Matter of Certain Controversies Between Social Serv. Empls. Union, Local 371 v. City of New York

OPINION OF THE COURT

Acosta, J.

At issue in this case is an arbitration award that ordered the City to reinstate laid-off employees with back pay, upon finding that the City had failed to comply with the “meet-and-confer” requirement of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. That provision mandated that, prior to any layoffs, the City meet and confer with the designated representatives of the appropriate union with the objective of considering feasible alternatives to all or part of the projected layoffs. We find that the arbitration award merely compels the City to follow the procedure…