The Branford Board of Education’s switch from a high-deductible health plan with a health savings account to the state’s Partnership Plan 2.0 spurred a complaint by the custodian and maintenance union, alleging the change was not approved by the union despite the union president signing off on it.
According to a decision by the Connecticut Board of Labor Relations, the United Public Service Employees Union, Custodians and Maintenance Union (UPSEU), alleged the Branford Board of Education (BOE) switched to the state’s Partnership Plan 2.0 “unilaterally” and without negotiating with the union. This spurred the BOE to file its own complaint alleging the union had repudiated a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by union local president Erik Johnson.
The issue for the union, however, appeared to be one of miscommunication. Over the course of numerous off-the-record meetings between the Branford BOE and union leaders of its various bargaining units between January and March of 2023, everyone appeared to be on board for the change, including local union president Johnson, who attended those meetings and signed off on the MOA in March of 2023.
However, union relations representative Dan Bonfiglio, expressed concerns in emails that this change would affect union members’ health benefits, which are mandatory bargaining subjects, and therefore union members would have to vote to approve the change. Bonfiglio was also not copied on some email exchanges and meetings that occurred to negotiate the switch.
Bonfiglio emailed Branford Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez on March 24, 2023, stating that they would need to conduct a union vote and that he would reach back out to Hernandez to update him on the results. Three days later, local union president Johnson signed the MOA to switch to the Partnership Plan after having “canvassed the ‘boys,’” according to the decision.
Numerous other unions also signed the MOA, but the UPSEU filed a grievance after the switch to the Partnership Plan in July of 2023, alleging it was a unilateral change of health benefits, and that Johnson did not have the authority to sign the MOA. Branford’s BOE then filed their own complaint alleging repudiation of the MOA.
The Board of Labor Relations, however, sided with the Board of Education, noting that Johnson had authority to enter the MOA, and that the union repudiated the MOA by filing for grievance arbitration in violation of the MOA’s terms.
“Johnson was not only intimately involved in all discussions regarding the proposed switch to the SPP, but the Union permitted him to be the primary point of contact and spokesperson for the Union on nearly all discussions with Hernandez,” the labor board wrote. “Similarly, under the circumstances present here, we find that the School Board acted from a good faith and reasonable belief that Johnson had the authority to bind the Union.”
The labor board also noted that despite the union’s claim that Johnson did not have the authority to enter into the agreement, Johnson has previously entered MOAs with the BOE during the COVID pandemic without approval from other union officials. The union also never called Johnson to testify on their behalf for this complaint, leaving the labor board “somewhat perplexed.”
While the labor board found Bonfiglio’s exclusion from certain email communications “concerning,” it was not enough to call into question Johnson’s ability to sign off on the change.
As a result, the UPSEU must cease and desist its repudiation of the MOA, drop its grievance against the Branford BOE, and pay the town’s legal fees plus interest.
The Connecticut Partnership Plan 2.0 allows municipalities to piggy-back on Connecticut’s state employee health plan. According to the latest available meeting minutes for the Health Care Cost Containment Committee, the Partnership Plan has 156 groups with 23,000 employees and 50,000 members with 11 new groups joining this fiscal year.
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