 also incorporated by reference a "memorandum of understanding" that was executed by both parties on that date, which listed all of the pension benefits to which retiring police officers were entitled ("Memorandum of Understanding"). The Memorandum of Understanding, Antonucci testified, contained essentially all of the benefits contained in Ordinance 95-56, as well as a few additional pension provisions that had been provided for in the 1994-1997 collective bargaining agreement, but removed from the subsequent agreement. Antonucci testified that he was uncertain whether the Memorandum of Understanding was ratified by the City, but he knew that the 1997-1999 and 1999-2002 contracts had been ratified. The Memorandum of Understanding has also been incorporated by reference into the CBA.
In January 2003 a new administration took over in Cranston, led by Mayor Stephen P. Laffey. Also at that time, several new City Councilors were elected, which significantly changed the composition of that body. Shortly thereafter, the City Council, in concert with the administration, began the process of revising Ordinance 95-56. As a result of that process, the City Council enacted Ordinance 03-32 on June 2, 2003, which repealed Ordinance 95-56 and provided for revised benefits and other terms of retirement. Significantly, Ordinance 03-32 contained no reference to the pension benefits contained in the Memorandum of Understanding. On June 5, 2003, Ordinance 03-32 became effective and Ordinance 96-56 was officially repealed.
Also on June 5, 2003, the Union filed a grievance on behalf of Sergeant Russell Henry, an active police officer and the Union business agent, over the repeal of Ordinance 96-56. The City denied the grievance and the Union subsequently filed a demand for arbitration of the dispute on June 18, 2003.
At the close of the fiscal year on June 30, 2003, former police officers who had retired pursuant to the terms contained in Ordinance 96-56 and/or the Memorandum of Understanding (that is, on or after November 25, 1996) were entitled to receive an automatic pension increase of 3%. The City made this payment to all such individuals. In addition, former officers who had retired prior to the effective date of the Memorandum of Understanding and/or Ordinance 96-56 ("pre-11/25/96 retirees") had been entitled, pursuant to the terms of that ordinance, to receive the pension benefits contained therein, during the time period when that ordinance had been in effect (i.e. through June 5, 2003). Therefore, the City paid all pre-11/25/96 retirees the aut
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