Advocates for Labor and Progressive Institutions

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Kentucky Circuit Court, Siding with AFSCME Local 4011, Upholds Collective Bargaining Agreement with Jefferson County Board of Education

March 4, 2014

On March 4, 2014, Local 4011 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, along with the Jefferson County Board of Education and its Superintendent, prevailed in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Kentucky, rebuffing a challenge, funded by the National Right to Work Foundation, to a collective bargaining agreement between Local 4011 and the Board of Education covering the Board’s non-teaching employees.

Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of Class Certification in Michigan Home-Based Child-Care Case

May 2013

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of AFSCME Council 25, United Auto Workers, and Child Care Providers Together Michigan, affirming a district court decision that rejected an attempt by the National Right to Work Foundation to certify a class action on behalf of some 40,000 Michigan home-based child-care providers.  Schlaud v. Snyder, ___ F.3d ___, 2013 WL 2221589 (6th Cir. May 22, 2013). 

Arbitration Board Integrates United and Continental Pilots’ Seniority Lists

September 2013

In the culmination to a multi-year process, a three-member arbitration board entered an Award integrating the seniority lists of pilots represented by the United Air Lines and Continental Airlines Master Executive Councils (“MECs”) of the Air Line Pilots Association (“ALPA”). 

Ninth Circuit Affirms $1.57 Million Verdict In Favor of SEIU and SEIU-UHW

March 2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in its entirety a jury verdict in favor of SEIU and one of its largest local unions, SEIU – United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), against the former leaders of SEIU-UHW and a rival union created by those former leaders. 

National Postal Mail Handlers 2011 Contract Resolved Through Interest Arbitration

February 19, 2013

On February 19, 2013, the three-member arbitration panel established to determine the terms of the 2011 National Agreement between the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the U.S. Postal Service released its Award. The Award fully protects the jobs and careers and living standards of all 42,000 career mail handlers now employed by the Postal Service.  After a two-year wage freeze, it restores, starting in November 2013 and continuing through May 2016, the historic pattern of annual general wage increases and semi-annual cost-of-living adjustments for all current mail handlers.  Attorneys from Bredhoff & Kaiser assisted with the contract negotiations and presented the Union’s case in the interest arbitration.

Sixth Circuit Affirms Decision Prohibiting Reduction of Retiree Prescription Drug Benefits

December 2012

In a decision affecting more than 30,000 retirees of Navistar International Corporation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio that Navistar improperly shifted the retirees’ prescription drug coverage from the plan provided under a 1993 consent decree to a Medicare Part D Plan that covered fewer drugs at substantially greater cost to the retirees.

District Court Dismisses RICO Suit Against AFL-CIO Building Trades Department

December 2012

The Building Trades Department of the AFL-CIO and several union officials have succeeded in obtaining a complete dismissal, on the merits, of all claims in a suit filed against them in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

First Circuit Enjoins Restrictions on Political Activity by Puerto Rico Unions

October 2012

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and its affiliates, prevailed in their legal challenge to legislation that purported to restrict their right to engage in spending in connection with the November 2012 election. 

Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 35, Prevails in Maryland Court of Appeals

August 2012

The Maryland Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, recently upheld the right of Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 35, to grieve the County’s unilateral rejection of a twenty-year practice allowing Lodge 35’s trainee shop stewards to observe officer interrogations for training purposes.