The Firm has successfully negotiated collective bargaining agreements, defended prohibited practice complaints, grievance proceedings, and court actions, provided policy development and training and ongoing labor and employment advice to the many municipal governments it represents.
Recently, we worked with a Housing Authority that had been given Troubled Agency status by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In preparing for contract negotiations with the Agency's three unions, numerous cost-saving proposals were developed with the goal of achieving significant savings. However, we then learned that the binding interest arbitration proceedings had already commenced under the prior administration and that the Agency had not submitted any proposals during negotiations. We filed proposals and petitioned the State Board of Labor Relations for a ruling on their admissibility. After several conferences and briefs on behalf of the Agency, the unions agreed to enter back into negotiations. Shortly thereafter, the parties settled all contracts with wage freezes for one year and reductions in benefits resulting in close to $1 million dollars in savings for the Agency.
