Three days after losing a lower court’s ruling, the city is taking steps to take an arbitration case against the city’s firefighters’ union to the state’s highest court.
On Friday, the state Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in Rochester, unanimously reversed a ruling by state Supreme Court Judge James P. McClusky, who determined in January 2018 that the city can block arbitration in the contract dispute.
The Appellate Division’s decision allowed an arbitrator to determine if a “minimum manning” clause can continue in the firefighters’ labor contract.
Coming out of a lengthy executive session, Mayor Joseph M. Butler Jr. said on Monday night the City Council agreed to file the appeal with the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
During the closed-door meeting, attorney Terry O’Neil — who represents the city in the contract dispute with the firefighters’ union — recommended the city “file for leave to appeal,” Mayor Butler said.