City of Scranton v. Fire Fighters Local Union No. 60

**City of Scranton v. Fire Fighters Local Union No. 60 (2007)** This case involved a dispute between the City of Scranton and its firefighters' union over pension board changes. The city decided on its own to change who served on the pension board that manages firefighter retirement benefits, without consulting or getting input from the union first. The firefighters' union argued this violated their collective bargaining agreement, which required the city to work with them on such decisions. The court sided with the firefighters' union. The court ruled that the city broke its contract by making these pension board changes unilaterally—meaning without involving the union in the decision-making process. The court also found that the city acted in bad faith, which means they behaved unreasonably or dishonestly during the dispute. Because of this bad faith conduct, the court ordered the city to pay the union's legal costs and attorney fees. **What this means for workers:** This ruling reinforces that employers must follow the terms of union contracts, especially when making changes that affect worker benefits like pensions. When employers try to make unilateral changes without proper consultation, unions can successfully challenge these actions in court and may even recover their legal expenses.