IBPO Efforts Lead to Evergreen Clause Restoration
November 23, 2011
Persistent efforts by IBPO lobbyists and legal advisors have resulted in Governor Patrick signing legislation to make evergreen clauses in collective bargaining agreements legal. The legislation represents an extraordinary victory for union members throughout the Commonwealth.
An evergreen clause extends the terms of an expired collective bargaining agreement, allowing the parties to negotiate a new contract while protecting union members' rights under the expired contract.
In the case, Boston Housing Authority v. National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, Local 3, which was decided in October 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion invalidating an evergreen clause. In its decision, the Court stated the law did not permit the collective bargaining agreement to extend beyond three years. The decision reversed decades of collective bargaining practice in the public sector. The decision had a huge impact on public sector unions and employees as many employers took advantage of the decision by claiming unions and employees no longer had grievance and arbitration rights under expired contracts. Employers took that position despite the fact that they had agreed to evergreen clauses in contracts.
Immediately after the SJC decision came out, NAGE/IBPO banded together with other unions to fix the evergreen problem. Lobbyists and lawyers met regularly to draft legislation and work with legislators. The efforts bore fruit when the House and Senate adopted the language the unions had proposed and the Governor signed it into law.
The legislation changes the law specifically to allow parties to negotiate that terms and conditions of an expired contract continue while they negotiate a new contract. By remaining steadfast, the unions also succeeded in keeping language that makes evergreen clauses effective on a retroactive basis. Except in limited court cases, if an evergreen clause was in effect at the time the SJC issued its decision, the terms and conditions of that contract are once again in effect going back to the date of the decision.