By Anthony Rice
In City of Mukilteo, Arbitrator Steve Irvin ruled that the city did not violate its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the firefighters’ union when it assigned mandatory overtime to cover a public education event. The arbitrator found that, under the CBA, the city has the contractual right to assign overtime to meet its operational needs. Moreover, the city has a broad spectrum of possibilities for overtime use—such as public education.
After failing to gather enough volunteer firefighters and paramedics for a public education event, City Administrator—Joseph Hannan—announced that he would assign mandatory overtime for the remaining openings. The union filed a grievance, which was eventually referred to arbitration, alleging that the city violated the CBA.
At arbitration, Irvin found that the plain language of the CBA supported the city’s right to assign mandatory overtime:
I find that Article 6.1.3 of the CBA envisions mandatory overtime as a possibility, insomuch as the article begins with “[i]n the event overtime is required to fill vacancies….” . . . The words “required” and “necessary” are clearly synonymous with “mandatory” and convey the distinct idea that the employer has the contractual right to assign overtime to meet its operational needs.
The union countered by asserting that even if the CBA supports mandatory overtime, such overtime is restricted to regular work and emergencies. The arbitrator examined the parties’ past practices in order to determine how the language should be interpreted. After reviewing evidence presented at the hearing, the arbitrator found that the spectrum of possibilities for overtime use is broader than just regular and emergency work.
Fire Chief Springer and Captain Michael Yoakum, the union’s Vice President, each testified that there have been instances when the employer has required employees to work overtime of eight hours or fewer in order to attend required training. Yoakum, who has served as the union’s Vice President for 10 years, testified that the union did not file a grievance in those instances.
