City Employees Win Judgment After Union Hides Contract Details

Kiddo v. AFSCME, Local 2206

Case Summary

  • Mark Kiddo and his Erie Water Works colleagues felt betrayed after learning AFSCME officials deliberately misled them.
  • Union officials had just presented Mark and his colleagues, who were union members, with a four-year contract that the employees weren’t happy with. It included lower salary increases than they expected and kept in place a defined-benefit pension plan favored by union officials.
  • Union officials deceptively told them it was the only offer on the table. Reluctantly, and believing they had no choice, the employees ratified the contract.

Hidden Contract Offer Revealed

Days after union officials presented what Mark and his colleagues thought was the only contract option, they learned of a second offer, with higher salary increases, a 401k-style retirement plan for new employees, and an additional retirement benefit—an offer like what they had hoped for all along.

The truth, it turned out, was that AFSCME officials had intentionally hidden the better offer from their own members because the officials opposed moving away from defined-benefit retirement plans.

“We voted on what we thought was the best deal they could get for us, just to find out later that they concealed a better deal,” Mark later told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That’s unconscionable.”

AFSCME Officials Broke Their Own Rules

AFSCME’s “Bill of Rights for Union Members” says that all members have “the right to full participation […] in the decision-making processes of the union.” This right, the union states, “shall specifically include decisions concerning the acceptance or rejection of collective bargaining contracts” and any other agreements affecting “wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment.”

But in Erie, AFSCME officials trampled these rights in favor of their own priorities.

(Mark Kiddo. Photo credit: The Fairness Center.)

Employees Win Judgment Against AFSCME

After more than two years of litigation, an Erie County judge ruled in 2021 that “[t]he undisputed material facts of this case demonstrate that AFSCME breached its duty of fair representation” and said that the employees deserved monetary damages from the union.

In the spring of 2023, our clients settled their case to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.

“We thought AFSCME was working for us. But it turns out our union leaders are willing to knowingly conceal information from us if it suits their purpose. We deserve fair and honest representation.” – Mark Kiddo

Case Status & Documents

Kiddo v. AFSCME, Local 2206 is closed.

Media

Erie court issues summary judgment against union for concealing retirement benefit option

News | The Center Square

January 22, 2021: “A state court issued a summary judgment this month against the union representing Erie Water Works employees for concealing a retirement plan option during contract negotiations.”

Eight Erie Water Works Employees Sue AFSCME, Local 2206 in Erie County Court

News |  Go Erie

December 10, 2018: “A group of Erie Water Works employees is suing their union in Erie County Court over claims the union leadership misled them during a contract negotiation. The group of eight employees claims union leaders only presented a single offer from management to the union members when management had in fact made two offers.”