Town of Plymouth, 26 MLC 220, 223-224 (2000), citing City of Worcester, 25 MLC 169, 170 (1999).

Town of Plymouth, 40 MLC 179 (2013) (noting that even where an employer makes a decision within its managerial prerogative and is not required to bargain over that decision, the employer is still required to bargain over the impacts of its decision on mandatory subjects of bargaining prior to implementing the decision). IV.

See Town of Plymouth, 26 MLC 220, 223-24 (2000) (noting that a public employer need not bargain over decisions outside its control). This argument is inconsistent with former rulings of the CERB and DLR and should be soundly rejected. First, Somerville unilaterally eliminated the First Seniority Plan on July 1, 2010six months before Harvard Pilgrim discontinued it on December 31, 2010.

See Town of Plymouth, 26 MLC 220, 223-24 (2000) (noting that a public employer need not bargain over decisions outside its control). This argument is inconsistent with former rulings of the CERB and DLR and should be soundly rejected. First, Somerville unilaterally eliminated the First Seniority Plan on July 1, 2010six months before Harvard Pilgrim discontinued it on December 31, 2010.

Town of Plymouth, 40 MLC 25, 28 (2013). An employers duty to bargain over mandatory subject of bargaining goes hand-in-hand with its duty to refrain from directly dealing with employees. Id at 29. However, there are limits to what is considered direct dealing, and an employer does not engage in directly dealing merely by providing information to employees. See generally, /d at 29.

But see Town of Chatham, 28 MLC 56, MUP-9186 (June 29, 2001)) (citing Town of Plymouth, 23 MLC 175, 177, MUP-1253 (H.O. February 5, 1997) (even discretionary actions can constitute a binding past practice if they are consistently followed)).

In order to substantially exercise independent judgment, an 6 employee must do more than temporarily fill in for a superintendent or other manager. 7 Town of Hudson, 40 MLC 42, 47, WMAM-12-2446 (August 7, 2013); Town of Plymouth, 8 1 MLC 1482, MCR-2142 (June 27, 1975).

COMMONWEALTH COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD Aro _ lurtixe, MARJORIE WITTNER, KATHE LEV, KEM CERB MEMBER Lfekerstecd JOAN ACKERSTEIN, CERB MEMBER 8 Although the Union argues that it could not have done either, we note that the CERB has previously addressed the timeliness of charges in situations where, as the Union claims here, an announced change is not implemented until more than six months after See Town of Plymouth, 37

Id. at fn. 8, citing Town of Plymouth, 37 MLC 164, MUP-06-4814 (Ruling on Request for Review of H.O. Ruling on Motion to Dismiss, August 19, 2010). As of February 11, 2020, PSA has not filed an appeal of the above-referenced ruling, a final order of the CERB, with the Appeals Court, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 150E, 11(i). Mass 6 Appellate Courts - Public Case Search, https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org (last visited Feb. 11, 2020).

Town of Plymouth, 37 MLC 164, 165 (2010). In the present case, the PSA failed to demonstrate any pattern of shared work and therefore failed to establish any alleged change in a pattern or shared work. The PSA also failed to establish that its members performed any specific percentage of shared work. In sum, the PSA presented no evidence of an alleged substantial reduction in the PSAs share of shared work.

Sergeant Benjamin Dexter Sergeant of Records Plymouth Police Department 20 Long Pond Road Plymouth, MA 02360 P: (508) 830-4218, ext. 216 F: (508) 830-4227 2 attachments Commerical Requests_Redacted.pdf 73K General Requests_Redacted.pdf 154K

See Town of Plymouth, 26 MLC 220, 223 (2000) (noting that [a] public employer need not bargain decisions outside of its control.). 13 25 to bargain requires the parties to enter into negotiations with an open mind and a sincere desire to reach an agreement and to make efforts to compromise differences. Id.

Impasse in negotiations occurs only when 5 both parties have negotiated in good faith on all bargainable issues to the point where it 6 is clear that further negotiations would be fruitless because the parties are deadlocked. 7 Everett School Committee, 43 MLC 55, 58, MUP-09-5665 (August 31, 2016) (quoting 8 Town of Plymouth, 26 MLC 222, 223, MUP-1465 (June 7, 2000)).

Section 9A(a) violation cannot be based on conduct permissible if done alone, but is unprotected when The Board that the has held that a employer agrees is carried out in a concerted fashion. see Town of Plymouth and Local 1768, Int'l. Assoc. of Firefighters, 18 MLC 1191, 1193 (1991); the Board City of Newton, 13 MLC 1462, 1466 (1987).

See Town of Plymouth, 18 MLC at 1193; City of Newton, 13 MLC 1462, 146566 (1987). Put another way, what Ms. Meagher is permitted to do alone (vote abstain), she is protected in doing with others. The notion that abstain meant an abdication of professional judgment is unproven on this record. On the contrary, the abstain option developed as a way to allow teachers to address their concerns regarding the on-going contract battle.