City of Allentown v. International Ass'n of Fire Fighters Local 302

I agree with the majority that the City of Allentown is not entitled to relief from the award provision requiring 25 firefighters per shift, although I would reach this conclusion based on the Act 111 arbitration panel’s reaffirmation of its original award—which I interpret to subsume an implicit record-based determination that the accommodations provided in such award were sufficient to assist the City in resolving its pension-fund difficulties.

Initially, it should go without saying that resolving an unfunded pension liability of substantial magnitude is a managerial responsibility.…