Long story short I worked for a fire department for 5 years, just about 3 of which the union was without a new contract. The town and/or the union dragged their ass with starting up negotiations (with no help from COVID) and they just ratified a new contract this week, with retro pay owed for almost 3 years back for both salary and stipends. The problem is, I switched departments a few months ago and was told that I would still be owed retro pay due to the fact that it is for time that I was employed. However, right at the time to ratify the new contract, the town dumped in a clause stating they would not pay retro pay for anyone who was not currently on the payroll at the time of ratification, and left no room for negotiation from what I was told.

My question is, is this even legal? And do I have any recourse for this? This is money owed for time worked, and it's not my fault that nobody could get their act together to negotiate in a timely fashion.

To say I'm livid would be an understatement. We're talking thousands of dollars in lost money.

Would imagine you have a labor department that oversees these things in MA you could contact regarding the law.

If it's in the CBA, and that's what was voted on/ratified, then that's what they're contractually obligated to pay...NO more, NO less!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
If it's in the CBA, and that's what was voted on/ratified, then that's what they're contractually obligated to pay...NO more, NO less!

Pretty much this. I’m not a MA attorney, but I do have experience in this area and to the best of my knowledge, absent some MA-specific CBA related statute, nhracecraft is correct.

You’ll have to bitch at your union reps who signed off on it, but nothing they told you outside of the context of a binding agreement of some sort is likely at all to be… well… binding.

Standard disclaimer - consult a qualified MA labor law attorney.

-Rob

You were part of the compromise.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
If it's in the CBA, and that's what was voted on/ratified, then that's what they're contractually obligated to pay...NO more, NO less!

Yep, that's the way it looks to me. Your union represented your interests (yeah right) and they shafted people like you.

Thanks all. I kind of figured I'm SOL but I wanted to at least ask the question rather than just walk away and take it.

You are going to need a lawyer from your jurisdiction. This is not only labor law, but you will also need someone who knows about whether the same rules apply to the government.

I think you’re SOL Ryan……I know every time we had negotiations the municipality was not interested in any employee that had left …. Not currently working the firehouse…too bad.
I do grin every first of the month now as I collect my pension check after 28 years of service….they now pay me a hefty sum to NOT come to work! I put up with a lot of shit to get here but no more stress and lots of fishing! Hang tough Brother, it will be worth it at the end!