Board ruling forces Brookline selectmen to negotiate with police union

BROOKLINE – The Brookline Police union has won an initial battle with the town after the state Public Employees Labor Relation Board granted the union’s cease and desist order against town officials changing the “terms and conditions” of police officers’ employment. The officers filed the cease and desist order after the town selectmen voted last month to no  longer recognize the union as a legal collective bargaining unit because it doesn’t have 10 members. The order, issued by the PELRB July 27, states that the board “does not have the right to unilaterally” make that decision and orders it to honor the terms of the last contract with police, which expired in December, pending a final hearing. A final hearing on the issue has not yet been scheduled, said the town’s attorney, Mark Broth of Devine Millimet and Branch in Manchester. Mike Richard, a Brookline patrolman and head of the local union, is confident the PELRB will side with the union following the final hearing. “We feel confident in the board and that it will make the decision that keeps, again, the status quo,” he said. Negotiations on a new contract began in November but fell apart in February. Last month, the Board of Selectmen made the decision that they would no longer recognize the patrolman as a legal collective bargaining unit, ending any chance at future negotiations, said Richard. “Our goal is just to be able to come to an agreement with the town,” Richard said. “All we’re looking to do is to re-enter into negotiations so that we can complete this.” The town claims that since there are fewer than 10 members in the chapter, it shouldn’t be required to collectively bargain with it. The PELRB ruled in the recent decision that only the chapter itself or the PELRB can decertify a chapter even if it falls below the 10-member threshold legally required to found a chapter. The actual effect of the order is nominal since the town hadn’t changed any aspects of the day-to-day employment of the officers, Broth said. “This is not intended to be an anti-employee or anti-union issue,” he said.