Justices to Consider Miami Police Labor Dispute

By News Service of Florida

The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that stems from a 2010 decision by the city of Miami to reduce wages and make other labor changes for police officers because of city budget woes. The Fraternal Order of Police contends that the city improperly made the "unilateral" changes during a collective bargaining agreement. The city, however, points to part of state law that allowed it to pursue changes during a time of "financial urgency." The state Public Employees Relations Commission sided with the city, and that decision was later upheld by the 1st District Court of Appeal. In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the union asked justices to take up the issue to "provide certainty to public employers and public employees in collective bargaining as to the showing that the public employer must make before it can walk away from its contracts." The Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision issued Thursday, agreed to take up the case. It did not indicate when oral arguments might be held. Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince and James E.C. Perry supported accepting the case, while justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissented.