City of East Cleveland v. East Cleveland Firefighters Local 500

In our view, the court of appeals’ decision holding that SERB had exclusive jurisdiction of the instant action since it “arguably constitute[d] an unfair labor practice” is clearly erroneous as a matter of law. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and reinstate the trial court’s judgment.

The record indicates that the union filed a grievance against the city based on the general order issued by the fire chief which impacted upon the ability of union members to obtain overtime work. The collective bargaining agreement entered into by the city and union…