Excerpts from the Chicago Tribune's website caught my attention today, detailing a recent development involving Elgin firefighters. The firefighters' union, Local 439, has filed a motion with the Circuit Court of Cook County Chancery Division seeking to overturn an arbitration decision made back in March. This ruling allowed Elgin to maintain reduced minimum staffing levels on fire shifts—dropping from 36 to 34 personnel—that were implemented way back in January 2012.
In December 2011, the city approached the union, requesting them to keep the same agreement that permitted the lower staffing levels, which had initially been agreed upon in February 2010. However, the union declined to continue with this arrangement. In response, the union filed a grievance in October 2013, which eventually moved into arbitration in December of the same year. Arbitrator Edwin Benn conducted several hearings throughout 2014, ultimately issuing a ruling in favor of the city in March this year.
The union’s current motion argues that Benn showed bias or misconduct during the proceedings, affecting the union's rights. They point out that Benn did not make credibility determinations, declared the variance agreement language ambiguous but later deemed it unambiguous in his final award. Additionally, they claim Benn prematurely concluded that the city didn’t intend to set minimum staffing levels after the variance agreement expired and failed to consider all relevant evidence. Furthermore, the union asserts that Benn exceeded his authority by essentially rewriting parts of the agreement and variance agreement, concluding that the city could independently adjust minimum staffing levels.
Describing Benn’s decision as going against public policy, arbitrary, and capricious, the motion emphasizes that the award didn’t align with the spirit of the contract. It claims Benn altered, ignored, or added elements to the original agreements, giving the city unilateral control over staffing decisions.
Currently, Elgin firefighters have been operating without a new contract since early 2014. Union President and Elgin Fire Captain Vince Rychtanek mentioned that he anticipates the contract issue will be brought before another arbitrator this fall, with staffing levels likely remaining a contentious topic.
Thanks for sharing this, Dan. It’s quite a complicated situation, and I hope both sides can come to a resolution soon.
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