UPSEU secured a significant arbitration victory on behalf of its Hamden Parks and Recreation members that will return four employees back to their positions with full back pay in a decision reached June 10, 2011 by the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations.

The case centered around the town's decision to sub-contract out the Hamden ice rink to a private contractor last year. At the time, UPSEU made clear to the Mayor and Town Council that we envisioned his actions as illegal, and that the rink could be operated more efficiently in town hands. The town and the union met roughly a dozen times to attempt to work out this issue prior to a formal decision being reached by the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations. However, the town rejected numerous reasonable offers by the union to resolve this issue over a year ago and in the end, justice prevailed.

The victory comes on the heels of another UPSEU victory for the Hamden Public Works members concerning the town recycling. There the town laid off employees while the recycling work is being sub-contracted out. UPSEU secured a victory on behalf of those members by filing a grievance and a similiar decision returning these employees with full backpay is currently being appealed by the town.

"We are confident that both decisions will stand up to any appeal. The town's labor attorney should know this and encourage the town to honor the decisions," stated UPSEU Regional Director Wayne Gilbert.

The union finds it very unfortunate that the town is already in the process of wasting the taxpayers money by appealing the Hamden Public Works decision that was issued by the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration. While an appeal in this case is anticipated by the town, the union still remains hopeful that the town will not waste more taxpayer dollars. Each individual appeal could cost the town thousands and thousands of dollars. It should also be known that between 95-97% of the CT Labor Board decisions that are appealed are not overturned.

"This is not only a victory for the Town of Hamden union members, but also a victory for the Town of Hamden residents who will have the services that they so rightfully deserve and pay for," stated UPSEU Relations Representative Matt Geer. These services associated with the ice rink provided to the Hamden community, include but are not limited to, the Hamden Figure Skating Association, Hamden Youth Hockey and much more.

Wayne Gilbert added,"The Connecticut State Labor Relations Board is the oldest and most esteemed labor board in the United States. They cited roughly six previous cases in reaching their findings in this ice rink case. Clearly with such strong foundational cases, the town must now concede its actions were illegal."

It should be noted that the union had told the town over five years ago that its rates charged for use of the ice rink were too low to sustain quality operations. The first thing the outside contractor MAB did when it took over the rink operations, was to double and triple the rates. Had the rink stayed in the public hands, the rates charged to Hamden citizens could have been modest and still created a break even or better financial situation for the town!