Summary

CFFA Leaders have continually applied to be off on Union Time to serve the members of the CFFA against actions taken against them by the City of Clearwater.

Chief Geer established dates for contract negotiations, all of which were on CFFA President John Lee's assigned work day. Geer then denied Lee the time off to attend these meetings. Geer also denied CFFA official David Hogan requested time off to deal with grievances and an unfair labor practice.

Lee and Hogan, both longtime Clearwater employees with excellent service records, were disciplined for utilizing their union rights to represent the members they serve.

Verdict

1) Neither party admits wrongdoing.

2) The City of Clearwater agrees not to deny requests for union time for arbitrary and capricious reasons, and agrees to provide legitimate reasons for any denial.

3) The City of Clearwater will not counsel or discipline CFFA members for not making union leave time requests in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.

4) The City of Clearwater will not restrain, or coerce public employees in the exercise of their guaranteed rights.

5) Previous counselings against CFFA leadership shall not be considered in any subsequent actions under the Performance and Behavior Management System and shall be considered invalid.

6) The City of Clearwater shall pay $7,230 in full settlement of its fees and costs in this matter.

Total cost to tax payers for ULP #5= $7,230.*

*These costs do not include additional fees billed to the city by their attorneys Thompson, Sizemore, and Gonzalez, which equated to an additional $46,382.91 for all 6 ULPs combined.

 

Click here to read the full ULP

Click here to read the settlement