YOUNGSTOWN — City officials have filed an appeal to a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge’s decision ordering the city to engage in binding arbitration with its firefighters union over a grievance about promotions and out-of-rank pay.

The city filed the appeal with the 7th District Court of Appeals to Judge Maureen Sweeney’s June 30 decision in favor of the union that the grievance be heard by an arbitrator.

The city had argued that the firefighters contract requires the union to file grievances within two weeks of an occurrence, and it waited several months to do so — thus making the request invalid.

The union argued that the issue is still ongoing and the arbitration request is timely and proper.

Sweeney sided with the union, writing: “Any analysis and determination of timeliness or alleged continuing contractual violations is so potentially interwined with the factual merits of the dispute that only the arbitrator has jurisdiction to issue a decision on procedural arbitrability disputes.”

Sweeney also ordered the city to pay the union’s court costs and attorney fees associated with the complaint to compel.

The union has filed a motion with Sweeney requesting a hearing or for her to establish a court briefing schedule to determine the attorney fees owed by the city.

When Sweeney ruled in favor of the firefighters union, city Law Director Jeff Limbian said: “The administration, through the law department, is very concerned that the union inappropriately sidestepped the contractual obligations and the court, the city would argue, may have overstepped its authority or misapplied the law in this particular decision.”

Sweeney wrote that the union’s collective bargaining agreement states that “the grievance and arbitration procedure is the sole method agreed upon by the parties to settle disputes concerning the interpretation, application and administration of the terms of the” contract.

LATEST ARGUMENT

This issue is the latest in a series of arguments between the two sides on battalion chief positions.

The 7th District Court of Appeals in December 2021 agreed with the union and the State Employment Relations Board that the city illegally retaliated against the fire union when it agreed 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 in September 2019.

The appeals court also upheld a common pleas court decision that failing to promote a captain, Chad Manchester, to a vacant battalion chief’s position was contempt of court.

City council in February 2022 voted to restore the three positions, two of which were vacant, to comply with the court.

The city promoted Manchester from captain to battalion chief in March 2022.

But it wasn’t until this past February that the city promoted Tim Frease from captain to battalion chief. Sil Caggiano retired in June 2021 as a battalion chief.

Also, Tommy Gibbs was promoted from lieutenant to captain to fill Frease’s old spot, and Josh McHenry was promoted from firefighter to lieutenant.

The city administration says a position isn’t vacant until Mayor Jamael Tito Brown determines that to be the case, because a civil service test has to be conducted and a candidate selected. A test was held in November.

During the time between Caggiano’s retirement and the appointments, the union contends its members should have been paid for working out of rank and deserve back pay. No one actually worked out of rank, but the union says a battalion chief position should have been established shortly after Caggiano retired that would have resulted in promotions of lower-ranked firefighters so its members are entitled to the additional pay.

About a dozen union members are owed about $100,000, according to the union’s lawsuit.

Because back pay wasn’t granted and the promotion wasn’t timely, the union filed a grievance Aug. 4.

The city denied the grievance Aug. 8 on the claim it was untimely and without addressing its merits.

The union responded Aug. 25 stating the grievance is timely because the city continues to violate the contract “every day that the city refuses to compensate bargaining unit members for time that they should have had in rank through back pay and any other benefits lost as a result of the continuing violation.”

The city again on Sept. 8 denied the grievance, contending it was untimely. Four days later, the union said it was going to take the matter to binding arbitration, but the city refused to participate.

The union filed the lawsuit Dec. 19.

Sweeney ruled June 30 that the union contract has a “broad arbitration clause and the subject matter of the instant grievance is covered by” that clause so the “grievance must be resolved through the agreed upon grievance and arbitration procedure.”

Over the past four-plus years with Barry Finley as fire chief, the union has filed numerous grievances, unfair labor practices and lawsuits against the city.