Pennsylvania - COs Entitled to Arbitration

Nearly 2,000 corrections officers in the city of Philadelphia are entitled to reach new collective bargaining agreements through arbitration, a Commonwealth Court ruled late last year.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Nearly 2,000 corrections officers in the city of Philadelphia are entitled to reach new collective bargaining agreements through arbitration, a Commonwealth Court ruled late last year.

“We knew that if we kept on fighting, we would win,” says CO Lorenzo North, president of Local 159 (District Council 33).

For years, the COs settled their contracts through collective bargaining. But, in 2008, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled that the city had engaged in an unfair labor practice by refusing arbitration with Local 159.

The city appealed and even offered a $1,000 pay bonus to all 15 locals within DC 33. Local 159 declined to accept the offer so the members could continue their legal fight.