City Employees Win Judgment After Union Hides Contract Details

Betrayed. That’s how Mark Kiddo and his Erie Water Works colleagues felt after learning AFSCME officials deliberately misled them.

Union officials had just presented Mark and his colleagues, who were union members, with a four-year contract that the employees weren’t happy with. It included lower salary increases than they expected and kept in place a defined-benefit pension plan favored by union officials.

But according to the union, it was the only offer on the table. Reluctantly, and believing they had no choice, the employees ratified the contract.

Hidden Contract Offer Revealed

Days later, they learned of a second offer, with higher salary increases, a 401k-style retirement plan for new employees, and an additional retirement benefit—an offer like what they had hoped for all along.

The truth, it turned out, was that AFSCME officials had intentionally hidden the better offer from their own members because the officials opposed moving away from defined-benefit retirement plans.

“We voted on what we thought was the best deal they could get for us, just to find out later that they concealed a better deal,” Mark later told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That’s unconscionable.”

AFSCME Officials Broke Their Own Rules

AFSCME’s “Bill of Rights for Union Members” says that all members have “the right to full participation […] in the decision-making processes of the union.” This right, the union states, “shall specifically include decisions concerning the acceptance or rejection of collective bargaining contracts” and any other agreements affecting “wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment.”

But in Erie, AFSCME officials trampled these rights in favor of their own priorities.

Employees Win Judgment Against AFSCME

After more than two years of litigation, an Erie County judge ruled in 2021 that “[t]he undisputed material facts of this case demonstrate that AFSCME breached its duty of fair representation” and said that the employees deserved monetary damages from the union.

In the spring of 2023, our clients settled their case to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.

“We thought AFSCME was working for us. But it turns out our union leaders are willing to knowingly conceal information from us if it suits their purpose. We deserve fair and honest representation.” – Mark Kiddo

Kiddo v. AFSCME, Local 2206 is closed.

Documents

• Complaint – December 5, 2018
• Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction – December 18, 2018
• Union Defendants’ Preliminary Objections to Complaint – January 24, 2019
• Defendants’ Notice of Appeal – April 16, 2019
• Memorandum Opinion – January 16, 2021

January 22, 2021: “A state court issued a summary judgment this month against the union representing Erie Water Works employees for concealing a retirement plan option during contract negotiations.”

December 18, 2018: “A group of eight Water Works employees have sued their AFSCME Union, claiming union leaders lied to them, and concealed retirement options during contract negotiations earlier this year.”