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City of Cranston v. International Brotherhood of Police Officers2/11/2005
omatic 3% pension increase through June 5, 2003. The City sent correspondence to all pre-11/25/96 retirees, explaining the resulting change in their pension payment.
As a result of this repeal, the Union sought arbitration on behalf of Local 301. A hearing on the grievance filed by Local 301 was heard before Arbitrator Gary D. Altman ("Altman") on December 2, 2003. In his award, issued on February 13, 2004, Altman ruled as an initial matter that " he Union has standing to pursue the present grievance, since the Union under the terms of the agreement has the right to initiate grievances." In addition, Arbitrator Altman ruled that the grievance "is [substantively] arbitrable [,] as the grievance alleges a violation of a specific provision of the parties' Agreement." Finally, Arbitrator Altman sustained the Union's grievance, ruling that "the City violated Section 24(1) [of the CBA] when it repealed Ordinance 96-56." As a result, Altman ordered the City to "continue to provide the retiree benefits set forth in Ordinance 96-56" and to "make whole all former employees who were denied the benefits of the escalation clause by the action of the City Council when it repealed Ordinance 96-56."
The City proceeded to file a Complaint in the Nature of an Application pursuant to ยง 28-9-18 to Vacate and Stay Arbitrator Altman's Award as well as a Motion to Stay the implementation of the Altman Award until such time as this Court rules on the City's Complaint. On March 23, 2004, this Court entered an Order staying the implementation of the Altman Award pending its ruling on the merits of the City's appeal.
Local 1363
The City and the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1363, are parties to a collective bargaining agreement that commenced on July 1, 2001, and was to remain effective though June 30, 2004. The CBA contains the terms and conditions of employment of firefighters employed by the City, including the pension benefits to be provided to them upon retirement.
In addition to the CBA, the City has also codified in ordinances enacted by the City Council, the pension benefits to be granted to firefighters upon their retirement. After the passage of the Firefighter's Arbitration Act, the Union was certified as the exclusive representative of the uniformed and civilian employees of the City's fire department. At some point thereafter, the pension benefits to be paid to retiring firefighters as set forth in City ordinances were also incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the City and the Union.
At the arbitration hearing, Mayor Traficante testified regarding the history of the pension plan. He testified that City officials first began to recognize that the pension system had become fiscally unsound during the administration of the preceding Mayor, Edward DiPrete. By that time, Mayor Traficante recalled, the "pay-as-you-go" policy followed by the City with respect to its pension plan had caused the City's annual expenditures for the plan to escalate far beyond the annual appropriations made to finance the plan. As a result, the DiPrete administration established a trust to which the City would annually appropriate funds to be invested and used to offset the unfunded liability of the pension plan.
Mayor Traficante testified that by the early 1990's the continuing instability of the pension plan caused several of the City's bond rating agencies to warn that the City's bond rating would fall if no action was taken to address the unfunded pension liability. In response to that pressure, Mayor Traficante testified, the City requested that Local 1363 renegotiate the terms of the pension plan that was provided
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