Union sues State Police as part of bid to get jobs back for 13 troopers fired for refusing Covid-19 vaccinations

The State Police Association of Massachusetts went to court yesterday to try to overturn an arbitrator's ruling that it has no grounds to appeal the dismissal of 13 state troopers early last year after they refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

In her decision, arbitrator Beth Anne Wolfson said the State Police decision to fire the 13, under an emergency order by then Gov. Baker requiring most state employees to be vaccinated in 2021, fell under a state law related to discipline for failing to comply with an order, rather than under a separate state law giving workers the right to have their unions contest actions against them.

She added that the proper way to appeal the firings was via a request to the state Civil Service Commission, rather than to seek arbitration. The union went straight for arbitration and did not appeal to the commission. She cited a 2020 decision by the Supreme Judicial Court that troopers who don't like certain types of punishment meted out through internal State Police "trial boards" had to take this route and so concluded the firings were "substantively inarbitrable."

In its suit, filed against State Police, the union said Wolfson's logic was faulty because the 2020 SJC decision only applied to individual troopers appealing discipline, not to appeals by the union representing all troopers, as in this case and that it would take away a key protection under the state collective-bargaining law - the union's "rights to avail itself of the collective bargaining agreement between it and the Commonwealth," which it says includes the right to appeal trooper terminations.

The suit specifically asks a judge to vacate the arbitrator's decision.