City of San Jose v. Internat. Assn. of Firefighters Local 230 CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In January 2004, City and Local 230 commenced negotiations for a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing terms of employment for City firefighters. Negotiations reached impasse on certain points and the parties initiated procedures prescribed by San Jose City Charter section 1111 (section 1111). Section 1111 requires City to “negotiate in good faith with the recognized fire and police department employee organizations on all matters relating to the wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of City employment . . .” and calls for compulsory interest arbitration when the parties are unable to resolve disputes over such issues.2 Arbitration

1 We solicited supplemental briefing to ascertain the parties’ view as to the effect of the June 2012 passage of Measure B, a pension modification initiative, upon this appeal. The parties agree that passage of the initiative does not affect their arguments. 2 Section 1111 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: “The City, through its duly authorized representatives, shall negotiate in good faith with the recognized fire and police department employee organizations on all matters relating to…