Determining whether a provision in a collective bargaining agreement is subject to arbitration

Determining whether a provision in a collective bargaining agreement is subject to arbitration
Matter of Village of Johnson City v Johnson City Firefighters Assn., Local 921 IAFF, 2010 NY Slip Op 06034, decided on July 8, 2010, Appellate Division, Third Department

The collective bargaining agreement between the Johnson City Firefighters Association, Local 921 IAFF and the Village of Johnson City included a grievance procedure that provided that disputes "involving the interpretation or application of any provisions of [the CBA]" are subject to binding arbitration.”

Other provisions in the collective bargaining agreement provided that the Village [1] will not "lay-off any member of the bargaining unit" and [2] is not "required to 'back fill' hire additional members to meet staffing level of expired agreement."

When the Village Board voted to eliminate the then vacant position of Assistant Chief, Local 921 filed a grievance and ultimately served a demand for arbitration upon the Village and the Public Employment Relations Board.

The Village filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking to permanently stay the arbitration. Supreme Court holding that the grievance filed by the Local was subject to arbitration, denied the Village's application to stay arbitration, and granted the Union's cross claim to compel arbitration. The Village appealed the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The Appellate Division said that a two-part test is used to determine whether a grievance may be arbitrated: [1] Is there is any statutory, constitutional or public policy prohibition against arbitration of the grievance? and [2] Does the CBA indicate that the parties have agreed to arbitrate the dispute at issue?

Applying the first test, the Appellate Division said that contrary to the Village's claim that arbitration of the issue is barred, “Although public employers have the ‘undisputed management prerogative’ to eliminate civil service positions … ‘it is clear that a public employer is permitted to voluntarily agree to submit controversies over staff size or minimum staffing levels to arbitration.’"

Citing its decision in a recent dispute involving the same CBA, Matter of Johnson City Professional Firefighters Local 921 [Village of Johnson City], 72 AD3d 1235, in which it held that no conflict with Civil Service Law §80 or other statutory, decisional, or public policy prohibition barred arbitration of the Local's grievance against the Village's abolition of six firefighters' positions, the Appellate Division said that it found “no reason to conclude otherwise here.”

Turning to the second prong of the test, “did the parties have agreed to arbitrate the dispute at issue," the court said the decision turns on “whether the parties have so agreed is limited to determin[ing] whether there is a reasonable relationship between the subject matter of the dispute and the general subject matter of the CBA."

Pointing out that the elimination of the vacant title of Assistant Chief caused no firefighter to lose employment and that the Local “concedes that the clause in the CBA providing that the Village will ‘not lay-off any member of the bargaining unit’ is not implicated,” the Appellate Division said that it could not agree that there was any "reasonable relationship" between the parties' dispute and any provision of the CBA.

The court also rejected the Local’s theory that eliminating the Assistant Chief position could potentially violate the CBS's out-of-title work provision if the Village assigned a firefighter to carry out the Assistant Chief's duties, holding that such an argument “is entirely speculative on this record.”

In the words of the court: “The CBA requires arbitration of any grievance involving the interpretation or application of any of its provisions. The CBA does not refer, explicitly or implicitly, to the elimination of vacant positions; thus, resolution of the parties' dispute does not involve interpreting or applying any of its provisions, and no breach of the CBA has been effectively alleged. In such circumstances, even a broad clause like the one at issue here cannot be construed to require arbitration.”

Reversing Supreme Court’s granting the Local cross-petition demanding arbitration, the Appellate Divisions said that Village’s application to stay arbitration was improperly denied and granted its petition to stay arbitration.

The decision is posted on the Internet at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_06034.htm