City of Akron v. SERB

Ohio state law obligated public employers to negotiate in good faith with unions. The city of Akron (the city) (defendant) had a collective-bargaining agreement in place with the Akron Police Department (the department) (plaintiff), which was silent on the matter of layoffs. However, the city’s civil-service-commission rules (CSCR), which applied to all city employees, did include language covering the issue of layoffs. In 2009, as the bargaining agreement was set to expire, the city expressed its intent to pursue layoffs in the department and requested bargaining to address the issue. However, the city and union reached an agreement to avoid layoffs in the department. The union vowed to address layoffs during the next collective-bargaining session. In November 2009, the parties began collective bargaining. The city rejected a proposal made by the union regarding layoffs, because the city preferred the CSCR’s process governing layoffs. The city offered to negotiate this specific rule and to bring a proposed amendment to the Civil Service Commission (the commission), but only on the condition that the union withdraw its proposal first. In March 2010, the city unilaterally introduced a proposed change to the CSCR that incorporated a portion of the union’s proposal. One week later, negotiations broke down. The union filed an unfair-labor-practice charge, contending that the city had failed to bargain in good faith, in violation of state law. The State Employment Relations Board (SERB) found probable cause to believe the city had violated state law and issued a complaint. An administrative-law judge agreed with the union’s claims, finding that the city had negotiated in bad faith. The city appealed, and the trial court affirmed. The city filed another appeal.