A state board has ordered Park Ridge officials to reimburse members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 for health care contribution increases.
The March 4 decision from the Illinois Labor Relations Board, which city officials say may result in no new costs, reinforces a ruling an administrative law judge made last year that said the city violated labor laws by lifting caps on insurance premiums that union employees pay monthly.
The union had filed a lawsuit alleging the unfair increase in health care costs for about 30 Public Works employees. Both the city and the union also filed unfair labor practice claims.
In her ruling, Judge Anna Hamburg-Gal said the city’s decision to change the premiums wasn’t in accordance with the terms of an agreement it had with the union.
The city appealed that ruling in May 2015, but the Illinois Labor Relations Board, which has the authority to make adjustments to the administrative law judge’s decision, added an exception to Hamburg-Gal’s finding. When paying back the insurance premium increases, the city will be able to subtract wage increases that were given to employees in May 2013, the same time the insurance premium caps were removed.
Melissa Mlynski, labor board executive director, said the decision didn’t completely overturn the judge’s ruling.
“It did modify the decision. The board is saying the city should pay back the increases, but to offset it with the raises the (union) employees received,” Mlynski said.
It’s unclear how much, if anything, the city will have to reimburse workers when the wage increases are factored in. Village manager Shawn Hamilton said city employees were working to come up with final numbers.
Hamilton said the city’s position was that health insurance premiums and wage increases come as a package.
“Our preliminary investigation shows we won’t owe anything,” Hamilton said. “Our intention is to do the calculations and we’ll share that with Local 150.”
Other than giving the city 20 days to say what steps it’s taking to comply with the order, the board doesn’t have a specific procedure for ensuring the city complies with the ruling.
“If there’s a problem, they can ask us to get involved, but generally speaking, we leave it up to the parties to comply,” Mlynski said.
The city and the union have been at odds over their contract since the spring of 2013, when the city implemented health care contribution increases without a finalized agreement with the union.
The board’s ruling says the increases the city put into effect were different from the terms being considered by the two parties during bargaining sessions, but the union shouldn’t be entirely off the hook.
“Allowing the union to retain the wage increases as well as recoup the increased health care costs puts the union at a far better place than they would have been in the absence of the city’s violation,” according to the ruling.
Ed Maher, attorney for Local 150, said he was pleased with the ruling.
“It’s unfortunate that it has gone this far, but we were firm in our beliefs that the city acted illegally, so we agree with the decision that was reached,” Maher said.
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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