Council Opposes Contract Continuation, Binding Arbitration Legislation

At its most recent meeting, the Coventry Town Council approved two resolutions requesting that the RI General Assembly oppose and reject any and all legislation currently being considered regarding mandatory binding arbitration and mandatory contract continuation for teacher, school employee and municipal employee contracts.

The first resolution notes that current state law does not provide for mandatory binding arbitration on monetary matters for employees and considering the existing gap between revenue and expenditures in the current budget combined with high property taxes, the proposed bill would "deprive locally elected officials the ability to control the biggest component of local budgets" (payroll costs).

It goes on to state that the suggested legislation has not taken into account student welfare, existing property tax caps, the cost of implementing the RI Dept. of Education (RIDE)'s Basic Education Program and other unfunded mandates.

The second resolution addresses that current state law does not provide for mandatory continuation of an existing collective bargaining agreement and that a Superior Court justice recently ruled state law defining that when a contract ends, any prior agreement permitting continuation of the past contract is overridden.

The resolution approved by the Coventry Town Council notes that school districts, cities, and towns have witnessed a "calamitous reduction" in state funding with local communities losing more than $185 million in state aid over the past five years. This point is also coupled with the fact that local taxpayers are already burdened by some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

It also states that cities and towns must comply with state law that caps the property tax levy for Fiscal 2013 at 4% — a mandate that limits their ability to generate local revenue to cover rising budget expenses.

Another point in the measure references a provision of state education law requiring that "the school committee of each school district shall be responsible for maintaining a school budget which does not result in debt," referring to a committee's responsibility to not spend in excess of its revenue.

The Council's opposition argues that while school committees are required to adhere to the RIDE's Basic Education Plan and other regulations, mandatory contract continuation would serve as a disincentive for local unions to "bargain in good faith" while existing employee wages and benefits remained unchanged indefinitely.

Both resolutions conclude that the Coventry Town Council "respectfully requests that the Rhode Island General Assembly oppose and reject any and all mandatory binding arbitration legislation for teacher, school and municipal employee contracts", and also that the Assembly "oppose S-365, S-777 and H-5699, which would mandate that expired teacher, police officer, firefighter or municipal employee contracts must continue at the existing terms and conditions."