Opinion ID: 2065544
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The Terms of the Last Ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement

Text: At the hearing on the merits, plaintiffs presented two possible sources for determining their proper COLA percentage: the terms of their last ratified CBAs or Ordinance 1991-5, both of which provide plaintiffs with a 5 percent compounded COLA upon retirement. The plaintiffs advance two arguments in support of their contention that the terms of their last ratified CBAs should govern. First, plaintiffs draw our attention to the SLRB's decision in Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board and Warwick School Committee, No. ULP-4647 (RISLRB Nov. 10, 1992) ( Warwick School Committee ), and argue that this Court should conclude that the terms of an expired CBA control, pending successful negotiation of a new agreement. We disagree because such a determination is within the sole purview of the SLRB. We do not deem the SLRB's decision in Warwick School Committee persuasive for a number of reasons. In Warwick School Committee v. Warwick Teachers' Union, Local No. 915, 613 A.2d 1273, 1274 (R.I. 1992) ( Warwick Teachers' Union ), a dispute arose between the City of Warwick and a union, which were actively engaged in contract negotiations. We held, in relevant part, that when a union contends that an expired agreement's terms should apply until a new agreement is reached, the appropriate remedy is to file an unfair labor practice complaint with the SLRB. Warwick Teachers' Union, 613 A.2d at 1276. Pursuant to our decision, the union filed a petition before the SLRB, which determined that the terms of the expired CBA were binding upon the parties until a subsequent agreement was reached. Warwick School Committee, ULP-4647 at 18. While we agree that the SLRB's decision in Warwick School Committee provides some insight into how similar matters will be handled by the SLRB in the future, we do not agree that it provides grounds for this Court to stand in the place of the SLRB to make such a determination. Therefore, pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 28-9.3-4, we conclude that the SLRB, and not this Court, is the proper tribunal to decide whether the terms of an expired agreement are controlling when a dispute arises between the parties to a contract, pending the negotiation of a new agreement. See Warwick Teachers' Union, 613 A.2d at 1276. The plaintiffs also contend that § 28-9.1-17 and G.L.1956 § 28-9.2-17, parallel provisions in the Municipal Police Arbitration Act (MPAA) and the FFAA, which latter enactments provide that: [a]ll contractual provisions contained in a collective bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall continue in the following collective bargaining agreement unless either the bargaining agent or the corporate authority shall, in writing, within the thirty (30) day period referred to in [§§ 28-9.1-17 and 28-9.2-17], propose a change in any contractual [provision or provisions]. The plaintiffs claim that this language supports that the COLA provisions in effect in the last ratified CBAs continued in force at the time plaintiffs retired. We disagree. It is undisputed that the 1993-95 police CBA and the 1992-95 fire CBA expired before plaintiffs' retirement dates, that no valid CBAs existed when plaintiffs retired, and that the terms of the next ratified fire and police CBAs were effectuated after plaintiffs retired. There is no authority that allows us to take the terms of an expired CBA and graft them onto a nonexistent CBA. Simply because uncontested terms would continue in the next CBA does not mean that they fill a gap between CBAs, especially when the gap covers a period of more than one year. Thus, §§ 28-9.1-17 and 28-9.2-17 do not establish that the COLA benefit provided in plaintiffs' last ratified CBAs continued at the time plaintiffs retired. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the terms of plaintiffs' last ratified CBAs cannot be the source of plaintiffs' COLA benefits.