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On Oct. 18, 2017, the lower Circuit Court entered a final judgment vacating the awards. In the Circuit Court’s opinion, by enforcing the awards which required the City to comply with Section 8.4 of the parties’ collective bargaining agree- ment and destroy CR files more than five years old, the awards would violate state public policy requiring preservation of governmental records, as established by the Illinois State Re- cords Act and Illinois Local Records Act. Unfortunately, the Il- linois Appellate Court would later issue its opinion, affirming the Circuit Court’s award.
During the oral arguments on March 17, the questions asked by several of the justices, however, made it clear that they understood the magnitude of the underlying issues: specifically, that arbitration awards (resulting from a nego- tiated grievance and arbitration process) can and should be enforced, even if there is an explicit, well-defined and dom- inant public policy requiring the retention of the records at issue. After all, all public policies need to be reconciled and one should not supersede another.
The justices implied in their questions that state and fed- eral courts have recognized that reviewing courts have very limited roles in evaluating arbitration decisions. Only a hand- ful of reasons exist for which a court should vacate an arbitra- tion award – none of which, Lodge 7 argued, exist here.
It appears that even the questioning justices pondered the City’s failure to give due regard to the strong public policy set forth in the Uniform Arbitration Act and the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act favoring collective bargaining and the enforcement of labor arbitration awards. As Lodge 7 articu-
lated, the awards issued by Arbitrator Roumell enforce clear contractual provisions to which the City agreed, including both Section 8.4 and the contractual provision for binding ar- bitration contained in the parties’ agreement.
As Lodge 7 pointed out, the arbitrator’s award demon- strates a careful balance between the City’s obligation pursu- ant to the collective bargaining agreement, the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, the State and Local Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act — in essence, balancing all the public policy interests. Further, the City’s attorney had no an- swer to the justice’s question of why the City unilaterally de- cided to cease destruction of records without even consulting the local records division.
When parties to a labor contract agree to binding arbitra- tion, the courts owe deference to the arbitrator and may not insert their own preferences or opinions. To the extent the City wishes to change Section 8.4 of the current agreement, it should be at the bargaining table — along with all the oth- er mandatory terms and conditions of employment, not as a result of unilateral action or inaction. Lodge 7 remains con- fident in its appeal and will keep the membership apprised.
In closing, I hope all the men and women who serve the City so tirelessly, and without regard to their own wellbe- ing, remain extra careful during these unprecedented times. Please, be safe.
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