YOUNGSTOWN — The firefighters union has filed a lawsuit contending Youngstown officials refused to engage in arbitration after requiring its members who have workplace exposure to COVID-19 to quarantine and use sick time — even if they aren’t sick or show any signs of illness.

It’s the latest in a long list of disputes the union has with the city.

The union’s lawsuit states after the grievance was rejected by city officials, it sought to go to binding arbitration to resolve the issue. Daniel P. Dascenzo, city deputy law director who heard the grievance, on March 10 wrote in the denial that the union could refer to its contract “regarding its respective right to advance this matter to step 4 (arbitration) if it so chooses.”

The lawsuit filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court states the union informed the city on April 4 that it would go to arbitration and Mitchell Goldberg of Northfield Center was selected May 9 as the arbitrator without the city raising any objections to the process moving forward. A week later, Goldberg scheduled the hearing for Aug. 4 and 5.

Dascenzo told the union on May 16 that arbitration “of this grievance is going to be challenged” and that an outside law firm was going to handle it for the city, according to the lawsuit.

“To date, the city has not explained its arbitrability objection to the union,” the lawsuit reads.

The union’s lawsuit was filed by Brooks Boron, an attorney with Muskovitz and Lemmerbrock, a Cleveland law firm.

It added: “The city has refused to schedule an arbitrator hearing concerning” the grievance even though the union contract requires “all disputes concerning the terms of the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) be resolved through final and binding arbitration.”

COVID ISSUES

City Law Director Jeff Limbian said: “The union is once again attempting to gain something in arbitration that they chose not to negotiate during contract discussions, they consciously chose not to attain or even discuss through negotiations. The union signed the contract well after COVID issues existed.”

Limbian said the union “certainly must know this is a matter for the (Ohio) Industrial Commission under workers’ compensation law. The union must realize they are unlikely to be successful there so they are taking an end run around workers’ compensation law and an end run around a contract the union negotiated, agreed to and signed.”

Judge John M. Durkin was assigned to the case.

Over the past three-and-a-half years, the union has filed nearly 45 grievances and three unfair labor practices against the city.

An existing grievance by the union says fire Chief Barry Finley improperly and arbitrarily removed Battalion Chief Charlie Smith from his commander position in retaliation for his past activities as union president. Finley denies the decision was made for that reason.

OTHER ISSUES

Other issues include the 7th District Court of Appeals in December agreeing with the union and the State Employment Relations Board that the city illegally retaliated against the fire union when it chose to provide upgrades to the department’s radio equipment and then decided to save the money from that expense by eliminating three battalion chief positions through attrition.

The appeals court also upheld a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court decision that failing to promote a captain to a vacant battalion chief’s position was contempt of court.

City council in February agreed to restore the three positions, two of which were vacant. One spot was filled while the other remains empty as it’s the subject of separate litigation.

The administration has been closing fire stations since June 2020 on a rotating basis because the fire department’s overtime costs are too high. The union has objected, saying the decision is dangerous and the city not filling positions caused the overtime issue.

The department is also down 17 firefighters in the past four years.

City council approved a three-year contract Oct. 20 with the firefighters union that increases starting pay by 46 percent. The city plans to hire 10 firefighters this year.

Those at the top of the pay scale got 2 percent raises this year and will get a 2.5 percent raise, effective Jan. 1, 2023.

Of the 116 members of the fire union, only 30 are below the top of the pay scale and 10 more get there by Jan. 1, 2023.

The city also closed fire stations on a rotating basis for about three months in 2018 because of overtime costs.

The union issued a no-confidence vote against Finley in December 2019 after expressing concern about his leadership, and the city closed Fire Station No. 7 on the North Side that same month over the objections of the union.

dskolnick@vindy.com