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City of Cranston v. International Brotherhood of Police Officers2/11/2005
re, "the statutory authority to vacate an arbitration award where the arbitrators exceeded their powers does not authorize a judicial re-examination of the relevant contractual provisions. State, Dep't of Mental Health, Retardation, and Hosps. v. R.I. Council 94, A.F.S.C.M.E., AFL-CIO, 692 A.2d 318, 323 n.11 (R.I. 1997) (internal quotations omitted).
ARBITRABILITY
The City urges this Court to overturn the arbitrators' awards on the basis that the arbitrators failed to adhere to the language of the applicable collective bargaining agreements. In support of its position, the City directs the Court's attention to the first section in each of the relevant collective bargaining agreements. Section 1 of the Police Officers' CBA provides as follows:
Section 1 - Recognition
The City hereby recognizes and acknowledges the
I.B.P.O. as the sole and exclusive bargaining representative for all full-time police officers, up to and including police officers holding the rank of Captain for purposes of collective bargaining and entering into agreements relative to wages, rates of pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.
The words 'member', and 'member of the bargaining unit', 'employee', 'officer', 'patrol officer', 'personnel', and/or 'police officer' (or plurals thereof) when used in this Agreement shall mean all of the officers described in the preceding paragraph. Those officers holding the positions or ranks of Chief of Police or Major effective July 1, 2000 will be excluded as a member of the bargaining unit.
Similarly, Section 1 of the Fire Fighters' CBA provides as follows:
Section 1 -- Recognition
The City of Cranston recognizes Local 1363 International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO as the exclusive bargaining agent for all uniformed employees and all full-time civilian employees of the Cranston Fire Department including the Assistant Chief, Deputy Chiefs, City Fire Marshal, Superintendent of Fire Alarms and Director of Emergency Medical Service for the purpose of collective bargaining relative to wages, salaries, hours and working conditions. . . . The rights of the City of Cranston and employees shall be respected and the provisions of this Agreement shall be observed for the orderly settlement of all questions.
According to the City, the arbitration awards ignore the plain language of the aforementioned sections of the CBAs, which limit membership to "full time" employees. The City contends that because the repeal of Ordinance 96-56 and Ordinance 96-54 only affected employees who retired prior to November 1996 and before the ordinances were enacted, the repeal of the ordinances is consistent with the terms of the collective bargaining agreements. Accordingly, the City maintains that the Unions have no standing to represent retirees as a result of an alleged violation of the collective bargaining agreements, when the pertinent provisions in the collective bargaining agreements were executed after the individuals had already retired from their employment with the City.
In reaching a decision on this matter, this Court is guided by both federal and state law addressing parties' bargaining rights in collective bargaining agreements regarding employment. In Allied Chemical & Alkali Workers of America, Local Union No. 1 v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., 404 U.S. 157, 166, 92 S.Ct. 383, 391, 30 L.Ed. 2d 341, 350 (1971), the United States Supreme Court held that the collective-bargaining obligation extends only to the terms and conditions of employment and that the term "employees" does not include retirees under the National Labor Relations Act. The Court reason
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